LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A hearing is set Thursday to discuss the proposed settlement of a lawsuit dealing with local government's alleged lack of services for the thousands of homeless people on Los Angeles streets.
In the proposal, Los Angeles County agreed to provide an additional 3,000 beds for mental health and substance abuse treatment by the end of 2026. A previous settlement attempt provided for 1,000 additional beds.
U.S. District Judge David Carter rejected earlier efforts to settle, denying a joint stipulation to dismiss the case filed in 2020 by plaintiffs the L.A. Alliance for Human Rights -- a coalition of housed and unhoused residents of downtown -- saying he wanted additional services and more "oversight and enforcement powers."
According to the proposal filed in federal court on Monday, Carter is getting what he asked for, including the county's promise to fund 3,000 new beds, an agreement to fund 450 new subsidies for board and care homes, and, significantly, the appointment of a retired judge to monitor the county's compliance with the settlement.
"The previous settlement the parties presented to the Court already provides a thousand new beds and enhanced services for people experiencing homelessness with substance use disorder or mental illness," Mira Hashmall, outside counsel for L.A. County in the case, said in a statement this week. "We hope the new settlement ... will end this three-year-old case and allow us to focus our funding and efforts on alleviating the homelessness crisis."
The latest settlement bid comes a month after a federal appeals court rejected the county's effort to compel Carter to sign off on the previous proposal.
In its March 2020 lawsuit, the L.A. Alliance for Human Rights alleged that inaction by the city and county of Los Angeles has created a dangerous environment in the Skid Row area and beyond.
The plaintiffs settled with the city last June in an agreement approved by Carter.
In April, the judge -- for the second time in five months -- rejected the county's settlement offer.
The county then attempted to stay proceedings while it prepared to appeal Carter's denial to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, but Carter also rejected that effort.
In its petition to the 9th Circuit in May, the county asked for a stay in proceedings and an order to compel Carter to vacate his April order, enforce the settlement agreement and dismiss the case.
The county argued that Carter's "rulings and the court's conduct are unprecedented. They are also clearly erroneous and exceed the bounds" of the district court's authority.
The appeals court denied the county's argument, and the judge set a November trial date.
The new settlement proposal builds on an agreement between Los Angeles city and county whereby the city agreed to provide 6,700 housing or shelter beds for vulnerable people experiencing homelessness, especially those residing under freeway overpasses, and the county agreed to assist with funding services in the amount of $293 million.
If Carter approves the settlement, he would sign off on dismissal of the lawsuit.
According to the results of a count conducted in January, there were 75,518 people experiencing homelessness in the county, and 46,260 in the city of Los Angeles. The figures show an increase from 69,144 in the county last year, and 41,980 in the city.
Weeks after declaring a local emergency on homelessness, the Board of Supervisors in February unanimously approved a $609.7 million budget for the Los Angeles County Homeless Initiative for fiscal year 2023-24, the largest investment in any given year to date to prevent and address homelessness.
L.A. Mayor Karen Bass recently said that unhoused seniors comprise one of the "fastest growing populations" of homeless residents in the city.