“Giving people access to safe and stable housing is the key to ending homelessness, said Nisha Vyas, a lecturer-in-law at UCLA and a senior attorney at the Western Center on Law and Poverty, in an emailed statement.”
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L.A.’s poorest patients endure long delays to see medical specialists. Some die waiting
“David Kane, an attorney with the Western Center on Law and Poverty, which advocated for the strict time limits, said county health officials were “trying to weasel their way out of these standards in a way that goes against the interests of the patients.”
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PRESS RELEASE: Settlement Reached with Los Angeles County to Provide Foster Youth with Vital Mental Health Services
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Latest settlement comes 18 years after initial settlement of a lawsuit alleging the LA County foster system was not providing necessary mental health services for youth in its care
Los Angeles, CA — The County of Los Angeles has entered into a new settlement of a longstanding lawsuit, Katie A v. Bontá, where it has made a number of commitments to significantly increase intensive home and community based mental health services for thousands of children and youth involved with the County’s foster care system.
The lawsuit, originally filed in 2002, is a federal class action lawsuit against Los Angeles County and its Department of Children and Family Services, as well as California’s Department of Social Services and Department of Health Care Services. The suit challenged the County and state agencies for neglecting their duties to provide necessary and legally mandated health care services to treat the mental health conditions of children. Separate settlement agreements were reached with both the state and LA County in the case.
“We have been working on this case for almost two decades now,” said Robert Newman, an attorney for Western Center on Law & Poverty. “To end the lawsuit, the County has agreed to implement several new initiatives to ensure that foster children can remain in their current homes and communities.”
The County first settled the lawsuit back in 2003 and agreed to provide mental health services, then a long monitoring process began. Over time it became clear that the County was not providing the services it agreed to, so Plaintiffs filed a successful motion in 2009 to enforce the original settlement provisions.st year, the County filed a motion to end the case.
“We have worked on this case for many years because it was clear that foster youth in LA County, especially those with serious mental disorders, were not getting the services they needed,” said Melinda Bird, Senior Litigation Counsel at Disability Rights California. “We had to keep fighting.”
Because of the lawsuit, the County has implemented a number of reforms since 2003 in the delivery of child welfare and mental health services. This week’s settlement focuses on foster youth who have more intensive but unmet mental health needs, such as those who have experienced placement disruptions, psychiatric hospitalizations, or have been placed in group homes, such as Short Term Residential Treatment Programs.
“The Katie A. case has led to tremendous reforms,” said Ira Burnim, Legal Director at Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law. “We are pleased that additional progress will be made before the case ends.”
The County has agreed to implement new measures to provide specialty mental health services, including Intensive Care Coordination and Intensive Home Based Services, over the next nine months. As this is a class action lawsuit, the settlement will require court approval.
“This new agreement with Los Angeles County specifically targets the outstanding actions needed to ensure children and youth get the services and supports they are entitled to and help them succeed,” said Kim Lewis, Managing Attorney for the National Health Law Program.
Contact: Courtney McKinney, cmckinney[at]wclp.org
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Moratorium on debt collection during coronavirus crisis urged by L.A. City Council
“But “how will a bank know whether the income is COVID-related or not?” asked Jessica Bartholow, policy advocate for the Western Center on Law and Poverty. “If the banks don’t know which money is protected, you need to put things on pause.”
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PRESS RELEASE: L.A. Man Sues City After Car Towed and Sold Over Two Parking Tickets
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Car Auctioned Despite Man’s Participation in Community Assistance Parking Program
LOS ANGELES — A person experiencing homelessness, Joseph Safuto, has sued the City of Los Angeles, challenging the city’s practice of towing vehicles as a mechanism for collecting debt – in this case two unpaid parking tickets that resulted in a lapsed registration. The lawsuit challenges the city’s practice of towing vehicles without a public safety justification solely because of lapsed registration, and it challenges the way the city conducts towing hearings.
