Posted by Councilmember Englander on December 01, 2017 at 3:51 PM

This week, we were able to celebrate a major victory for the Neighborhoods FIRST Initiative. Seven, chronically homeless individuals took the first steps to accepting services and made the choice to enter the Coordinated Entry System for housing. They still have a long way to go but often times it is this first step that is the most difficult for individuals experiencing homelessness. What this shows is that persistent engagement and trust building can yield positive results for both the community and those living on the streets.

To maintain this momentum, we will continue our engagement of outreach and offering services to unsheltered individuals while enforcing sanitation codes to maintain the safety and livability of our neighborhoods. In the last couple weeks alone, our Neighborhoods FIRST Task Force completed 40 clean-ups and established contact with 85 individuals.

Also this week, the Los Angeles Daily News published my Op-Ed on the homelessness crisis and the steps we are taking in CD 12 to address it. I wrote this article to demonstrate that -- even with emergency measures and additional resources -- the crisis will continue so long as state laws and regulations prevent us from properly enforcing codes and getting treatment for those with struggling with mental illness or drug addiction.

Check out and share the Op-Ed here.