Monday, April 23, 2007
Legislation needed to help mentally ill --
In an article in the Los Angeles Daily News (April 3, 2007) Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich calls for legislation that he believes will affect positive change in the homeless situation, namely mandatory psychological, alcohol and drug abuse treatments.
This legislative panacea of medical assistance seems to be a great tool to fight the issue of homelessness, at least on the surface. It might be a good tool. But, examining the 2005 HUD report on homelessness closely, it shows only 34% of the homeless are classified as severely mentally ill, 47% are classified as chronic substance abusers, but it is unclear what percentage of overlap occurs within these two subgroups.
For the sake of argument, let us assume no crossover exists between these two groups. That would account for only about 80% of the homeless persons in Los Angeles City and County. What do we do with the other 15,878 homeless? Do we identify them mentally ill or addicts so we can provide services? Or do we just not provide services? Do we have adequate housing capacity to assist even this smaller group of homeless within the mayor’s initiative that builds 1500 housing units?
What really seems to be inconsistent is the Supervisor’s call for “support and participation of the community.” This is especially perplexing when Mr. Antonovich seems intent on blocking the Hope Gardens project for homeless women and children in the San Fernando Valley. Is he suggesting these are mentally ill or addicted women that shouldn’t be allowed to live on dozens of acres well outside skid row? Would voluntarily and mandatory drug and alcohol tests – along with psychological counseling for all women living there – suddenly make the facility acceptable to the community, or Mr. Antonovich? My guess is the answer is no.
We at the Los Angeles Mission have mandatory drug testing for all persons in our rehabilitation program. We continue to increase access to psychological counseling and pastoral counseling. This provides a deterrent for us but not a guarantee of success on an individual basis. Testing is a tool in the fight against addiction. But, more important are the human and spiritual connections needed by addicts to achieve long-term success over addiction and to support those who require medications by being there to support and encourage them when they might otherwise delude themselves into stopping their meds.
At the end of the day testing clean or taking your psych meds is a starting place for full recovery and reentry in to real world challenges of work, housing, shelter and human dignity. The Los Angeles Mission is committed to helping those who choose to come to us for help by providing temporary shelter, food, rehabilitation programs, job training and transitional housing with dignity 365 days a year. And I hope we do it with the “support and participation of the community.”
--Herb Smith, President
This legislative panacea of medical assistance seems to be a great tool to fight the issue of homelessness, at least on the surface. It might be a good tool. But, examining the 2005 HUD report on homelessness closely, it shows only 34% of the homeless are classified as severely mentally ill, 47% are classified as chronic substance abusers, but it is unclear what percentage of overlap occurs within these two subgroups.
For the sake of argument, let us assume no crossover exists between these two groups. That would account for only about 80% of the homeless persons in Los Angeles City and County. What do we do with the other 15,878 homeless? Do we identify them mentally ill or addicts so we can provide services? Or do we just not provide services? Do we have adequate housing capacity to assist even this smaller group of homeless within the mayor’s initiative that builds 1500 housing units?
What really seems to be inconsistent is the Supervisor’s call for “support and participation of the community.” This is especially perplexing when Mr. Antonovich seems intent on blocking the Hope Gardens project for homeless women and children in the San Fernando Valley. Is he suggesting these are mentally ill or addicted women that shouldn’t be allowed to live on dozens of acres well outside skid row? Would voluntarily and mandatory drug and alcohol tests – along with psychological counseling for all women living there – suddenly make the facility acceptable to the community, or Mr. Antonovich? My guess is the answer is no.
We at the Los Angeles Mission have mandatory drug testing for all persons in our rehabilitation program. We continue to increase access to psychological counseling and pastoral counseling. This provides a deterrent for us but not a guarantee of success on an individual basis. Testing is a tool in the fight against addiction. But, more important are the human and spiritual connections needed by addicts to achieve long-term success over addiction and to support those who require medications by being there to support and encourage them when they might otherwise delude themselves into stopping their meds.
At the end of the day testing clean or taking your psych meds is a starting place for full recovery and reentry in to real world challenges of work, housing, shelter and human dignity. The Los Angeles Mission is committed to helping those who choose to come to us for help by providing temporary shelter, food, rehabilitation programs, job training and transitional housing with dignity 365 days a year. And I hope we do it with the “support and participation of the community.”
