Three ways to help the OC homeless

My latest OC Register column:

You see the homeless every day in Orange County. Walking slowly pushing all their belongings in a cart. Standing at a street corner asking for money. Huddled in the bushes against a bank building, trying to sleep.

So I commend rookie Supervisor Katrina Foley for quickly tackling the homelessness crisis. For Orange County, as for most of California, it’s the most important issue.

The Register reported she’s using discretionary funds in her budget for gather data two ways, “by conducting a census count and survey of the homeless people in her district, which includes Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach and Newport Beach, and by auditing the organizations charged with helping them.”

In March, she defeated John Moorlach for the 2nd District. He also would have made this his highest priority, as he had previously as a supervisor in the same district; and until last year as a state senator, when I served as his press secretary. He put in countless hours of committee meetings and working with OC community groups. Our staff also put great effort into preparing reports and legislation.

I think it’s useful to summarize some of what we learned into three points. We’re all in this together to help the last, the least and the lost.

First, realize that, although the word “homeless” is used, the real problem is mental illness. Mentally healthy people are homeless for at most a few days. They can downsize to smaller dwellings, get help from county agencies or move to a less expensive area.

Moorlach spent a lot of time trying to reform the 1967 Lanterman-Petris-Short Act. At the time, it was needed to correct abuses that allowed healthy people to be committed against their will for the rest of their lives. Today the reform needs to be reformed.

THE REST HERE…

https://www.ocregister.com/2021/07/18/three-ways-to-help-the-oc-homeless/