Southern California Health & Rehabilitation Program (SCHARP) will expand access to culturally competent, trauma-informed behavioral health services for LGBTQ+ youth of color and adults experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness in South Los Angeles.
Almost 90% of the homeless population of L.A. County's Service Planning Area 6, which SCHARP serves, are Black and Hispanic/Latino according to the 2022 point-in-time homeless count. Black people experience a higher rate of return to homelessness than all others, even as the County Coordinated Entry System appears to make housing placements for Black people at proportional rates to all other ethnic and racial groups. Black and Hispanic persons experiencing homelessness also face a higher risk of overdose and death from drugs and alcohol than other persons experiencing homelessness. Homeless youth in Los Angeles are more likely to be LGBTQ+ than adults experiencing homelessness; 25% identify as LGBTQ+. Of homeless LGBTQ+ youth, more than three-quarters are Black or Hispanic.
SCHARP, a Black-led nonprofit provider of licensed behavioral health services in South Los Angeles, proposes to expand access to treatment by working closely with partnering homeless outreach and direct service organizations while conducing street-based outreach. SCHARP will directly provide most services, leveraging its intensive specialized mental health treatment, 24/7 behavioral health crisis care, integrated primary medical and behavioral health care, and housing stabilization programs. To address medical detox and medication-based treatments for opioid addiction, SCHARP will refer participants through service agreements to community partners. SCHARP will also connect program participants with housing and housing supports through SCHARP managed permanent supportive housing, as well as connecting participants to the wider network of Los Angeles housing resources.
SCHARP's treatment approach tailors SAMHSA's recommended evidence-based practices to address the specific needs of LGBTQ+ youth of color and communities of color in South L.A. These EBPs include Peer Support, Motivational Interviewing, Medication Assisted Treatment/Medication for Opioid Use Disorder, Intensive Case Management, and Permanent Supportive Housing. The project will reach a minimum of 65 unduplicated persons each year, and 325 over the lifetime of the project.
