County Takes Steps to Help ‘Motel Families’
Orange County is restoring its job of services coordinator for poor families, a position that was eliminated after the county declared bankruptcy in 1994.
The Board of Supervisors approved the staff addition this week after receiving a study on “motel families,” which are among the estimated 12,000 homeless in the county. They include children living in sometimes squalid conditions, often in crime- and drug-ridden areas.
No one was immediately named for the job, and no salary was set.
The board also approved using $1 million in county-controlled federal funds either to expand the current low-income housing program or create a new program to get families out of motels and into apartments.
“Right now if I want to help a motel family, I have to call 13 people in county government,” said Jim Palmer, director of the Orange County Rescue Mission. “This would be one-stop shopping.”
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