Supervisor Don Knabe today directed the County’s CEO to develop a comprehensive plan to utilize millions of dollars in homeless prevention funds that could flow to the County of Los Angeles as a piece of the recently-passed Federal Stimulus Package.

Over $12 million will be made available to the County for homeless prevention programs, as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. To be eligible, the County must submit a plan to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) by May 18, 2009 on the best use of the funds.

HUD has strongly encouraged local governments to leverage these funds with their existing homeless prevention activities. Supervisor Knabe has asked the CEO to focus on programs that would complement the County’s current homeless prevention strategies, including focusing on vulnerable and at-risk populations throughout the County.

We need to develop the most effective ways of putting these resources to work in benefitting County residents at highest risk of homelessness, and we need to move quickly, said Supervisor Knabe. The plan should be innovative without creating a new bureaucracy, and it should be mindful of the one-time nature of these funds.