On Skid Row, a Continuing Need

A new study of Los Angeles’ Skid Row population has brought an encouraging conclusion from John Tuite, administrator of the Community Redevelopment Agency: Nothing in the findings will lead the CRA to reduce its commitment to shelter and other social services in the area.

There may be some who will see in the reduced estimate of chronically homeless a reason to reduce public services in the area, to bow to the pressure of speculators and neighboring commercial and industrial enterprises eager to expand into the Skid Row area. But the report itself demonstrates what a grave mistake that would be. In fact, it makes clear the need for an even greater commitment by the CRA.

The study is the work of Hamilton, Rabinovitz and Alschuler, Inc., a consulting firm. It concludes that no more than 1,000 persons are truly homeless, living regularly on Skid Row without shelter. That may be, although experienced professionals working in the area dispute the figure. But the figures that really count are the total numbers of the desperate population of the area. On that there is little argument. The population is at least 11,000, including about 2,000 housed in missions and other temporary shelters and more than 8,000 in hotels and apartments. The great majority of that population is permanent, dependent on county welfare checks for survival.

The population of Skid Row is growing, getting younger, with sharply increasing numbers of minority people, primarily blacks. Almost two-thirds of this population is made up of people who have been or are mentally disturbed and/or substance abusers. “Crime is rampant,” with a rate of 500 crimes per 1,000 population, compared with the citywide rate of 95 per 1,000. Drug traffic is pervasive.

The complex of problems calls for a great variety of solutions. There is the obvious need for intense police intervention. There is the desperate need for expanded mental-health clinics that can give a continuity of care and residential services during periods of crisis. And there is the need for additional and improved shelter.

Shelter is an obvious priority for those without any. But even for the more than 8,000 who are miserably housed in tiny hotel rooms and apartments there will be an increasing cost as these facilities are brought up to seismic, fire and safety standards. And there is a need for improved access and affordability, because today’s monthly public relief check of $247 scarcely covers the going room-rental rate of $200--leaving little for food and clothing.

The Community Redevelopment Agency has been imaginative and innovative as it has expended close to $40 million over the last decade on Skid Row shelters and services. The new study will be best justified as it is used to perpetuate the policy to protect the people of Skid Row, recognizing them with compassion as a reality of a megalopolis.