Homeless Problem a ‘Disaster’

The Los Angeles County Grand Jury said today the homeless problem has grown so large that the county should be declared a state and national disaster area. In a report assessing local governments’ response to the problem, the panel called on the Board of Supervisors to immediately request Gov. George Deukmejian and President Reagan to issue disaster declarations that would make emergency state and federal resources available.

“The county cannot afford to deal with all of the problems of the homeless,” said Anne Brophy, the juror who chaired the committee that prepared the report. “We have become the capital of the homeless. We’ve heard of other communities putting them on buses (to Los Angeles).”