Molina to Honor Skid Row Demonstration Project for Helping Get 1,000 People Off Streets

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MEDIA ADVISORY                           CONTACT:  Roxane Marquez at (213) 974-4111 (office)

or (213) 598-5463 (cellular)

 

GLORIA MOLINA TO HONOR SKID ROW DEMONSTRATION

PROJECT FOR HELPING GET 1,000 PEOPLE OFF STREETS

 

Approximately 700 Children, 300 Adults Receiving Services, Housing

 

LOS ANGELES (December 8, 2008)—Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina will honor members of the county’s Skid Row Demonstration Project at tomorrow’s Board of Supervisors meeting for their success in helping get approximately 1,000 people off of downtown L.A.’s Skid Row streets.

 

WHO:               Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina

                        Tanya Tull, President/CEO, Beyond Shelter

                        Members of the Los Angeles County Skid Row Demonstration Project

 

WHAT:              Continental breakfast reception and formal board presentation to honor the Los Angeles County Skid Row Demonstration Project

 

WHEN:             Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Continental breakfast reception at 8:30 a.m. in Room 830

                        Formal board presentation at 9:30 a.m. in Room 381B

 

WHERE:           Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration

                        500 West Temple Street

                        Los Angeles, California 90012

 

BACKGROUND:  Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina officially initiated her effort to help get children and families off of downtown L.A.’s Skid Row streets in October 2005 when—on a motion co-authored by then-Supervisor Yvonne B. Burke—she directed the county’s Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), Department of Health Services (DHS), Department of Mental Health (DMH), and Department of Public Social Services (DPSS) to visit all Skid Row shelters and missions each business day to ensure that eligible families immediately began receiving public benefits to which they were entitled.  In 2006, the county hired the non-profit organization Beyond Shelter to directly administer the program.  Each Skid Row Demonstration Project team includes a DPSS homelessness case manager along with staff from DCFS, DHS, DMH, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), and Beyond Shelter.  Molina’s program requires that families living in Skid Row be provided with intensive case management and connected with an array of services, ranging from food stamps and hotel vouchers to mental health services and substance abuse treatment.  It also requires that every child encountered by the team be assessed for DCFS intervention and appropriately referred; that eligible families be enrolled in the CalWORKs programs; and that participants be provided with emergency, transitional, and permanent housing as soon as possible.  To date, the county has spent $9.6 million on the Skid Row Demonstration Project.  As a result, at least 1,000 individuals—including approximately 700 children and 300 adults—are now off the streets of Skid Row.

 

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