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A ghostly chant of "Bill of Rights, Bill of Rights" drifted out of a sidewalk tent as the United Nations monitor on extreme poverty walked the streets of skid row as part of a national tour investigating human rights conditions for the poorest U.S. citizens. Philip Alston, an Australian and a New York University law professor, got a full taste of the epicenter of L.A. homelessness last week, passing by a shelter courtyard with dozens of people bedding down on the concrete because there was...

“It’s all a waiting game right now,” Sylvia Valenzuela said as she opened the front door to the couple’s Santiago Estates home, where the smell of smoke clung to the walls, to allow the insurance adjuster to assess the damage. Some help for residents like the Valenzuelas will be available the rest of this week at a local assistance center scheduled to open Tuesday at noon at the Lake View Terrace Recreation Center (11075 Foothill Blvd, Lake View Terrace). Hours are noon to 8 p.m. each day...

CAREgivers film will be airing on most public television stations around the US beginning this month in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Orlando, Cleveland, Spokane, Boise, Springfield-Holyoke, Youngstown, Idaho Falls, Twin Falls, Fairbanks, ETC. Please check your local public TV stations for future dates and times. Broadcast times will also be posted in advance whenever possible at: http://caregiversfilm.com/screenings/see-the-film/ This documentary addresses secondary trauma (aka...

“Everyone talks about the school-to-prison pipeline,” said Loyola Law School professor Sean Kennedy. “But doing this work you see that there’s a group-home-to-prison. Kennedy is the Director of Loyola’s respected Center for Juvenile Law and Policy (CJLP), which was founded in 2004 to “tackle the injustices of the Los Angeles County juvenile court system” by providing pro bono advocacy for youth who find themselves caught up in that system. Thanks to a highly competitive $1 million grant from...

Los Angeles County’s marquee program to provide housing for very sick homeless people saved taxpayers thousands of dollars by reducing hospitalizations and emergency room visits, a three-year Rand Corp. study released Monday found. Considered a national model, Housing for Health uses county and federal money to subsidize rents and intensive case management for acutely ill homeless people. Rand, a Santa-Monica-based research group, found that the medical savings more than offset the cost of...

Youth homelessness is on the rise, and officials are looking to quell it by targeting kids exiting foster care. One of the bigger surprises coming out of January's annual count of homeless living in L.A. County was a dramatic rise in homelessness among children and young adults. The count found 6,000 homeless 18 to 24-year-olds. A large portion — 40 to 60 percent — had spent time in the child welfare system. As L.A. County embarks on a massive effort to reduce its growing homeless population...

Despite making up the majority of California’s public school students, Latinos are still facing major challenges to achieving in school and graduating from college, a new report finds. But the report also highlights five bright spots in the LA County area — schools, districts, and programs that are helping Latinos succeed. In Los Angeles County, two school districts, a high school, and an early education center are modeling what needs to be done to close the achievement gap for Latino...

Los Angeles - First 5 LA today released a report that explores how homelessness and trauma affects young children, as well as recommendations for effectively improving outcomes for children and families experiencing homelessness. The National Center on Family Homelessness estimates that 2.5 million children in America go to sleep without a place to call home each year. In Los Angeles County, First 5 LA estimates that roughly 3,000 children under age six are homeless on any given night. While...

In 2015, California settled Ashker v. Governor , a historic class-action lawsuit brought by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) on behalf of a group of Pelican Bay State prison inmates who had each spent at least a decade in isolation. The settlement resulted in an end to the use of indefinite solitary confinement in CA prisons. On Monday, CCR filed a motion accusing the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation of violating the rights of inmates freed from indefinite...

This is an amazing opportunity for a smart, motivated individual. Join Echo's team to be at the heart of the executive office of a well-known and respected nonprofit agency. Your logistical skills will support our work to train professionals in trauma and resilience. If you thrive in a fast-paced environment and want a position where you can grow, where your commitment and talents can be quickly recognized and rewarded, this is the job for you. Duties/Responsibilities: Assist the executive...

Today , HopSkipDrive, a child-focused ride-sharing company, announced a partnership with Los Angeles County’s Office of Education (LACOE) to transport foster youth to school. Moving at what one official called a “fast and furious” pace to rectify its failure to comply with foster care mandates enshrined in the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), LACOE has contracted with the L.A.-based tech company to give foster kids rides to their so-called “school of origin” through the end of the...

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a plan on Tuesday that seeks to reduce the number of “disconnected” youth in the county, especially foster youth and formerly incarcerated young people. The goal of the regional effort is to improve the educational, workforce, housing and well-being outcomes of youth ages 16 to 24. According to a recent report , about one in every six young people in Los Angeles County is not enrolled in school and are not working. That’s about 207,440...