L.A. County officials have agreed to add 3,000 new mental health and drug treatment beds for unhoused people — 10 times as many beds as they promised a year ago — in an effort to end a civil rights lawsuit that threatens to unearth officials’ emails and texts about homelessness.
The details
The proposed lawsuit settlement — filed Monday — calls for the new beds to come online in annual phases, starting with 600 by the end of the year and ultimately reaching 3,000 by the end of 2026.
A retired federal magistrate judge, Jay C. Gandhi, would be the court-appointed “special master” to ensure the county follows through.
The agreement also would include county money for another 450 people to get services at existing board and care facilities.
Read the proposal
Or click here to read the new proposed settlement
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Why the judge pushed for more beds
The move comes after federal Judge David O. Carter rejected earlier settlement deals last year and this April as not providing enough beds or ensuring there’s adequate court oversight to make sure the deal is followed through on.
The county’s original settlement — reached in September last year and rejected by Carter in November — called for just 300 new beds.
The county then offered 1,000 beds in its April settlement offer, which Carter again rejected as not enough.
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As he has multiple times in the case, the judge pointed to a 2019 county report finding 3,000 new mental health beds were needed to keep up with demand — a number that’s only grown since then, he said.
When Carter rejected the second settlement in April, he noted the case would move to a traditional lawsuit — where top county officials would have to turn over their text messages and emails about homelessness.
County hopes this ends the lawsuit
“We hope the new settlement, which is set for hearing Thursday, will end this three-year old case and allow us to focus our funding and efforts on alleviating the homelessness crisis,” said Mira Hashmall, an attorney at the Miller Barondess law firm that represents L.A. County in the case.
The deal represents months of work with the county to address the homelessness crisis “at a meaningful scale,” the plaintiffs said in a statement.
“We appreciate that the court has given us additional time to reach an agreement that includes over 3,000 new mental health beds and an ongoing role for the court in implementing these agreements,” the statement added.
What’s next
Carter has set a court hearing for 9 a.m. Thursday on the settlement. He could approve the deal or reject it yet again.
