Program Offers a Way Off the Street

Ray Ortega had no hesitation when the police officer who arrested him for sleeping on a sidewalk in downtown Los Angeles’ skid row offered him a choice: a trip to jail or entry into a rehabilitation program.

Ortega, who has been homeless and in and out of jail for years on drug violations, chose drug treatment and avoided booking.

“I was ready for something different; I just had to find the right time,” Ortega, flushed and shaky, said recently in the small lounge of a social agency.

He is one of the first to take advantage of Streets or Services, a new city-sponsored project that provides a voluntary alternative to court to people arrested downtown for nonviolent, nonweapons offenses.

The goal is to break the cycle of arrest and jailing for petty street crime by addressing the underlying causes of homelessness, said Joel John Roberts, executive director at P.A.T.H. -- or People Assisting the Homeless -- the agency coordinating the program.

“We feel if we can just get people through the front door, it’s half the battle,” Roberts said. “People can choose to access services -- whether it be mental health counseling, drug addiction or just a bed -- and get off the streets.”

The one-year pilot program, funded with a $569,000 federal grant secured by Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Los Angeles), is administered jointly by the mayor’s office, the Los Angeles Police Department and the city attorney. It operates out of just one LAPD station -- the Central Division on 6th Street -- whose Eastside detail patrols the skid row area.

“We’re always willing to try out new things and explore new avenues,” Central Division Capt. Jim Rubert said. “We think this will be beneficial for everyone involved.”

The pilot project is being launched while the LAPD is cracking down on so-called quality of life crimes, with police sweeps to enforce the city’s ordinance to curb sitting and sleeping in public places. Civil liberties groups have filed lawsuits aimed at blocking such police actions.

Paul Freese Jr., director of litigation for the nonprofit law firm Public Counsel, which has worked on behalf of the homeless, said relations with police in the program have been good.

“One of the major issues that has to be addressed in finding solutions for the homeless is the criminal justice charges that can drag them down. Even if the offenses are minor, that can hamper progress,” Freese said. “We have access to child care attorneys, people who can handle immigration issues, help line up guardianship or adoptions.”

Other agencies such as the Midnight Mission, the Union Rescue Mission, Volunteers of America, the Volunteer Center of Los Angeles and the Public Council Law Center provide mental health care, legal assistance, vocational training, employment assistance and emergency housing.

When people are arrested for quality of life crimes such as blocking a sidewalk or relieving themselves in public, records searches are conducted. If there are no outstanding felonies or history of violent crime, an arrested person is referred to a social service coordinator at the police station.

A plan is mapped out, possibly including detoxification and emergency housing. Participants also must agree to perform three days of community service, such as trash pickup or graffiti removal. If the participant completes the program, prosecutors will not file a case, said city attorney spokesman Eric Moses.

If the program is successful, officials hope to get funding to expand it to other areas of the city with sizable populations of homeless people, Moses said.

Since the program’s inception in November, police have sent 74 people to it. Most had been arrested for sleeping on the sidewalk, jaywalking and other petty crimes. Most also reported that they had drug or alcohol problems, and many said they had been living on the streets for years.

Of those referred to the program, 60 chose to participate. Twenty are enrolled in various recovery and housing programs. Forty have dropped out after receiving some services or did not show up for work assignments; they now are subject to being charged for the original offenses.

Margaret Willis, director of government grants at P.A.T.H., said that she was concerned about the dropout numbers and that efforts were being made for more intensive follow-up and face-to-face contact with participants.

“It’s very difficult to keep people, especially when they’re in or near skid row because there are so many temptations,” Willis said. “We’re trying to make it a less desirable option, but it’s an area that calls people back.”

That allure is a painful reality for Ortega, 48. He is from the San Gabriel Valley, where his hometown police know his face. That makes it hard for him to even leave the house, he said. So, he ends up downtown, where it is easy to score drugs and even easier to blend in as one of the crowd sleeping on the sidewalks.

Ortega grew up in gangs but tried to go right, he said. He went to school and did a stint in the Army, coming out a certified mechanic. He did construction work for years, had a family and then was laid off. Then, he said, he began a cycle of addiction to heroin and cocaine, homelessness and arrests for possession.

He hopes his recent brush with the law -- a 5 a.m. citation for sleeping on the sidewalk near 7th Street and Stanford Avenue -- marks the beginning of the end of his troubles. He eagerly accepted the offer to enter the program and, after spending a night at P.A.T.H., checked into the CLARE Foundation, a Santa Monica substance abuse center.

Five days later, he was still going through detoxification and having anxiety attacks because he hadn’t slept in four days.

“The detox is working,” said Ortega, who hopes to get into the six-month program if there is bed space available. “I feel more strongly motivated this time, and I feel like there’s a plan that’s been set in motion.”

His drug use, he added, “has to stop sometime. I can’t do it forever. I can only cry so much. Maybe you keep doing it and you die, like a lot of other people out there, but I don’t want that to be the end for me.”