Because of the sequester, the Los Angeles County Housing Authority, which provides housing vouchers for 23,000 individuals and households, stopped issuing new vouchers when any slots came open. That was to absorb a 5% cut in federal funds imposed by Congress' inaction."We're unfortunately the homeless capital of the world," Sean Rogan, the agency's executive director, told me recently.
That may be a bit of an exaggeration, but it's not to L.A.'s credit — or the nation's — that it compares favorably to some Third World countries. The waiting list for vouchers at Rogan's agency is 65,000 names long, while only about 1,000 slots open by attrition each year.
The agency hopes to avoid having to take vouchers away from families that are currently housed, but that will happen only if its application for a $1.2-million emergency grant from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development is approved.
Rogan is hopeful, but without that money some 1,800 families or elderly or disabled individuals may lose existing vouchers, which would put them at the mercy of Southern California's tight rental market, virtually guaranteeing that many will lose their shelter.
If the sequester continues into next year and forces an additional 5% budget cut, those losses will be inevitable, he says. And that comes on top of relentless budget cuts imposed by Congress over the last two years.
"The sequester was just piling on," Rogan said. "Those impacts are real."
eace