WH Letter 1 July 20th Zoom Session Following Up From Ms. Schneider

Hello Mr. Hayes –
Thank you for sending the additional information after our group call a couple of weeks ago. I am also including Wayne Fishback to this email as he has also forwarded some additional information to us.

Since our call on July 20^th, I did brief USICH Executive Director Jeff Olivet, and he is aware of your comments and vision. I’m sure you have also seen the additional communications from USICH with a Resource Roundup for Addressing Encampments. Here is the link for easy access. I believe much of your concerns and comments are reflected in these documents.

We also talked about USICH’s upcoming Federal Strategic Plan, due out in late September, and the foundational principal around racial equity. We know that homelessness is a structural failure, not a personal one, and that much is rooted in long-standing discriminatory regulations and practices that have disproportionately affected Black people and other BIPOC communities.

As we release and roll out the new federal strategic plan, we also will engage with community leaders on how to address these issues with constructive solutions related to housing and services, crisis response and on prevention strategies.

I understand from our communications that these are high priorities for you as well, and we appreciate that alignment. Our plan implementation will include engaging with our 19 federal agencies, including ones I know of interest to you such as the Department of Justice.

We will also continue to release additional tools and resources related to the fundamental principles of the federal strategic plan as we hear more about best practices around the nation, and how to address the communal challenges we all face together.

In terms of the “Exodus” vision you and your colleagues are proposing, it is a bold one indeed to eliminate all unsheltered homelessness by Opening Day of the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. I know many local stakeholders at the City of Los Angeles, the County of Los Angeles, LAHSA, and multiple service providers share your vision of significantly reducing unsheltered homelessness throughout the region, though perhaps not quite as specific as your proposal suggests. The more we all work together towards a common goal and process, the better the outcomes.

In response to your specific requests about the Exodus proposal, as you know, while USICH plays an important role collaborating with our federal partners and providing expertise and education on the issues before us, we cannot lobby them, Congress or the White House on new specific legislation or any budgetary items. Part of your proposal includes both budgetary and new regulatory parameters, such as the use of underutilized military facilities for shelter and housing with services. To that end, I recommend connecting with your Congressional delegation on those specifics. Certainly, should there be new regulations proposed or implemented, USICH will be available to provide feedback and implementation tools and resources as needed.

Mr. Hayes, we hear you and acknowledge your passion and ideas, as of those of your colleagues.
I’m sure you will see that much of what we discussed during our call, and what we’ve read from additional correspondence from you all since then, will be addressed. Moving forward, I will look to see how your coalition is building and would be interested to hear more about how your vision and work can connect with other local stakeholders as we all focus on the end goal of ending homelessness in Los Angeles and indeed the nation.

Thank you.