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LAUSD offers assistance for homeless families

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Mayor Eric Garcetti recently announced an expansion of the program to assist families coping with homelessness and housing insecurity.

Five hundred homeless families with students in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) system will receive Section 8 vouchers — an invaluable resource in the fight to get Angelenos off the streets and into housing.

“Angelenos are coming together to confront the homelessness and housing crisis, from opening A Bridge Home shelters across the city to cutting red tape getting in the way of urgently needed affordable housing,” said Garcetti. “For decades, our schools have been overlooked in this fight and today is an important first step as we work to ensure students and their families are met with opportunities and not obstacles.”

Garcetti made the announcement alongside LAUSD Superintendent Austin Beutner.

“The issue of homelessness in our community is one of the great challenges we face in Los Angeles,” said Beutner. “We can and need to do more.”

Leadership from the other partners in the program included: the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA); LA Family Housing (LAFH); and the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA).

HACLA has committed to provide 500 vouchers to LAUSD families in need throughout the City of Los Angeles over the next two years.

“This program is very important to the Housing Authority,” said HACLA President/CEO Doug Guthrie. “The fight against homelessness in Los Angeles is a joint effort — and today is proof of the power of partnership.”

The program is providing wraparound services to LAUSD families through LAFH, including delivery of basic needs such as food and clothing.

“What is most exciting about this program is that we are brining together multiple systems of care to address the generational needs of the whole family,” said Stephanie Klasky-Gamer, President and CEO of LAFH. “By targeting housing and education barriers and implementing intensive case management, we hope to increase the likelihood that these families will avoid the cycle of homelessness in the future.”

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