Letters to the Editor: Why has it taken so long for L.A. to make progress on its homelessness crisis?

To the editor: Per guest contributor Brian Levy’s recent article, 50,000 people live on Los Angeles County’s streets (“L.A. has now laid a real foundation to address homelessness,” May 21). Los Angeles’ homelessness support system permanently rehouses about 20,000 people every year. In the meantime, more than 60,000 people become homeless every year. This means the current policies and programs are never going to solve the problem in spite of the billions of dollars being spent every year.

Isn’t it time to be more creative in coming up with more realistic and potentially effective ways to solve the problem? It reminds me of the saying, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

Charles Blankson, Menifee, Calif.

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To the editor: Levy says that, a decade or so into Los Angeles’ homeless crisis, L.A. County’s Board of Supervisors has now defined “a set of ambitious and achievable goals.” Levy presents this as cause for celebration. For me, it represents a cause for dismay.

Communities around the country have had broadly differing degrees of success on this issue. The officials addressing homelessness in L.A. have had 10 years to explore the most successful programs and best practices elsewhere, evaluate those most scalable and suitable for L.A. and then develop and implement a program commensurate with the means at hand.

Levy writes, “goal clarification is a vital early step.” Right. Ten years on, the county is taking a vital early step. In what universe should this be cheered?

Shelley Wagers, Los Angeles