BUZZ
Even if they’re relocated it ‘can still carry serious consequences’
According to a recent study by researchers at USC and UCLA, Los Angeles’ hosting of the 2028 Summer Olympics could result in the “displacement” of thousands of “unhoused” individuals.
As reported by the Daily Trojan, Los Angeles county estimates that security perimeters established by the U.S. Secret Service will lead to approximately 1,600 “unsheltered” people not having access to where they currently reside.
The study from the two southern California universities puts the figure closer to almost four times that number.
Benjamin Henwood, a USC social policy and health professor and director of its Center for Homelessness, Housing and Health Equity Research, said “It’s closer to 6,000 people. I don’t know how [county officials] came up with their numbers, so they might be looking at something a little different or more specific.”
Henwood also is a curator at Home 2028, an “independent research hub” which studies how the homeless will be affected by the Olympics, according to the Trojan.
During the last Summer Olympics held in the city (1984), law enforcement utilized “large-scale and aggressive sweeps” to get the homeless away from “highly visible tourist areas.”
LA28, the independent nonprofit organization responsible for planning and delivering the Games, is deferring to city officials for managing the relocation. Under an agreement with the city council, LA28 is expected to fund game-related services that go above “normal and customary.”
County officials said they intend to offer at least temporary housing for the unhoused population and have applied for nearly $93 million from the state to support the process. A portion of these funds would also be directed toward the county’s Pathway Home model, which moves people into interim housing.
Beyond the final headcount, a critical question lies in exactly how these individuals will be cleared from the secured areas.
Henwood said even if the homeless are relocated it “can still carry serious consequences” such as “poor health outcomes.”
USC Public Policy and Management professor David Brady, who researches poverty, social policy, racial inequality, and immigration according to his faculty page, said the upcoming Olympics “should not be the only reason the city invests in and provides housing for unhoused residents.”
“If we can [provide housing] during COVID, or we [are hoping to] do it during the Olympics, why can’t we do it otherwise?” Brady said. “We have the resources to do it otherwise. And so I would argue we should.”
Henwood added “We all know that there’s a homelessness crisis […] it’s like, well, what is the plan in general?”
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