--Herb Smith, President
Friday, April 20, 2007
Points of Light, South Park and Ultimate Disrespect
Last night the Los Angeles Mission along with 229 other recipients were given grants from the Northrup Grumman Corporation and its employees. We were treated like royalty at the California Science Center and we had the outstanding opportunity to be challenged by Robert Goodwin, the retiring CEO of the Points of Light Foundation.
Mr. Goodwin reminded us once again that the overarching need in our society is acceptance and self-worth. He also reminded us that the greatest insult is disrespect. With the horrible murders at Virginia Tech we see once again the result of years of personal anguish turning into the ultimate disrespect of another human being – murder!
I am not a South Park fan mostly because I don’t find humor in the demeaning of others. Oh, I do some pretty stupid things and have learned to laugh at myself and most days I’m even strong enough to let others join in! The April 18th airing of South Park once again sought cheap humor by its attempt to address homeless issues. The thought: “send them all to California” though aimed at rich people with spare change only adds to the stigma of what a homeless person really needs and wants. Homeless men and women need and want lasting change – not spare change!
California does not need any more of the nations homeless! We are the undisputed homeless capital of the US. What California does need is what I heard Robert Goodwin championing, a proactive we-can-do-it-together attitude to create lasting and meaningful change in our society. To make it a society where people are valued as human beings, where respect of others is the norm and where helping those less fortunate than ourselves is part of our personal and societal DNA.
Here at the Los Angeles Mission we continue to provide services that restore self esteem, love and respect of others. We do so one life at a time. I know that the other 229 grant recipients are attempting to do the same. How about you?
--Herb Smith, President
Mr. Goodwin reminded us once again that the overarching need in our society is acceptance and self-worth. He also reminded us that the greatest insult is disrespect. With the horrible murders at Virginia Tech we see once again the result of years of personal anguish turning into the ultimate disrespect of another human being – murder!
I am not a South Park fan mostly because I don’t find humor in the demeaning of others. Oh, I do some pretty stupid things and have learned to laugh at myself and most days I’m even strong enough to let others join in! The April 18th airing of South Park once again sought cheap humor by its attempt to address homeless issues. The thought: “send them all to California” though aimed at rich people with spare change only adds to the stigma of what a homeless person really needs and wants. Homeless men and women need and want lasting change – not spare change!
California does not need any more of the nations homeless! We are the undisputed homeless capital of the US. What California does need is what I heard Robert Goodwin championing, a proactive we-can-do-it-together attitude to create lasting and meaningful change in our society. To make it a society where people are valued as human beings, where respect of others is the norm and where helping those less fortunate than ourselves is part of our personal and societal DNA.
Here at the Los Angeles Mission we continue to provide services that restore self esteem, love and respect of others. We do so one life at a time. I know that the other 229 grant recipients are attempting to do the same. How about you?
--Herb Smith, President
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Go Bruins
Having attended neither UCLA nor USC I can cheer selectively for the accomplishments of both. I want to commend the UCLA Project Strive in its efforts to begin addressing the issue of homeless teens.
According to the 2005 HUD Continuum of Care study there are nearly 18,000 under age unaccompanied youth homeless in this country. 52%. YES, 52% are considered to be here in the greater Los Angeles area. Due to legal restrictions and a good dose of hormones this can be a difficult group to service. I’m sure we would all agree that healthy homes are the best solution for this unique population. But, sadly that is not the case for many of these restless and troubled youth.
We do need to find a way for service providers to serve this population with safety and dignity while trying to break the cycle of violence, mental illness or rebellion that starts youth down the road to homelessness. We at the Los Angeles Mission provide safe day services such as food, clothing, showers and someone to talk to for youth that end up in Skid Row. Due to lack of appropriate facilities we cannot provide overnight beds for anyone under 18 years of age. We do allow them to stay in our Lobby Nights. However, finding referrals for this group is almost impossible.
Go Bruins Project Strive. Let’s see what creative, youthful minds can bring to bear on this unique social problem. You have my support.
--Herb Smith, President
According to the 2005 HUD Continuum of Care study there are nearly 18,000 under age unaccompanied youth homeless in this country. 52%. YES, 52% are considered to be here in the greater Los Angeles area. Due to legal restrictions and a good dose of hormones this can be a difficult group to service. I’m sure we would all agree that healthy homes are the best solution for this unique population. But, sadly that is not the case for many of these restless and troubled youth.
