LOS ANGELES – Mayor Karen Bass and the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development today announced a critical agreement to help the City of Los Angeles bring more Angelenos inside faster. The agreement should allow Angelenos in temporary housing, including in tiny homes, A Bridge Home housing, or motels through Inside Safe, to be placed in permanent housing faster by cutting through bureaucracy.
In May, Los Angeles and four other cities signed a historic memorandum of understanding with the White House to tackle unsheltered homelessness. One of the key goals for the Bass administration in entering this agreement was to secure commitments from the federal government to relax regulations to allow Angelenos to be moved inside, faster.
“For too long, the system responded to unhoused Angelenos with a 30+ page questionnaire asking for proof that they were low income instead of with the housing they needed. This critical agreement will prevent people from languishing in interim housing because of the 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,” said Mayor Karen Bass. “I want to thank Secretary Fudge, who I’ve worked with on this issue, for her fearless advocacy. I also want to thank the Biden Administration for its strong leadership and assistance as we work to cut red tape and barriers in our way of 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.”
Once individuals are in permanent housing, public housing authorities will work to collect verification. The following barriers to bringing Angelenos into permanent housing will be addressed in the agreement:
-
Self-certification of Income: Unhoused people commonly do not have traditional or banked income. Under the agreement, unhoused Angelenos no longer have to prove a certain income in order to come inside.
-
Self-certification of Social Security Number: Unhoused people commonly do not have Social Security cards, which are easily lost or stolen. Under this agreement, unhoused Angelenos no longer have to show a Social Security card to move into housing.
-
Self-certification of Date of Birth: Unhoused people commonly do not have access to these documents due to time spent living unhoused. Under this agreement, unhoused Angelenos no longer need a federal certification or paper records of their date of birth to move into housing.
-
Self-certification of Disability: Unhoused people commonly do not have access to health care, making it difficult to obtain proper documentation showing disability. Under this agreement, unhoused Angelenos no longer need to provide a doctor’s note proving they are disabled.
The announcement follows active communication with United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Marcia Fudge as well as multiple trips to Washington, DC by Mayor Bass, including one last week during which she met with Vice President Kamala Harris as well as Neera Tanden, Director of the Domestic Policy Council and Senior Advisor to the President and Tom Perez, Director of Intergovernmental Affairs and Senior Advisor to the President. The Mayor and the White House senior officials spoke about their shared commitment to solving the homelessness crisis as she continues to lock arms with all levels of government.