- 5/13/2025
On Tuesday, LA Mayor Karen Bass held a briefing on the homelessness prevention program.
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00:00Welcome to St. John's Community Health, South LA's Community Health Center.
00:06St. John's serves, now in our 60th year, we serve 144,000 unduplicated patients
00:14who come in for 550,000 medical, dental, and behavioral health visits.
00:20The reason that we've been able to continue to grow is because we continue to take care of
00:27and prevent disease and progression in our current patients
00:31and then intervene and provide prevention and primary care to our new patients.
00:38And I think what's so exciting about this program of the Mayor's Fund
00:42is that the Mayor's efforts are about getting people housed
00:48but also preventing people from becoming homeless.
00:52And that's a very unique and very important strategy that's having tremendous success across the city.
01:00Under the leadership of Conway Collis, the Mayor's Fund has been able to prevent
01:05hundreds, indeed probably thousands of people, from falling into homelessness.
01:10And so it's an honor to be here today to host Mayor Bass,
01:14who's doing an incredible job around making sure people are housed,
01:18making sure that they're healthy and preventing them from falling into homelessness.
01:23So it gives me great pleasure and honor to introduce the Mayor of the City of Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Bass.
01:30Thank you. Thank you.
01:33Thank you very much, Jim.
01:35And let me thank you for your leadership here at St. John's.
01:39St. John's plays such a vital role in our community
01:43in terms of providing comprehensive health services.
01:47And I really appreciate working with you, what we've done over the years,
01:51and I know what we will continue to do in the future.
01:55As Jim Monge said, it takes a comprehensive approach to address homelessness.
02:02Everyone knows that in the City of Los Angeles,
02:05we have over 40,000 Angelenos who sleep on the street,
02:08and three or four of them did not wake up this morning.
02:11In order to address this problem, we obviously need to focus, like Inside Safe does,
02:18on getting people out of street encampments and getting them housed.
02:22But before that, how about preventing people from ever becoming homeless to begin with?
02:29That is a vital component of the work that needs to be done
02:32to get us over the finish line to end homelessness in our city.
02:38And so preventing homelessness, the City Council, under the leadership of the chair
02:44of the Housing and Homelessness Committee, Nithya Raman, last year passed legislation
02:51that has allowed a database to be created of every individual in the city who might be facing an eviction.
02:59And so the idea is if we can get to them before they fall out onto the streets,
03:06can we do something to protect them from falling into homelessness?
03:11And so we didn't want to just go about doing the work at the Mayor's Fund.
03:15We wanted to research the work as well to make sure that it was making the difference that we hoped it would.
03:22So we're here to announce the results of an independent study by the highly respected Applied Research Center
03:29at Loyola Marymount University under the leadership of Dr. Cheryl Grylls.
03:34This research has showed that the new innovative program from the Mayor's Fund
03:39actually does prevent people from being unhoused.
03:45So the key to the program is one-on-one personal support, working with a caseworker.
03:51And a lot of times individuals don't realize that they actually are eligible for public benefits,
03:58for financial support, for food in the SNAP program.
04:02And connecting an individual with those benefits can provide the needed income
04:08to keep them from ever falling in the homelessness to begin with.
04:12Again, a comprehensive strategy includes preventing people from falling into homelessness.
04:19You all are also familiar with this statistic, that we can get 200 people off the street
04:24and then 200 more people fall into homelessness.
04:28It's not the same people falling in and out, but different populations do that.
04:34So preventing homelessness to begin with, getting people who are on the streets,
04:39off the streets, ASAP, into interim housing, addressing why they fell into homelessness to begin with,
04:47and then moving that person on to permanent housing.
04:50Those are the steps of a comprehensive approach.
04:54And with that, I'd like to introduce the CEO of the Mayor's Fund, Conway Collis,
04:59and congratulate you for the work that you've initiated and what has been accomplished so far.
05:03Thank you, Mayor.
05:07Thank you, Mayor Bass, and thank you for your leadership.
05:12For the thousands of people that have been helped by the Mayor's Fund We Are LA program,
05:20they really, they and all Angelenos, all owe you a debt of gratitude for your leadership
05:27during this time of great stress for Los Angeles.
05:34I'd like to introduce first the people who are with us today,
05:40because as we're going to discuss, it's the caseworkers who do the work,
05:43and I'd like to introduce the representatives of the organizations who we partner with
05:49to actually deliver the services that have saved thousands and thousands of Angelenos from becoming homeless.
05:57First, from Groundworks, we have Marcos Roman, Rosio Sabria, and Marisol Balestreros.
06:05Can you just wave so everybody can see you?
06:08And from Esperanza Community Housing, Brandon Franco, Niles Calas, and Cecilio Cruz.
06:20Could also you wave and say hello?