We do need to find a way for service providers to serve this population with safety and dignity while trying to break the cycle of violence, mental illness or rebellion that starts youth down the road to homelessness. We at the Los Angeles Mission provide safe day services such as food, clothing, showers and someone to talk to for youth that end up in Skid Row. Due to lack of appropriate facilities we cannot provide overnight beds for anyone under 18 years of age. We do allow them to stay in our Lobby Nights. However, finding referrals for this group is almost impossible.
Go Bruins Project Strive. Let’s see what creative, youthful minds can bring to bear on this unique social problem. You have my support.
--Herb Smith, President
Monday, April 16, 2007
Skid Row is a Community
Don Garza, veteran, resident of Skid Row and fellow blogger reminds me constantly that skid row is not just a homeless hangout but it is also a legitimate community. Don led the way for us at Easter by volunteering in his community. That community happens to be skid row and the event was our Los Angeles Mission Easter dinner.
Don clearly enjoyed his time washing the feet of fellow community members and homeless. He also seems to like his new Etnies shoes. Thanks to Pierre Andre and Sole Technology nearly 2000 pairs of new shoes are walking around skid row.
So, next time we use the term skid row, maybe we need to elevate our thinking about the type of persons who live, work and volunteer in this community within Los Angeles. It is not just a dumping ground for the social problems of our day. This micro community is not all addicts, crack heads and loonies as some might label us.
As our city leaders consider how best to help the homeless population across Los Angeles I hope we can think about the positive attributes our skid row community brings to our larger community. We encourage our friends and neighbors in skid row to not only receive when in need but also to give back when they can, and as Don shows, they do! Maybe not 2000 pairs of shoes but at least a warm smile and a caring word will do.
--Herb Smith, President
Don clearly enjoyed his time washing the feet of fellow community members and homeless. He also seems to like his new Etnies shoes. Thanks to Pierre Andre and Sole Technology nearly 2000 pairs of new shoes are walking around skid row.
So, next time we use the term skid row, maybe we need to elevate our thinking about the type of persons who live, work and volunteer in this community within Los Angeles. It is not just a dumping ground for the social problems of our day. This micro community is not all addicts, crack heads and loonies as some might label us.
As our city leaders consider how best to help the homeless population across Los Angeles I hope we can think about the positive attributes our skid row community brings to our larger community. We encourage our friends and neighbors in skid row to not only receive when in need but also to give back when they can, and as Don shows, they do! Maybe not 2000 pairs of shoes but at least a warm smile and a caring word will do.
--Herb Smith, President
Friday, April 13, 2007
Lessons Learned
This week has been provided its share of excitement for the Los Angeles Mission. The drop off, dumping or delivery of Mr. Moses Davis in front of the Mission has once again raised the awareness of the on-going problems of hospital services, legal obligations, moral obligations and police responsibility.
Being the type to want to make lemonade out of lemons, I have asked myself and my staff what we can learn from this recent situation. Here are my top 5 lessons learned.
1. Media attention is fast, fleeting and flawed at best. Real problems linger on way after the camera stops rolling.
2. You can never create enough laws to legislate morality or compassion.
3. You might think you communicated clearly but the answers you gave were to the wrong questions. What was implied in the question you were asked was not what you heard or expected by the question.
4. Working together takes time and requires team work. It reminded me that Patrick Lencioni suggests in his Five Dysfunctions of a Team; results come from a basis of trust, build upon with healthy conflict, layered on with commitment, topped with accountability and peaked by attention to results.
Within the Los Angeles Mission we are looking at the situation in hopes of improving our services to those in need, the ultimate result for us. We are pushing forward toward implementing the Los Angeles Central Providers Collaborative draft model to assist homeless being discharged from the hospital who need an overnight bed. We are looking at ways to better communicate with those outside the mission to avoid confusion and increase customer satisfaction. In the end we are looking to better our delivery of services to the homeless as we do so with dignity, compassion and hope.
--Herb Smith, President
Being the type to want to make lemonade out of lemons, I have asked myself and my staff what we can learn from this recent situation. Here are my top 5 lessons learned.
