High-Level Attention for LA's 90,000 Homeless

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Recently, private hospitals have admitted that mentally ill patients have been discharged to the sidewalks in that part of town, claiming that it's the only place where housing and other services are available. The problem is that's not true. LA Times columnist Steve Lopez has been writing for weeks about the plight of the homeless on skid row, and now County supervisors are paying attention. Mike Antonovich says it's "unacceptable" for hospitals to "dump" some of their patients on downtown city streets, where housing and other services might or might not be available. Is there the political will to make more than a dent in the problem? We hear what Antonovich is proposing and get response from a nonprofit organization that's provides support services for the homeless in Skid Row.
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LA County Department of Health Services

Martin Luther King, Jr-Charles Drew Medical Center

Ornstein's article on Garthwaite resignation

Steve Lopez's LA Times columns

Lanterman-Petris-Short Act of 1967

Laura's Law (AB 1421, 2001)

Credits

Host:

Warren Olney

Producer:

Frances Anderton