Interesting..that this program has been available since 1987..and yet it is so hard to make it work:
L.A. wanted to use this building as a shelter, and now Trump does too
This week, senior Trump administration officials are making their way to Los Angeles as part of the president’s high-profile promise to intervene in California’s homelessness crisis. Federal officials are discussing the possibility of razing encampments and relocating hundreds or thousands of unhoused people—tactics that homeless advocates insist have no legal grounds under federal law.
© Google Maps The Trump administration is reportedly interested in moving Skid Row residents to L.A.'s vacant Hawthorne Federal Building, designed by Cesár Pelli.
One option under discussion is to use a former government building just outside Los Angeles to house (or detain) people now living in Skid Row in downtown L.A., where some 8,000 to 11,000 people are typically living on the streets. Federal officials have already reportedly toured the facility, the former West Coast headquarters of the Federal Aviation Administration, located 20 miles away in Hawthorne, California.
But a review of public records shows that the government previously rejected two efforts by advocacy groups to use the former Federal Aviation Administration building to serve the homeless.
Repurposing federal properties to provide homeless services isn’t a new or unprecedented idea: In fact, federal law already requires the government to make unused properties available to advocacy organizations that provide shelter or services to the homeless. Under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987, the federal government must list surplus properties for consideration by shelter providers in a searchable database. A provision known as Title V states that properties must be made available—for no charge—to nonprofit groups, faith-based charities, local housing agencies, and other providers before they can be sold.
The federal office building, which is called the Hawthorne Federal Building, was listed as eligible for use to shelter providers in 2016. A nonprofit organization that provides shelter for homeless veterans submitted an application that year to use the facility. The request was denied. Four months later, in January 2017, an organization that provides job training to people living on the margins inquired about using the building under the same Title V provision. At that time, however, they were told that the facility was no longer available."
Now that Trump has shown interest...the building is available again--assuming we want the Feds getting into the homeless shelter business.
L.A. wanted to use this building as a shelter, and now Trump does too
This week, senior Trump administration officials are making their way to Los Angeles as part of the president’s high-profile promise to intervene in California’s homelessness crisis. Federal officials are discussing the possibility of razing encampments and relocating hundreds or thousands of unhoused people—tactics that homeless advocates insist have no legal grounds under federal law.
One option under discussion is to use a former government building just outside Los Angeles to house (or detain) people now living in Skid Row in downtown L.A., where some 8,000 to 11,000 people are typically living on the streets. Federal officials have already reportedly toured the facility, the former West Coast headquarters of the Federal Aviation Administration, located 20 miles away in Hawthorne, California.
But a review of public records shows that the government previously rejected two efforts by advocacy groups to use the former Federal Aviation Administration building to serve the homeless.
Repurposing federal properties to provide homeless services isn’t a new or unprecedented idea: In fact, federal law already requires the government to make unused properties available to advocacy organizations that provide shelter or services to the homeless. Under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987, the federal government must list surplus properties for consideration by shelter providers in a searchable database. A provision known as Title V states that properties must be made available—for no charge—to nonprofit groups, faith-based charities, local housing agencies, and other providers before they can be sold.
The federal office building, which is called the Hawthorne Federal Building, was listed as eligible for use to shelter providers in 2016. A nonprofit organization that provides shelter for homeless veterans submitted an application that year to use the facility. The request was denied. Four months later, in January 2017, an organization that provides job training to people living on the margins inquired about using the building under the same Title V provision. At that time, however, they were told that the facility was no longer available."
Now that Trump has shown interest...the building is available again--assuming we want the Feds getting into the homeless shelter business.
