Emergency Shelters to Stay Open Extra Month

Just when it looked like homeless men and women were going to be left out in the cold, Los Angeles County has decided to extend its emergency shelter programs through April 30.

The additional month of operation, approved Wednesday by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, is being paid for by about $300,000 in unused funds from shelters that underspent their seasonal budget allocations, said program manager Paul Rossi.

“It was our desire to accommodate homeless men and women for as long as we could,” Rossi said. “Now we will be able to open some of the shelters.”

However, the number of available beds will be reduced from 2,530 to 1,975. The authority plans to release a list today of available shelter sites and of van stops where homeless people can be picked up for a ride to a shelter.

Under the county’s plan, emergency shelters will be open after the traditional Nov. 18-Feb. 28 season when temperatures drop below 40 degrees or there is a greater than 50% chance of rain. Because temperatures across the Los Angeles Basin on Thursday night were expected to remain in the mid-40s to low 50s, only the shelter in Lancaster, where the mercury was predicted to drop below 40 degrees, was expected to open.

Unseasonably cool, wet weather is expected for a while longer, although the extended forecast calls for a decrease in rain toward the end of the month, said John Sherwin, a meteorologist with WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times.

The move to keep the shelters open for another month was prompted by Los Angeles City Councilman Rudy Svorinich Jr., who asked the authority to investigate if funds were available, Rossi said.

The funds were found and, at a special meeting Wednesday afternoon, the commissioners approved their use for extended shelter time.

At the beginning of the month during the winter season, each shelter receives the funding to operate at full capacity, Rossi said. A surplus results, for example, if only 85 homeless people show up at a shelter for 100. The $300,000 in total underspent funds will be spread throughout the 24-shelter system. Calls from homeless people to the City Council and Board of Supervisors contributed to the decision, said Brenda Wilson, executive director of New Image emergency shelter.

“In their defense, this commission is attentive to the needs of the homeless,” Wilson said. “This was just a boost to help them do the right thing.”