Unsheltered people in Los Angeles were substantially more likely to be contacted by police than outreach workers during homeless encampment sweeps, according to a survey by USC and UCLA researchers.
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More than half of survey respondents said they’d been forced to move at least once because of L.A.’s anti-camping laws. Of those, 53% said they were notified of the sweep by police, and only 15% were contacted by outreach workers.
A mere 13% of reported sweeps involved offers of housing or shelter. Just 5% of respondents were still in housing a month later. The majority ended up back in the same location they were swept from.
The study also looked at long-term rehousing outcomes. It found that about half of those who spent time in temporary shelters later returned to the streets, compared to less than 10% of those who could access permanent housing.
The research was conducted by the Homeless Research Data Collaborative, a joint effort between UCLA, USC, and Akido Labs. The group’s previous research found that while 90% of unsheltered Angelenos are interested in housing services, one-third hadn’t been contacted by outreach service providers.
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