Improving Health Status by Improving Housing Conditions and Preventing Homelessness
The Los Angeles CAFA Collaborative has established the paradigm for health and slum housing policy and advocacy efforts and has significantly impacted the health of children and families residing in downtown and south Los Angeles. The Shame of the City “white paper” (Slum Housing and the Critical Threat to the Health of L.A. Children and Families, published in April 2007) illustrated the connection between slum housing conditions and a number of chronic and acute health conditions impacting children and families in south Los Angeles. These health conditions include childhood asthma, lead poisoning, sinusitis, skin rashes, fungal infections and more. The success and interest generated from the report (and our ten-years of coordinated work which informed it) has furthered our efforts toward improving the health of the communities we serve and increasing knowledge of the dangerous connection between deteriorating health, chronic environmental health conditions, and increasing health disparities – (particularly in children) – and the slum housing conditions in which they live.
Building on this pioneering work, the Collaborative (St. John’s Well Child and Family Center, Esperanza Community Housing Corporation, Strategic Actions for a Just Economy and the Los Angeles Community Action Network) has expanded our impact by engaging in two complimentary projects: a slumlord criminalization and health impact project; and a homeless prevention and intervention initiative.
Both programs are funded by The California Endowment and transition our health and housing efforts to a more significant and precise level.
Slumlord Criminalization and Health Impact Project
The aim of the project is to directly improve the health status of children and families in south Los Angeles through policy change efforts that align and engage public officials and agencies toward the prosecution of slumlords. The initial strategy is to focus on a specific and large slumlord whose criminal activities (creating slum housing conditions as a definitive and profitable business practice) significantly impact the health conditions of tens of thousands of children and families in south L.A. This strategy will also increase our ability to track improved health outcomes as a direct result of housing improvements. These efforts will lead to effecting and reforming slumlord business practices in a neighborhood besieged by unhealthful housing conditions that are a direct result of predatory and criminal landlords.
By using this systems-change approach, the health status of area residents will improve significantly. The objectives of the project will be accomplished by aligning health care services, research, community organizing, health promotion and health policy analysis.
Homeless Prevention and Intervention Initiative
The focus of this project is to convene service providers and policy advocates in a planning process to develop policy recommendations for strengthening the health and housing safety net in downtown and south Los Angeles.
By convening community health clinics, homeless service providers and community based organizations, the Collaborative will identify existing services and gaps in service delivery in south Los Angeles. The Collaborative will engage in a survey of homeless individuals and families in south Los Angeles, and develop policy recommendations to improve health access and prevent widespread displacement of area residents (which increase homelessness and disrupt access to a medical home and a system of health care delivery and services). South Los Angeles is at a critical juncture in the development of a response to increasing homelessness. For example, more than 10% of children who attend Compton Unified School District elementary schools are homeless. A collaborative and broad based approach which brings together homeless service providers, community organizations and health care providers could simultaneously prevent families from becoming homeless (by shoring up and expanding affordable housing opportunities) and improve access to health care and supportive services.
The Los Angeles CAFA Collaborative is contributing directly to improving health care access and decreasing health disparities for residents of south Los Angeles as it continues to explore, expand, and impact the community’s health by improving housing conditions and preventing homelessness. |
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