“I put a lot of effort into getting the car registered, but I had those two parking tickets that were holding it up. I was trying to work them off through CAPP, and they towed it anyway,” said Safuto. “I was already struggling to get me and my daughter housing and to get on my feet again. When my car was towed, it pushed me into a deeper hole, not just financially but also emotionally. It was debilitating, and all of this for two parking tickets. It’s wrong to leverage a small debt to the city to take people’s property.”
The Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, Western Center on Law & Poverty, and the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Southern California are representing Safuto.
“At a time when the city should be focusing its resources on moving people out of homelessness, Mr. Safuto’s case illustrates how the City’s continued reliance on law enforcement and punitive measures actually perpetuate the cycle of poverty,” said Shayla Myers, senior attorney at Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles.
Safuto suffers from mobility disabilities that prevent him from working. He used his vehicle to visit his nine-year-old daughter, attend medical appointments, and run errands.
In April 2019, the Los Angeles Police Department ordered Safuto’s vehicle towed, even though the car was not impeding traffic or impacting public safety in any way. The justification for the tow was that his registration had expired, but he was prevented from re-registering his vehicle, even though he had paid the registration fee. The city had a hold on his registration because he had not paid two outstanding parking tickets, totaling about $350.
At the time of the tow, Safuto was enrolled in the Community Assistance Parking Program, which allows people experiencing homelessness to pay off outstanding parking tickets by performing community service. He was scheduled to participate in the program on the day his vehicle was towed.
“Leaders of California and Los Angeles say they are working to get people out of poverty and out of homelessness, but actions like these work against individuals like Mr. Safuto who try their best to stay afloat and follow the law,” said Rebecca Miller, an attorney at Western Center on Law & Poverty. “Our state can’t afford city policies that punish people for poverty.”
Safuto informed the officer who towed his vehicle that he had submitted necessary proof and fees to register his car, and that he was participating in the Community Assistance Parking Program, but the officer had the car towed anyway.
Safuto later presented this information at an administrative hearing, where he contested the tow, but the administrative officer only considered that the car had not been registered at the time of the tow.
Because Safuto was unable to pay the fees associated with the tow — including a $115 City of Los Angeles “vehicle release fee,” a $41.50 daily storage fee, and a $70 lien processing fee — the towing company sold his car at lien sale.
Despite the fact that the car was sold, Safuto was charged $1004.50 to cover the lien and he still had to do the community service to work off the parking ticket debt.
“Everyone has a right to due process and security in their belongings, and cars are no exception,” said Julia Devanthéry, the Dignity for All staff attorney at the ACLU of SoCal. “Vehicles are essential for many Angelenos — especially those experiencing homelessness. The city should be investing in affordable housing instead of cutting people’s essential lifelines to work and safety by towing their cars for debt collection.”
This action is an amendment to a petition filed in July. Safuto seeks a court order to ensure that the City tows vehicles only when it is necessary for public safety, rather than for debt collection. Safuto also seeks to reverse the decision of the administrative hearing officer and recover all costs associated with the tow, as well as the cost to replace his vehicle.
Read the lawsuit here.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Sara Williams, Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, (323) 801-7996, [email protected]
ACLU SoCal Communications & Media Advocacy, (213) 977-5252, [email protected]
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About Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles
Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (LAFLA) seeks to achieve equal justice for people living in poverty across Greater Los Angeles. LAFLA changes lives through direct representation, systems change and community empowerment. It has five offices in Los Angeles County, along with four Self-Help Legal Access Centers at area courthouses and three domestic violence clinics to aid survivors.
About Western Center on Law & Poverty
Western Center on Law & Poverty fights for justice and system-wide change to secure housing, health care, racial justice and a strong safety net for low-income Californians. Western Center attains real-world, policy solutions for clients through litigation, legislative and policy advocacy, and technical assistance and legal support for the state’s legal aid programs. Western Center is California’s oldest and largest legal services support center.
About ACLU of Southern California
The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California was founded in 1923 to defend and secure rights guaranteed by the Constitution – free speech, religion, the rights of assembly, freedom of the press, and due process under the law — and extend them to people who have been excluded from their protection. Our work is accomplished through litigation in the courts, public education and lobbying.