06:24And from St. John's, you'll see some of the St. John's We Are LA outreach workers
06:29who are at the tables across the street and on the clinic on this side,
06:35and also representing St. John's here, Deanna Nunez, and Amparito Domeniguez.
06:42Also, thank you.
06:46And then later, you'll hear from Dr. Cheryl Grylls and Dr. Elia de la Cruz Toledo-He,
06:53as well as from Marco Gonzalez.
06:58You'll also hear from Diego Alvarez and C.C. Castillo from the Eviction Defense Network.
07:11The Mayor's Fund We Are LA program has been working for two years now.
07:16So we've had a chance to make improvements in the program,
07:20to make the needed adjustments in the program.
07:23And we use some of the, you know, modern technology and the newest software.
07:30For example, in custom software developed by Imagine LA,
07:35our caseworkers are able to quickly analyze all of the programs and services
07:40that an individual might be eligible for.
07:44And as the Mayor mentioned, people can be leaving hundreds,
07:47even thousands of dollars on the table that they don't know they're eligible for,
07:52that maybe they don't know how to apply for, perhaps they're afraid to.
07:58And the caseworkers are quickly able to analyze and actually get them signed up.
08:04And similarly, a lot of people who are faced with eviction get eviction notice
08:08and they don't know to answer it.
08:10And they lose their case automatically.
08:14And in another custom software, our caseworkers now actually file a legal answer for people online
08:21so that they don't lose automatically.
08:24So there's lots of new software, new technology.
08:28But here's the thing.
08:32The reason this program is successful is because of the caseworkers providing one-on-one, person-to-person support.
08:41That's really the difference.
08:43And so many people who have been served come out and talk about the fact that it makes them feel so differently
08:51to have someone that cares, that's served them personally, and that's laid out a path to deal with their problems.
09:00You know, Mayor Bass has talked about linking arms.
09:03And that's just what the caseworkers do.
09:06They link arms together.
09:07They link arms with their neighbors and fellow Angelenos to help them in a time of great need.
09:14Truth is, it's a hell of a good example.
09:17There are lots of folks standing on the sidelines, some people criticizing.
09:21What's needed is for Angelenos to link arms and help each other.
09:27And that's exactly what our caseworkers are doing.
09:32The study shows, as Dr. Grylls will outline, that thousands of people have been helped by the program.
09:42But there are also major improvements that have taken place since the study was done.
09:47It covered March through August of last year.
09:49For example, we've increased our outreach in addition to reaching out to everyone, as the mayor indicated,
09:57who's received a notice of eviction, which is filed by the city in a partnership with the city.
10:03We get that list.
10:05People get at least three pieces of mail, one signed by the mayor, to ask them to call our hotline so that they can get direct services.
10:13But we're also now expanding our outreach through faith-based organizations, through the schools where St. John's has school-based clinics,
10:22and directly to immigrant communities who are obviously at a special risk right now.
10:30But the single biggest improvement has been our partnership with the Eviction Defense Network, EDN.
10:37Through that partnership, the Mayor's Fund is funding the intake operation that EDN pioneered and hasn't been able to fully implement because of funding over the years.
10:49So that everyone who we refer over to the case workers, refer over to EDN, now gets help, professional help, to develop their case.
11:01And then when it's time to go to trial, they actually get a lawyer, not just a self-help workshop to help them.
11:10And the client navigator, Diego Alvarez, is here, and Cecile Castillo, a paralegal, are both here.
11:21If you could just wave so people know.
11:24And they'll be available to answer questions after the press conference.
11:31The whole point of today is the study, and as the Mayor indicated, critical to get an independent research, a respected research organization to do an independent study of what the Mayor's Fund has done.
11:46And there's been no one better to do that than renowned researcher, Dr. Cheryl Grylls, and her colleague, Dr. Elio De La Cruz Toledo-He.
11:59Cheryl Grylls has been the principal navigator in major national research entities looking at disparities, the social determinants of health,
12:12prevention mechanisms across the country.
12:17It's a pleasure to introduce Dr. Cheryl Grylls.
12:24Thank you, Conway.
12:26Good morning, everyone.
12:28I'll be brief.
12:29I'm an academic, so that's going to be hard.
12:31So homelessness is often characterized as an individual deficit caused by issues such as mental illness, substance use,
12:41family instability, trauma and violence, adverse life events, or disability.
12:48If we limit our assessment of homelessness to these factors, we may miss the big picture of personal and structural forces that are at play.
12:59At the end of the day, our intervention is only going to be as strong as our analysis of the issues.
13:05Understanding the drivers of becoming unhoused, the length of time one is unhoused, and recycling in and out of homelessness is essential if our goal is substantive, sustainable, and humane change.
13:21The We Are LA study examined one potential driver, evictions.
