Supporters claim CARE Court will alleviate the suffering of unhoused community members with mental health conditions. But the new court system is inherently coercive, and it won’t cure what ails us. Orange County should invest in what works: meeting the affordable housing and voluntary mental health care needs of their communities.
Author Archives: Eve Garrow
Posted inCommunity Opinion, Countywide, Housing & Homelessness, Transportation
Garrow: Housing, Not Fences and Boulders
Following a legal settlement with county officials protecting homeless at the Santa Ana riverbed, ACLU officials are calling on the OC Board of Supervisors to step up to the real challenge: Affordable Housing. Orange County’s approved Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness calls for permanent, affordable housing as an immediate response to peoples’ needs.
Posted inCommunity Opinion, Countywide, Health & Wellness, Housing & Homelessness, Laguna Beach, Transportation
Garrow: Trying to Preserve Mental Health While Homeless in Laguna Beach
ACLU officials are reaching out to the City of Laguna Beach with a settlement proposal, in the form of an open letter, seeking to end a 2015 lawsuit filed on behalf of the city’s homeless living at the Laguna Beach Shelter.
Posted inCommunity Opinion, Countywide
Garrow: What Will it Take for Orange County to End Homelessness?
Other cities, counties, and states have successfully reduced homelessness. Should Orange County follow these examples, starting first by decriminalizing homelessness?
Posted inCommunity Opinion, Countywide
ACLU: Orange County Fails Miserably in Storm Response
ACLU Homelessness Policy Analyst Eve Garrow writes that county officials need to respond to the winter with meaningful action instead of empty promises.
Posted inCommunity Opinion, Countywide, Housing & Homelessness
Garrow: Life Along OC Riverbeds Comes With the Threat of Drowning
ACLU Analyst Eve Garrow warns Orange County officials that criminalizing homelessness on city streets is pushing people to the riverbeds, which are quickly turning into deathtraps and are poised to get more deadly this winter with expected rains.
Posted inCommunity Opinion, Health & Wellness, Housing & Homelessness
ACLU: OC Makes Homelessness Worse
New county figures show homelessness up five percent in OC. But county officials are among the weakest in the region in responding, especially when it comes to the public budget. The ACLU of Southern California challenges Orange County to craft a better approach that includes revamping views on building affordable housing.
