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At the GHSNC May 7, 2020 regular meeting the following questions were posed to Councilperson Lee regarding the use of the Granada Hills Recreation center as a temporary homeless shelter during the COVID-19 crisis. Below are the written responses. Stakeholders raised additional questions during Public Comment, and the answers to those questions will be published once received from Council District 12.
Our office is determined to return the Rec Centers to normal operations as quickly as possible once the crisis abates.
There are no plans for the Rec Centers to continue being used for this purpose following the crisis.
The trailers are to be used for those experiencing homelessness who are in an at-risk category- this refers to unhoused persons who are aged 55 and older and/or have underlying health or medical conditions, factors which make an individual more susceptible. There are no plans for the trailers to be used for overflow or isolation of those testing positive for the virus.
Rec Centers are open throughout the City. People are being taken to the Rec Center closest to their location.
All actions in this event are undertaken at the direction of the County’s Department of Public Health. If a person is confirmed positive while residing at the shelter, they are taken to a hospital. Any necessary follow up testing of other residents and/or staff, quarantine periods, etc. are determined by DPH, whose staff monitor individuals and the site closely.
The wearing of masks. gloves, frequent hand washing, following the safer at home order, and practicing social distancing when out in public are best practices for containing the spread.
The LAPD HOPE and the Bureau of Sanitation are going to the location multiple times per week performing spot cleaning and offering resources to those living outside of the Rec Center. We have also allocated overtime funding to our LAPD divisions and requested additional patrols in the surrounding community.
Once the mayor’s emergency orders are lifted we will be able to enforce city ordinances that are now suspended. Outreach operations have continued throughout the crisis. However, there is no legal mechanism to force a person to accept housing or resources- this was the case prior and the emergency declaration has not changed this. The City, County, and LAHSA are working on mechanisms to keep folks currently in Rec Centers housed after the crisis- one such mechanism is by using empty hotels/motels coming under contract through Project Roomkey. For more information on Project Roomkey, please visit this website: https://covid19.lacounty.gov/project-roomkey/.
Both the County and State Departments of Public Health advised that getting our homeless population indoors was critical to helping flatten the curve and reduce the infection and death rate caused by the coronavirus. Based on that guidance, Mayor Garcetti ordered the use of city facilities to do exactly that. Many of the specific park locations are pre-identified in the City’s emergency operations plan as shelter locations in the event of an emergency.
Councilmember Lee is determined to return the park to its regular function once the crisis is over and the mayor’s orders are lifted. In the meantime, the councilmember has provided additional funding to Devonshire Division for increased patrols of the area.
The at-risk homeless being sheltered at the rec centers are local and from the San Fernando Valley. The shelters are operating under the guidelines set out by the County Department of Public Health. Neither government nor law enforcement can force individuals to remain on site.
The City and the service providers do not have the capacity to perform background checks. Such checks are not part of the normal intake process at shelters of this type.
LAPD is posted at these locations. If there is a threat to public safety they will take whatever actions are proper and necessary.
This information is collected by the service provider and is confidential; the shelter effort is coordinated with the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. Currently, there are 884 occupied shelter beds in Rec Centers throughout the City of Los Angeles.
At this time, there is not a set timeline for the wind down at the rec centers. The strategy is to stop new admissions while simultaneously working to place individuals currently residing in the rec center in another form of housing (ie. Project Roomkey, alternative shelter).
LAHSA and the City are working to track individual placement. During this time when many individuals currently in the rec centers may have taken the first steps to accept housing, the Councilmember thinks it is critical for LAHSA to be central to this process of placement and continued engagement.