13:25The study examined the effect of legal services to LA city residents who received an eviction notice, offering legal assistance and connections to resources that can help people stay in their homes.
13:39The study's sample consisted of a survey of 677 LA city residents who had received services from the We Are LA program.
13:50This is no minor accomplishment to get 677 surveys from this population, which can be challenging to access and reach.
14:02Nearly two-thirds of participants were primarily women, 69%, and while it was a racially diverse sample, 71% of the study participants included Latinx members of the community,
14:1717% were African-American or Black, 5% white, 1% Asian, and 3% reported other ethnicities.
14:26It's also important to note that half of the participants had children in their household at the time of eviction notification.
14:36About a third had one child, a third had two children, and 30% had three or more children.
14:43We have to pay attention to these details.
14:47And so what kinds of things were revealed?
14:49Very briefly, between 68% to 85% of participants who received eviction support from We Are LA reported positive impacts from eviction assistance.
15:02This includes things like 68% of folks reporting an improvement in their finances and 85% reporting an improvement in their circumstances.
15:12Of great importance is the finding that nearly three-quarters of participants, 74%, reported improvements in housing stability after receiving eviction support.
15:25To estimate the broader overall impact of We Are LA, we took that finding of 68% to 85% who reported positive impacts and focused on the 74% that reported improvements in their housing stability.
15:43To calculate what that means for the larger client population of 42,840 people served during the six-month period when the survey took place.
15:59This means better housing stability was experienced by between 29,846 to 33,558 of the 42,840 LA residents.
16:14This is an encouraging result, and I'll close.
16:19This should be further explored over a longer period of time, and including things like, one, more information about the timing of the support received, and two, more specific questions about participants' life circumstances.
16:34We need to understand what brought people to the eclipse of eviction, what their life circumstances and needs are, and what would make a difference in disrupting the trajectory toward becoming unhoused.
16:49For example, we found Medi-Cal, CalFresh, and CalWorks to be among the most common supports people received or needed.
16:58Perhaps as telling as this is the general observation that most participants received at least one type of support in addition to eviction support.
17:11So by looking at the whole person, we can begin learning about the human stories not captured in merely counting the number of people placed in temporary or permanent housing.
17:22It begins to reveal the drivers of becoming unhoused and the pathways for sustainable departures from homelessness.
17:31In other words, comprehensive services that speak to the unique needs of individuals matter, and it must be examined.
17:39And this study provided a foundation for deepening our understanding of one of the drivers and strategies to disrupt homelessness.
17:52Thank you, Dr. Grylls.
17:55I said that the reason that this program is successful, the reason that those thousands of people were helped, is really because of the caseworkers and the one-on-one support.
18:06I'd like to introduce Marcos Roman from our Crenshaw office run by Groundworks.
18:14Marcos.
18:16Thank you, Conway.
18:18Good morning, everyone.
18:20My name is Marcos Roman.
18:21I am a caseworker at the We Are LA program.
18:24Every day when I come into work, I help members of the Los Angeles community who fear they are going to be soon evicted.
18:31I connect them to resources.
18:32I help them get responses to unlawful detainer notices to the court in time.
18:37I help them get legal aid.
18:38So many people come to us in a panic.
18:42They don't even know where to get started because the landlords have all the power.
18:46Most of them want to make things right and get caught up on their bills.
18:49Most of all, they're afraid they'll end up homeless.
18:53It is incredibly gratifying that so many people tell us how comforted they feel to have the support of someone who cares.
19:03They are appreciative.
19:04They are appreciative.
19:04We're helping them get the assistance they need and work through their problem to stay housed.
19:10A tenant I recently helped named Elena was behind on her rent for two months.
19:15She came to the We Are LA program after receiving an eviction notice.
19:18With us helping her file the legal response, it gave her more time since she had a payment on its way.
19:24She was able to pay the landlord and come to an agreement, and the landlord ended up dismissing the case.
19:30I am proud that my job is helping people in need, and I am happy this study shows we're making a real difference.
19:42Thank you very much, Marcos.
19:44Our last speaker is Margo Gonzalez, who is a tenant who was helped by the program,
19:52and I think we all owe her a debt of gratitude for her courage to fight her way through the process
19:58and to be here with us today.
20:01Margo?
20:06Good morning.
20:09I'm incredibly grateful for the Marist Fund for LA.
20:13We are LA.
20:15Because of them, I was able to stay in my home.
20:19Over the course of a couple of years, my financial situation changed.
20:23I lost one or more source of my income.
20:29After I put in for my retirement from a full-time job, my sister, who I was a caregiver for, passed away.
20:36I also lost my caregiving job from another source and ultimately fell behind on my rent.
20:46Last fall, I received an eviction notice from my landlord.
20:49I was worried about losing my apartment because it's even more difficult to find a two-bedroom at the current rate.
