July 20--Los Angeles County's housing authority will pay $2 million to victims of alleged discrimination in the Antelope Valley, and some families who lost their housing assistance will have the chance to get it back under a settlement completed Monday among federal authorities, the county, and the cities of Lancaster and Palmdale.
The U.S. Department of Justice launched an investigation in 2011 into allegations that minorities -- particularly African Americans -- living in federally subsidized housing in the Antelope Valley were being harassed and discriminated against by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies and county housing agency officials.
In a complaint filed in federal court, U.S. Justice Department officials alleged that the local governments had engaged in a "targeted campaign of discriminatory enforcement against African American [housing] voucher holders in order to discourage and exclude them and other African Americans from living in the cities."
The complaint alleged that the county housing authority and Sheriff's Department subjected black so-called Section 8 voucher holders to "more intrusive and intimidating compliance checks" than their white counterparts and also were more likely to terminate black residents' vouchers.
County supervisors voted last week to approve the settlement, but the terms were not released until the agreement was finalized Monday.
The settlement requires the county and cities to put in place new anti-discrimination policies and training for employees who deal with housing.
Section 8 voucher holders who can show that they were discriminated against between 2004 and 2011 will have the chance to have their vouchers reinstated or receive compensation. The process could take a year or longer, Justice Department officials said.
Justice Department officials estimated that "hundreds" of people were discriminated against, but it was unclear how many would be found eligible to receive compensation or get their housing vouchers back.
County housing officials said they have made reforms since 2011, including discontinuing the compliance check program that had led to many of the discrimination complaints. A housing authority spokeswoman said the agency has since adopted "alternative program enforcement measures, vetted by the DOJ, that have actually proven to be more effective and efficient."
Housing authority Executive Director Sean Rogan said in a statement that the settlement will allow the agency to "put the matter behind us and focus efforts on our goal of providing quality housing assistance to low-income families, seniors and veterans."
V. Jesse Smith, co-founder of the Community Action League, an Antelope Valley advocacy group that filed a separate lawsuit in 2011 over the discrimination allegations, said he was happy to hear that some people would have the chance to get their vouchers back.
"We never did this for money," he said. "We did this to protect the rights of our Section 8 citizens."
The county reached a separate settlement in April with federal authorities over allegations of racial profiling by the Sheriff's Department in the Antelope Valley. Under that agreement, the county was required to put in place new rules that require deputies to be more courteous in their interactions with Antelope Valley residents.
The county also agreed to set aside $700,000 to pay victims of racial profiling and to track data on stops and searches to determine whether minorities are being unfairly targeted.
UPDATE
3:10 p.m.: This report was updated to include the number of potential victims and comments from the Housing Authority director.
