LA County budget calls for $600M to combat homelessness, other social services

Homeless encampments in Downtown LA (Getty Images)
Homeless encampments in Downtown LA (Getty Images)

Los Angeles County proposed a budget Monday that would funnel more money into services for its most vulnerable residents, including the homeless.

The budget would devote more than $600 million toward services such as helping to reduce and prevent homelessness, hiring new social workers, improving foster care and other social services. 

The total budget for the fiscal year 2017-2018, which starts July 1, is $30.2 billion, an increase of $137 million over the prior year, the Los Angeles Times reported.

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County Chief Executive Sachi Hamai said there were new revenue sources available to L.A. this year, such as Measure H. The measure — approved in March — calls for a quarter-cent sales tax to fund homeless services countywide. It will provide roughly $355 million annually to combat homelessness, according to the LA Times.

However, the budget does not consider any proposed cuts at the state and federal levels, some of which could affect the county. President Donald’ Trump’s “America First” budget blueprint would reduce funding for the Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Housing and Urban Development, major sources of the county’s discretionary funding. It would also eliminate funding for several programs through which the county receives money, including the Community Development Block Grant and HOME Investment Partnerships Program, which helps provide affordable housing to low-income Americans. [LAT]Subrina Hudson