The Los Angeles County Affordable Housing Solutions Agency (LACAHSA) announced on April 15 a $2.7 million award to PATH and its partners to help 187 households avoid homelessness — approximately 500 people. The investment is a targeted, front-end strategy to prevent displacement before it occurs.
The math makes the case. Once someone is living on the street, Los Angeles County spends approximately $35,000* per year per person in emergency medical care, mental health services, law enforcement response, and social services. This program stabilizes households for roughly 15% the cost of crisis response (representing an 85% savings).
“Resolving homelessness requires a multi-pronged approach. One of which is preventing people from becoming homeless in the first place,” said Rex Richardson, LACAHSA Board Chair and Mayor of Long Beach. “This investment focuses on keeping a family in their home which costs a fraction of what we spend once they’re on the street. And it delivers something no emergency shelter can: stability.”…