Homeless in Los Angeles
Kevin Roderick’s comprehensive review of the homeless problem (Feb. 17) was excellent. However, one area of the story needs to be clarified. It is somewhat misleading to state that, “Perhaps half of the homeless are mentally ill, according to recent studies . . . “ My question is, what studies? And what kinds of “mental illness”?
Nearly two years ago, as a National Institute of Mental Health scholar in the psychiatric epidemiology program at the School of Public Health, UCLA, I founded the Basic Shelter Research Project in Los Angeles. The project has published four research reports based on empirical studies of the homeless in Los Angeles and nationally. These studies have been widely reported in the local and national media, including several times in the Los Angeles Times.
While it is true that many homeless persons suffer psychologically (mostly from depression) as a consequence of their homelessness, the vast majority (80%) of the homeless in L.A. are not “mentally ill” or deinstitutionalized. The most common type of homeless person in downtown Los Angeles is a minority group member, working full or part time (20%) or actively looking for work (50%).
If there is one institution the majority of homeless men have been in it is the U.S. military service (47%--of these 30% are Vietnam vets) not a psychiatric hospital. The findings of my research are supported by the research studies conducted in other major cities that indicate that only a minority of homeless are mental patients (San Francisco 9%, Portland 17%, Dallas 13%, Phoenix 17%, Chicago 23%, New York City 15%).
Dr. Alan Leavitt, program chief of Community Mental Health Services in San Francisco, has estimated there are perhaps 5,000 individuals who are mentally ill and essentially homeless throughout California. Even if all 5,000 were located in Los Angeles they would constitute only 14% of Los Angeles estimated homeless population.
It is no coincidence that economic, social and political changes, such as the deindustrialization of American industry, record unemployment, the rise in poverty, the housing crisis, and cutbacks in social welfare programs are occurring in the same era as the rise of the new urban homeless. They are related because the national and local profiles of the homeless point to that conclusion. The new urban homeless are essentially the disenfranchised, i.e., those who are denied the opportunity to work, denied access to decent low-income housing, denied social welfare and medical care. Knowing who the homeless are and how they got that way is the first step to proposing strategies to aid them.
RICHARD H. ROPERS
Pomona
Ropers is academic and research coordinator of the UCLA/Developmental Disabilities Immersion Program at Lanterman State Hospital.
Having worked in Skid Row Los Angeles for almost three years now, I really appreciated Roderick’s feature on the homeless. I thought I might make a couple of comments concerning the young man referred to in the article, and then on the homeless issue in general.
Being personally aware of the recent circumstances of the young man named, I am aware that he had a place to stay and to have most of his needs met (free food, bed, clothing, medical care) just a week before your article came out. He had joined the “Crossroads” program (a program to help young men off the street aged 18-25) at the Union Rescue Mission. He left the program saying that he had a job last week. Where he is living right now, I am not sure, but he did have a place to stay until he left.
We have found that unstable family backgrounds are common to many young people on the streets. Whether it be the divorce of the parents, death of the parent(s), adoption gone wrong, or child abuse of some sort, a large percentage of those that come to us have grown up with one type or another of family trauma.
I really appreciate the work of those who desire to improve housing and jobs for the poor. But I feel that to say that improved housing and job opportunities alone would make a significant impact on the homeless situation would be shortsighted. Years of emotional and mental trauma cannot be solved by such stop-gap measures.
The average person on the street will not tell you, “I’ve experienced mental and emotional problems for years and I need specialized treatment.” He will tell you the reason he is on the street is that he doesn’t have a job. And he’s right--partly, that is. What he hasn’t told you is that he’s had jobs before, but couldn’t hold on to them. He doesn’t tell you that he feels so bad about his situation that he continually lies to himself and others to make up for it. Given the demographics of mental illness on the streets this should be self-evident. Despite this, journalists and other well-meaning individuals continue to believe and report that the only reason we have a homeless problem in Los Angeles is because of a lack of proper housing and job services.
I have seen successes where I work, when we care for those off the streets as individuals and offer a structured program for those interested in changing. Many on the streets do not have the words “responsibility” and “accountability” in their vocabulary. Whenever a situation does not work out they leave it. Sometimes no one has taken the time or concern to teach them, other times they don’t really want to learn, even if someone did care. In the latter situation, often a soup line and occasional bed are all that can be given to them.
JOHN KORNACHUK
Crossroads Chaplain
Los Angeles
The Times’ series on the homeless (Feb. 17-18) was excellent. It did much to destroy some of the myths that have been built up around one of this nation’s most intractable problems and pointed out how little government, particularly county government, is doing to return those victimized by homelessness to productive, independent participation in mainstream society. Despite the complexity of the issue, the homeless can be helped. All it takes is relatively little amounts of compassion, commitment and material resources.
The private sector has been providing close to 80% of all of the help that the homeless are receiving. It’s time for the conservative bloc on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to recognize that there is a serious local problem and to fulfill their responsibility to address it.
WILLIAM R. ROBERTSON
Executive Secretary-Treasurer
Los Angeles County
Federation of Labor
