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Accomplishments

CHALLENGING THE STATUS QUO ON HOMELESSNESS

  • Created the Blue Ribbon Commission on Homelessness to bring in more transparency and accountability to region’s homelessness response, leading to major reform of homelessness bureaucracy cutting red tape and directing more resources towards clean-ups.

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  • Formed Homeless Governance Committee which brings together county, city and state leaders to develop regional strategies and funding priorities.

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  • Increased the responsiveness of homeless outreach teams, by committing discretionary funding for additional outreach teams and cleaning up encampments. Teams include staff from Sheriff’s Department and homeless services who are specialized in handling homeless encampments / individuals.

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  • Developed the Housing for Public Health model, which deploys resources to clean-up high-risk encampments in the Fifth District.

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  • Established Employment Initiatives to connect homeless individuals with jobs and opportunities in each region of the Fifth District.

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  • Opened the only existing homeless shelter and 2 emergency shelters in the Antelope Valley and funded the development and operation of 256 interim and permanent housing units.

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  • Secured $2.5 million for 100 temporary bridge housing beds for veterans experiencing homelessness which will include the necessary supportive services to exit the cycle of homelessness.​

EXPANDED ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE AND MENTAL HEALTH

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  • Brought online over 250 new mental and substance abuse health treatment beds across the Fifth District and built over 10 new facilities

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  • Increased the number of Mental Evaluation Teams from 10 to 36 which have successfully linked persons suffering from a mental health crisis to services with less than 2% of these encounters resulting in incarceration. 

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  • Launched the County’s therapeutic transport vans to provide clinical mental health response to individuals in crisis.

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  • Created two restorative care villages, bringing together outpatient mental health and primary care services with essential housing and residential treatment to our healthcare campuses

INVESTED IN SAFE COMMUNITIES

  • Ensured the Sheriff’s Department had additional funding needed to increase the number of Sheriff Academies to address the workforce shortage

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  • Allocated funding to the Sheriff’s Department to increase patrols to deter smash and grab robberies and increasing retail crimes.

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  • Directed strategic law enforcement action, including direct funding for enforcement efforts, against illegal cannabis operations, including grow operations in the North County and illegal dispensaries Countywide, to address growing threats to the health and safety of communities, the local environment, and local water systems which were targets of theft and disruption.

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  • Championed the effort to increase security across the Metro transit system.

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  • Increased enforcement, clean-up and services to homeless encampments in high fire zones

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  • Allocated funding to purchase two additional Firehawk helicopters and continued the annual leasing of two SuperScooper fire planes â€‹

EXPANDED ACCESS TO HOUSING

  • Allocated over $15 million annually to bring over 500 additional units of affordable housing to the Fifth District, working with communities to ensure that these projects meet the needs and standards of neighborhoods.

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  • Approved the development of approximately 5,000 housing units in the 5th District to address the Statewide and Countywide housing supply shortage.

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  • Championed the creation of a 19,300 unit housing development that will create 25,000 construction jobs and 19,000 permanent jobs, in addition to roads, police and fire stations, a 30,000 square foot civic center, funds, for future library.

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  • Streamlined the bureaucracy slowing the development of new housing and advocated for state reform to accelerate new housing.

PROTECTING OUR ENVIRONMENT

  • Secured a $100 million settlement with Gas Company for residents impacted by the gas leak disaster at the Aliso Canyon gas facility and worked to carve out $25 million for a long-term health study for impacted residents and $3 million for air monitoring. 

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  • Stopped years of illegal dumping by 100-140 trucks on a daily basis at Brown’s Canyon creating community blight and significant harm to the environment.

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  • Championed the expansion of the San Gabriel National Monument and establishing the Northern Angeles Forest National Monument.

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  • Banned the use of a herbicide commonly used for weed abatement and ordered the investigation of safer alternatives.

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  • Directed the creation of Net Zero development standards for large scale development, to ensure that we can continue to meet our housing and sustainability goals.

CONNECTING OUR COUNTY AND EXPANDING TRANSIT ACCESS

  • Led the completion of the Gold Line and expanding transit connectivity to our airports.

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  • Secured $250 million for the Santa Clarita Valley to expand capacity to The Old Road to support the growth of the Valley, one of the largest County projects in history which will break ground in 2024.

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  • Secured nearly $300 million in state and federal funds and led efforts to allocate over $200 million in local revenues for critical rail, highway, active transportation, and goods movement projects in the Fifth District.

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  • Expanded transit access to parks and open space, especially for those with the least access to opportunity.

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  • Established a rail and bus manufacturing and test facility in North LA County, which will generate $11.5 billion in economic return and create 114,000 jobs.

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  • Implemented over $200 million in improvements to Metrolink’s Antelope Valley Line, which will double the service, increase rail safety, and triple ridership in time for the 2028 Olympics; also led safety and traffic improvements on the SR-14 to the Antelope Valley.

 UPLIFTED OUR VETERANS

  • Allocated $20 million for veteran housing and services, with $5 million being used for the establishment of a Veteran Peer Access network to connect veterans through a peer to peer network to help achieve wellness and to lead lives of dignity and purpose.

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  • Funded the Veteran Mental Evaluation Team to expand access to services for veterans in crisis to be diverted from potential justice involvement into treatment.

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  • Developed, established, and finalized the framework to implement the County’s Veteran Suicide Review Team, analyzing the impact and trends of veterans suicides in the County.

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  • Expanded hiring of veterans and military families into the County.

CHAMPION FOR OUR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES

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  • Established the Palmdale SOS Village creating a residential community with wraparound services to house our foster families.

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  • Overhauled the foster system in the Antelope Valley, initiating leadership changes and hiring incentives to increase staffing.

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  • Created county policy to maximize academic success for foster youth that keeps them in their school of origin rather than change schools each time they move to a different foster home or congregate care placement. Positively impacted thousands of foster care students.

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  • Launched the faith-based program that partners the faith communities with foster youth through mentoring and visitation programs; volunteer opportunities and foster parent recruitment.

Paid for by Kathryn Barger for Supervisor 2024

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