LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A federal agreement with the city of Los Angeles will allow Angelenos living in temporary housing to find and be placed into permanent housing at a faster rate, Mayor Karen Bass announced Wednesday.
In May, Bass and four other cities signed a memorandum of understanding with the White House to work on relaxing regulations that might delay such placement.
As a result of the agreement, Angelenos in tiny homes, A Bridge to Home housing or motels through the Inside Safe program will have to worry less about verification barriers as they work with public housing authorities to find permanent housing, Los Angeles officials said.
"For too long, the system responded to unhoused Angelenos with a 30 plus page questionnaire asking for proof that they were low income instead of with the housing they needed," Bass said in a statement Wednesday. "This critical agreement will prevent people from languishing in interim housing because they need to prove income and other factors. People should not be left in motels, tiny homes, or A Bridge Home housing because of paperwork. This announcement addresses major roadblocks, putting housing first and bureaucracy last."
Bass expressed her gratitude to U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Marcia Fudge, who the mayor worked with on the issue. She also praised the Biden Administration for its "strong leadership and assistance" to cut red tape and barriers in bringing Angelenos inside.
"This will allow us to bring Angelenos inside, and I will continue to break new ground to fix broken systems that stand in our way as we urgently act on homelessness," Bass said.
The following policy changes are laid out in the agreement, according to Bass' office:
-- Income: Unhoused people commonly do not have traditional or banked income, so under the agreement, unhoused Angelenos no longer have to prove a certain income in order to be placed into specific housing;
-- Social Security number: Unhoused people commonly do not have Social Security cards, which can be easily lost or stolen. The agreement allows unhoused Angelenos to no longer have to show a Social Security card to move into housing;
-- Date of birth: Unhoused Angelenos no longer need a federal certification or paper of their date of birth to move into housing;
-- Disability: Unhoused people no longer need to provide a doctor's note proving they have a disability.
Once individuals are in permanent housing, public housing authorities will work to collect verification.
According to Bass' office, the agreement was the result of discussions with White House officials, and the multiple trips to Washington D.C. by Bass, including a trip last week when the mayor met with Vice President Kamala Harris, as well as Neera Tanden, director of the domestic policy council, and Tom Perez, director of intergovernmental affairs.