20:58I'm also supporting my adult daughter, who's working through mental health issues, so I really needed this two-bedroom.
21:07Soon after getting the notice, I got a letter from We Are LA, and I went to them to get help in dealing with my situation.
21:15They were really kind, and they worked with me to fill out my legal response to the eviction notice.
21:22Without the response, I would have been evicted immediately.
21:28We Are LA connected me to the Eviction Defense Network, where I was able to get legal services.
21:34As a result of their help, I was able to settle with my landlord and stay in my apartment with my daughter.
21:42I love my home, and being able to stay in it is truly a second chance for me.
21:47No longer worrying about being evicted and needing to find a new place to live took a load off my back.
21:54I could not have done this without the help of We Are LA.
22:02Thank you, Margo.
22:03We have time for a few questions.
22:06Any questions?
22:09Oh.
22:11Do you want Marcos?
22:14Yeah.
22:15Sure.
22:18El día de hoy, la alcaldesa Karen Bass anunció una nueva investigación independiente
22:22que muestra que el programa We Are LA, o Somos Los Ángeles,
22:27está logrando mantener a las personas en sus hogares y evitando que sean desalojadas.
22:32Esta nueva investigación muestra que decenas de miles de personas atendidas durante solo
22:38seis meses del programa We Are LA, o Somos Los Ángeles, de la alcaldesa, habían mejorado
22:44su estabilidad de vivienda.
22:46Y no se trata solo de cifras, sino de acciones estratégicas que prevén que las familias terminen
22:52en las calles.
22:53Parte de la comprensiva estrategia de la alcaldesa Karen Bass para enfrentar la crisis de personas
22:59sin hogar.
22:59Gracias.
23:02Thank you again.
23:04We have time for a few questions.
23:07Can you tell me what your response is to Gavin Newsom's call for cities to ban homeless encampments?
23:17Sure. Well, first of all, I certainly share the governor's frustration and also have appreciated his partnerships.
23:24As a matter of fact, we recently received a grant to resolve encampments from the state, and we're going to continue doing what we're doing.
23:34We do not think it is necessary to pass a law saying encampments are banned, and you know we do have a vehicle when council members choose to use it, 4118.
23:44Our focus has been getting people off the streets and into housing, and we've actually not had difficulty doing that.
23:53Our inside safe team has resolved more than 100 encampments so far and have gone back to those same locations where the encampments were in case tents come up again,
24:04which is why for the first time in many years we had a decrease in street homelessness.
24:08The very encampments the governor is talking about, we decreased them by 10% in 2023.
24:16We're waiting on a confirmation of the 2024 numbers, but we have reason to believe from the preliminary data that street encampments have decreased even further.
24:27Are you at all concerned about the city's ability to tackle homelessness now that LASA is about to lose funding?
24:33Well, LASA is actually, I mean, the difference is the funding from LASA was moved to the county.
24:39It's not as though it went away completely.
24:42I'm always concerned, and I'm concerned about the direction that the county is going because the LASA was a joint agreement between the city and the county,
24:53and that is essentially broken right now, so I am concerned about that.
24:57However, I do believe that the plans that we have been working out, especially during this budget cycle,
25:03that we will continue to strengthen our ability to get people off the street, to move them into interim housing.
25:10What I really hope that we're able to accomplish over this next fiscal year is more interim housing at a lower rate than motels.
25:18But we have been and do plan to continue doing that, regardless of what has happened with LASA.
25:24And any update from state officials on assistance with the budget deficit?
25:29No, waiting to hear.
25:31I am concerned, though, the preliminary information that has come out, the May revise will come out this week,
25:35but the preliminary information shows a pretty massive deficit on the state side as well.
25:41But I have definitely not given up hope and have been in communication with the governor.
25:45So are you confident that there's enough financial aid or assistance to keep the mayor's fund for Los Angeles and we are L.A.?
25:53Yes, you should know that the mayor's fund is not funded by city funds.
25:58This is private philanthropy and you can speak to that.
26:00Sure.
26:03Our support is solid.
26:05It is totally non-governmental, although we do connect people to government funding.
26:11Interestingly, I think that most of our funding has come from health care organizations because the reason is that the most important thing we can do for someone's health is to keep them from becoming homeless.
26:26So that support appears to be strong and we certainly hope and it seems like it will continue.
26:32Let me just add to that in terms of the health support for the mayor's fund.
26:37What a lot of people don't realize is that sometimes individuals' health circumstances leads to homelessness.
26:43We get fixated on substance abuse and mental health, but I have certainly met people with diabetes, with cancer, with other chronic diseases that have compromised their ability to work and undermined their ability to pay rent.
26:56Any other questions?
26:57Thank you, everyone.
26:59Thank you very much.
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