Inside the 'very expensive merry-go-round' of rape, death and drugs in California's homeless shelters

Critics of California's shelter system dub it the 'homeless industrial complex,' but Sergio Perez, who was until recently a Los Angeles city accountability chief, has another name for it.

He calls it a 'very expensive merry-go-round'.

A shocking new study by CalMatters reveals the true scale of California's shelter system, which is bigger than was widely understood. Since 2018, the news site found, at least $1 billion of tax dollars has flowed to projects for the homeless.

But these epic handouts solve nothing. The number of emergency beds has more than doubled from 27,000 to 61,000 in that time. Yet there are still three times as many homeless people as there are shelter beds across the Golden State.

Researchers lifted the lid on a mismanaged, graft-ridden enterprise - a gravy train of funders, officials, shelter owners and charities that perpetuates the homelessness crisis as it gobbles up more public money.

The homeless themselves are the real victims. They languish in moldy shelters, where stabbings, sex crimes, harassment, and child abuse too often hurt their already-struggling occupants.

Dennis Culhane, an expert on homelessness, says an over-reliance on shelters and other Band-Aids are California's 'big failure', as so few users end up with a permanent roof over their heads and a shot at rebuilding their lives.

"The shelters are not a solution,' Culhane, a University of Pennsylvania social scientist, told CalMatters.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14444391/Inside-expensive-merry-round-rape-death-drugs-Californias-homeless-shelters.html