County’s Affordable Housing Report OKd

Orange County supervisors approved a report Tuesday that they hope will pave the way for federal assistance to deal with the county’s shortage of affordable housing, but some activists complained that more attention should be given to the “underlying reasons for homelessness.”

The report, compiled by the County Environmental Management Agency, outlines the state of affordable housing in the area, and lays out a blueprint for attacking the problem in the coming five years.

The document is considered a prerequisite to winning federal housing grants, and will serve as a benchmark of the county’s progress over the five-year period. Many local officials said they are enthusiastic about the report, but others were not.

Samuel Boyce, executive director of a Newport Beach-based group called Street People In Need, applauded county staff members who prepared the report but also noted that not all homeless people will be helped by programs that merely expand housing.

Describing a hypothetical young unwed mother, Boyce said: “She needs more than a roof over her head. . . . Putting her in a house is not going to solve her problems.”

Boyce called on the board to direct more money to projects that combine housing with rehabilitative programs dealing with drug abuse, psychological counseling and other services that help homeless people repair their lives.

The supervisors objected, however, preferring instead to focus on housing first before turning to other, related problems.

“The purpose here is to provide for those basic needs,” Supervisor Roger R. Stanton said. “That includes a roof over one’s head.”

According to Bob Pusavat, the county’s director of housing and redevelopment, the report will be forwarded to the federal department of Housing and Urban Development. It will help that department assess future grant requests by the county and allow it to monitor the county’s progress in providing new housing, Pusavat said.