A federal judge has approved Los Angeles County's pledge to develop 3,000 new mental health and substance use treatment beds by 2026, the Los Angeles Times reported Sept. 29.
This approval puts an end to a three-year lawsuit filed by the LA Alliance for Human Rights, which alleged that both the city and county failed to address the poor conditions in homeless encampments.
The approved proposal was the third attempt by the county to settle the lawsuit, with both previous proposals being rejected by U.S. District Judge David Carter. The first proposal in October 2022 was for only 300 additional beds, while the April proposal upped the commitment to 1,000 beds.
"This is an extraordinary step forward," Judge Carter said on the proposal approval, according to the report. "It’s going to save a lot of lives."