"Global Possibilities"

ONE CITY IS MAKING A GOOD START AT TACKLING ITS HOMELESS PROBLEMS – THANKS TO A LAWSUIT

LAPD Sergeant Aloaf Walker looks to see if anyone is sleeping in a tent on downtown Los Angeles' Skid Row, March 7, 2013. Los Angeles has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to allow police and city workers to seize or destroy property that homeless people leave unattended on sidewalks, saying Skid Row homeless encampments presented a public-health risk. According to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, some 11 people have died from tuberculosis since 2007, and of the 78 people infected, 60 were homeless. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS SOCIETY HEALTH POVERTY) - RTR3EPD6

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Good idea

lawsuit.

Under the terms of a settlement, Pomona, California, will stop arresting people for sleeping outside and start setting up lockers for homeless people to store their property.

The city was sued, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times, because it confiscated and destroyed personal property during homeless sweeps. As part of the settlement, Pomona will build 388 lockers for people to store their property and won’t enforce three laws that prohibit people from erecting tents and sleeping overnight on public property until enough shelter beds become open for the homeless. But the city may resume enforcement of those laws when those beds are available.

Those involved in the lawsuit praised the settlement as a model for other cities to follow. But the settlement is a short-term fix, not a solution. The best way to help homeless people, according to advocates and the homeless themselves, is to provide supportive, permanent housing.

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