1. Media attention is fast, fleeting and flawed at best. Real problems linger on way after the camera stops rolling.
2. You can never create enough laws to legislate morality or compassion.
3. You might think you communicated clearly but the answers you gave were to the wrong questions. What was implied in the question you were asked was not what you heard or expected by the question.
4. Working together takes time and requires team work. It reminded me that Patrick Lencioni suggests in his Five Dysfunctions of a Team; results come from a basis of trust, build upon with healthy conflict, layered on with commitment, topped with accountability and peaked by attention to results.
Within the Los Angeles Mission we are looking at the situation in hopes of improving our services to those in need, the ultimate result for us. We are pushing forward toward implementing the Los Angeles Central Providers Collaborative draft model to assist homeless being discharged from the hospital who need an overnight bed. We are looking at ways to better communicate with those outside the mission to avoid confusion and increase customer satisfaction. In the end we are looking to better our delivery of services to the homeless as we do so with dignity, compassion and hope.
--Herb Smith, President
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Guess What! Homeless have feelings too
U of M researchers study homeless people's attitudes and concerns about death and end-of-life care
In the April issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine lead researcher John Song, M.D., said “the people who participated were very concerned with the type of care they would receive when they are dying and after they die. While many of the concerns were similar to that of housed people, he found homeless people had several concerns specific to their living situation.”
The study participants had concerns about dying in a place where no one would find them and dying in anonymity, with no memorialization.
Some study participants expressed fear about not being cared for compassionately or adequately by health care providers because of their homelessness. Many did not want their families notified of their deaths because they were ashamed of their homelessness or didn’t want to be burdens, while others wanted to make sure their families knew if they were dying. Finally, many homeless persons advocated for increased advance care planning for people living without a home.
"There is a strong need for documenting the wishes and concerns of homeless people in terms of what medical treatment they want," Song said. "It’s important to remember that these people are individuals who came to live on the streets for different reasons, and we can’t make assumptions about their feelings on death and end-of-life care."
As President of the Los Angeles Mission I was still taken aback by the similarity of concerns expressed by the participants in the University of Michigan study. Every now and then we are contacted by authorities to see if we know anything about a deceased person. They might have had some indication of a connection with the Mission on their person. We try to help when we can.
I wonder if we could go one step further and provide a clearing house for our Los Angeles homeless friends and neighbors by keeping some kind of data on things like next of kin, wills and last wishes that might help alleviate some concerns they have. Maybe we will make up some little ID thing that will help direct authorities to contact us for help.
We try very hard to show our guests dignity in life. We know life will end for all of us. I think we need to find ways to help alleviate the fears of our friends and neighbors by letting them know there is life after death. And to let them know we are here to respect them at the time of their passing.
-Herb Smith, President
In the April issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine lead researcher John Song, M.D., said “the people who participated were very concerned with the type of care they would receive when they are dying and after they die. While many of the concerns were similar to that of housed people, he found homeless people had several concerns specific to their living situation.”
The study participants had concerns about dying in a place where no one would find them and dying in anonymity, with no memorialization.
Some study participants expressed fear about not being cared for compassionately or adequately by health care providers because of their homelessness. Many did not want their families notified of their deaths because they were ashamed of their homelessness or didn’t want to be burdens, while others wanted to make sure their families knew if they were dying. Finally, many homeless persons advocated for increased advance care planning for people living without a home.
"There is a strong need for documenting the wishes and concerns of homeless people in terms of what medical treatment they want," Song said. "It’s important to remember that these people are individuals who came to live on the streets for different reasons, and we can’t make assumptions about their feelings on death and end-of-life care."
As President of the Los Angeles Mission I was still taken aback by the similarity of concerns expressed by the participants in the University of Michigan study. Every now and then we are contacted by authorities to see if we know anything about a deceased person. They might have had some indication of a connection with the Mission on their person. We try to help when we can.
I wonder if we could go one step further and provide a clearing house for our Los Angeles homeless friends and neighbors by keeping some kind of data on things like next of kin, wills and last wishes that might help alleviate some concerns they have. Maybe we will make up some little ID thing that will help direct authorities to contact us for help.
We try very hard to show our guests dignity in life. We know life will end for all of us. I think we need to find ways to help alleviate the fears of our friends and neighbors by letting them know there is life after death. And to let them know we are here to respect them at the time of their passing.
-Herb Smith, President
