Although numbers based off the 2015 Long Beach Biennial Homeless Count show a decrease in the homelessness population beginning in 2011, the growing numbers of the issue statewide is still a concern amongst Long Beach councilmembers. ” captionposition=”left”] [aesop_character name=”Denny Cristales” caption=”Editorial Assistant” align=”center”] Following a trend recently taken by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and the California State Assembly, the City of Long Beach— at least the Long Beach City Council— has also opted to request a state declaration of emergency on the issue of homelessness.
The Long Beach City Council voted in favor of an agenda item Tuesday that would request City Attorney Charles Parkin to draft a resolution to Gov. Jerry Brown and the California Legislature to declare a state of emergency on the homelessness issue in an effort to further address the problem and guide resources to support major cities in California.
The council approved the vote in an attempt to reduce the homeless population.
“The amount of homeless people is a big concern,” said 6th District Councilmember Dee Andrews at the July 5 council meeting. “I think, at times, I have stopped and spoken to some of these individuals, and all they need is a little help… This is a worldwide problem right now. Homelessness is just not a joke. I mean, when you just take a look anywhere and everywhere, especially in the city of Long Beach and Los Angeles County, we have to take a real serious concern… This problem is really an epidemic, and we really need to do something about that.”
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a similar request in June. The California State Assembly also adopted a request for Brown to declare a state of emergency on homelessness as of last week.
According to the 2016 Los Angeles County Homeless Count results, LA County has experienced a 5.7-percent increase in its homeless population compared to last year— jumping from an estimated 44,359 individuals to 46,874.
The Long Beach numbers show a decrease. The Long Beach Biennial Homeless Count in 2015 reported a total of 2,345 homeless individuals (see graph).
Eighth District Councilmember Al Austin, who helped put the agenda item forward along with councilmembers Lena Gonzalez, Roberto Uranga and Rex Richardson, also claimed during the council meeting that the statewide homeless population count was up to 115,000. And despite Long Beach steadily showing a decrease in its numbers, the issue still remains a growing concern.
“Throughout the region, we are seeing an increased number of homelessness,” Austin said. “So, given the growing homeless crisis in our city, county and state, it is important for our city, the city of Long Beach, to be active in this issue and join in the call for the State to provide resources necessary for local governments to help address this glaring problem.”
The council’s request for a state declaration of emergency comes a little over a month after Long Beach councilmembers asked for a homelessness report from the city manager and the Department of Health and Human Services.
First District Councilmember Gonzalez initiated that request in May in order to get more data regarding homelessness.
Gonzalez noted the timeliness of the council’s request this past Tuesday and its correlation with the homelessness report. She said this “proactive approach” would be an effective way to minimize the issue.
“It marries on what we’ve been working on,” she said. “We’ve been looking to bring back a report in a few months with the health department that will talk about homelessness as a larger picture as it relates to housing and, of course, addressing children and families, because there is a larger number of children and families that are out on the streets at this moment, which makes it really tough.”
Austin said that the health department has various programs that provide outreach and services to homeless individuals in the city.
“However, this is the crisis of our day,” he added, “and more resources from the State are needed to address this problem.”
Seventh District Councilmember Uranga anticipates that declaring a state of emergency on the issue of homelessness could be exactly what the City and State need in order to highlight the problem.
“It’s a growing problem,” Uranga said. “It’s certainly a big one in my district. We’ve been fighting the good fight to have these people receive services, to receive housing. And it seems like nothing seems to work. So perhaps this motion would be providing some much needed attention on this issue so that we can address it throughout the city.”
