Programs to Lower Drug Use Face Cuts

For the dozen “Junior Troopers” making bracelets in a Pico-Aliso community center, the time here potentially prevents them from being exposed to drugs on the streets of the Boyle Heights housing project.

For years this and an array of other programs here and at seven other public housing projects operated by the Los Angeles Housing Authority have aimed to combat drugs. But the $1.9-million federal grant that helps fund such programs is in danger of being eliminated.

The Public Housing Drug Elimination Program would be cut under the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s budget for the coming fiscal year. The $309-million program is used by housing authorities throughout the country--including almost three dozen in California.

Other Southern California agencies that receive funds include the Los Angeles County Housing Authority--with four public housing developments using the funds--the Upland Housing Authority and the Ventura County Housing Authority.

“There will be some direct impact on our kids,” said John Garcia, the Los Angeles authority’s director of resident relations, during a visit to the sprawling Pico-Aliso development.

HUD officials say discontinuing the drug-elimination program will allow the agency to focus on its main mission--promoting home ownership and providing affordable housing with its $30.4-billion budget.

“HUD’s mission is to provide safe and affordable and decent housing,” said Nancy Segerdahl, a spokeswoman for the agency.

HUD officials say that housing authorities can still operate anti-drug programs through HUD’s $150-million Public Housing Capital Fund.

There’s an effort in Washington to try to restore the money when the budget is finalized later this year.

“It’s unconscionable to eliminate a program like this,” said Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles). “We are going to do everything that we can to try and convince Mr. Bush that he should not do this.”

Many housing agencies have come to rely on the drug-elimination program since it was started in 1989 during President George Bush’s administration.

“We think it is a very ill-advised move on HUD’s part,” said Timothy Kaiser, executive director of the Public Housing Authority Directors Assn.

To be sure, the funds that the Los Angeles Housing Authority would lose represent only a fraction of its resources. Other funds--including federal grants--pay for an array of programs here and at Nickerson Gardens, Imperial Courts, Jordan Downs, Dana Strand Village, Mar Vista Gardens, San Fernando Gardens and Pueblo del Rio.

At Aliso-Pico there’s a computer learning center. Other programs include “Safe Passages”--a program in which adults escort children safely to school. There’s also a “Vocabulary Basketball League,” involving the eight projects that combines spelling and athletics.

“They teach you not doing drugs, how to stay healthy,” Crystal Aguilar, 11, says about the Junior Troopers program.

The Los Angeles Housing Authority says that the drug elimination program funds have worked--pointing to a 46% drop in crime inside its complexes over the last five years.

It dedicates about 45% of its HUD drug-elimination grant to its 73-officer, in-house public safety department.

But law enforcement should not be its mission, HUD says.

“If we were asking the Justice Department to handle the housing crisis around the country that would be ridiculous,” said Segerdahl. “Local police departments should enforce the law in the wealthy neighborhoods as well as the public housing areas.”

But this is merely one point of disagreement.

HUD also disputes the success claims of many of the housing authorities’ programs around the county, pointing to some efforts--field trips, computer rooms, recreation--that have nothing to do with fighting drugs.

HUD points especially to one known as the “Creative Wellness HELP” program that promoted stress-reduction among project residents through the use of gem stones, incense and candles.

HUD’s inspector general recently issued a report on the program nationally that questioned, among other things, housing authorities’ systems for monitoring and evaluating their programs.

Housing officials counter that good programs--drug counseling, after-school homework assistance--should not be penalized.

“You don’t throw out a program that has been hugely successful because of the problems of just a few,” said Kaiser.

One leader in the effort to save the funding is Rep. Tom Sawyer (D-Ohio), who has gathered 100 signatures from colleagues--including 14 from California--on a letter urging the Appropriations Committee to restore the funding.

“If [HUD is] is unable to continue the drug-prevention efforts, the problems will return,” said Rep. Gary Miller (R-Diamond Bar), highlighting the success of the program in Upland.

Reverting to the past, indeed, is what Carmen Trelles, a longtime resident of Pico-Aliso, fears. The once drug-infested community has become more livable. In fact, she has been thinking of having a camp out on the complex lawn as a treat for her two kids.

“The reason we never did that [before] was because of the danger of shootings,” she said.