A homeless services provider for Los Angeles’ Inside Safe motel shelter program is under investigation on fraud allegations, after officials determined that it failed to provide nutritious meals to residents despite being paid a $110 per person daily fee to provide those and other services.
While some service providers say they offer freshly prepared sandwiches, soups and roasted vegetables, the City Controller’s Office said in a July 26 news release that the unnamed provider’s on-site “food inventory consisted almost entirely of instant ramen noodles.”
“The small remaining portion of other food inventory consisted only of instant oatmeal, canned soup, canned corn, and canned refried beans. The food selection appeared to fall short of fulfilling daily nutritional requirements,” said the release from the office of City Controller Kenneth Mejia.
“There was no fresh food provided by the contractor for the residents," the statement continued. "Fresh food was available in the common area, but it had been donated to the facility by others.”
An investigation by the controller’s office into whether the contractor engaged in fraud is ongoing.
“Taxpayer money goes heavily into homeless services in our city,” Mejia said in the release, citing a current homelessness budget of nearly $1 billion.
“Angelenos should be able to reasonably expect their investment to return decent meals for our unhoused neighbors — not instant ramen for almost every meal.”
What service providers are paid to do
Service providers receive $110 per day in city funds for each person they care for at Inside Safe motels, under Mayor Karen Bass’ signature homelessness initiative. In turn, providers are required to offer an array of services, including three meals per day.
Those meals are required to meet Food and Drug Administration nutrition standards, according to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), which manages the contracts on the city’s behalf.
But LAHSA officials say the provider under the controller’s scrutiny did not follow those requirements, in violation of the contract.
“Inadequate shelter and services discourages unhoused people from accepting or remaining in shelter. LA cannot meaningfully lower our unhoused population unless the City provides adequate housing and services,” Mejia said in his news release.
Who is the provider?
Mejia’s office would not name the service provider, citing the ongoing investigation. LAHSA officials also did not answer multiple requests for the provider’s name.
All of the service providers for Inside Safe told LAist it wasn’t them.
LAist contacted all nine of the lead Inside Safe service providers listed in a recent report to the City Council last week. LAist asked LAHSA officials for the program’s full list of service providers last Monday and continued to ask repeatedly in the days that followed.
The list wasn’t provided until Wednesday. It included one provider that wasn’t on the list provided to the council.
The chief executive of that tenth provider told LAist it was not the one targeted by the investigation.
The follow-up
After verifying the tip, Mejia’s office flagged the issue to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, the joint city-county agency that pays Inside Safe service providers from city taxpayer money, according to both agencies.
LAHSA now requires the service provider serve three nutritious meals per day, according to the controller’s announcement.
“We are encouraged that LAHSA took quick action to correct the immediate situation,” Mejia said in the news release. “We will continue our investigation into the allegation of contractor fraud, including determining their contractual obligations and how they used taxpayer dollars.”
In a statement, LAHSA officials said the provider was serving “unacceptable meals” in violation of the contract.
“As the Controller noted, LAHSA quickly took corrective action to ensure the people at this site received the required three nutritious meals every day,” LAHSA officials wrote. They said the agency will be visiting the motel frequently to “provide additional support, training, and monitoring to ensure contract compliance.”
LAHSA’s statement added that the agency has long had “inadequate” systems for overseeing contractors’ performance, which officials say they are overhauling. The agency also is working on sending out surveys to program participants to allow them to anonymously report issues at their interim housing, including Inside Safe.
Mayor’s office: ‘This should never happen’
A spokesperson for Bass, who created and oversees Inside Safe, said in a statement that the meal issue was unacceptable.
"This should never happen,” said Zach Seidl, the mayor’s lead spokesperson, in a statement.
“We must ensure service providers are provided the support and resources needed to provide 3 meals per day as well as health and other supports necessary to enable unhoused Angelenos to stay inside. The Mayor has long said that these standards are vital,” he added.
The mayor’s office has made it a top priority to improve the quality of services at Inside Safe, Seidl wrote.
LAHSA’s chief executive, Va Lecia Adams Kellum, did not respond to requests made through a spokesperson for an interview.
Tensions over the controller’s auditing powers
The City Controller’s office has wanted to audit the Inside Safe program since the program’s early weeks a year and a half ago, according to court testimony by Mejia.
At a June hearing before federal Judge David O. Carter, Mejia testified that he was blocked by City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto’s office from reviewing the contractors’ performance under the program.
Deputy City Attorney Jessica Mariani testified that the controller does not have authority under the city charter to review the performance of programs under other elected officials, such as Inside Safe.
Carter said that made him concerned.
“I'm worried that the City, either intentionally or unintentionally, is able to put a program under the umbrella of an elected official, the Mayor or whomever, and not have accountability in terms of somebody watching and verifying,” he said at the hearing.
After an earlier hearing on the issue before Carter, Mejia announced in March that he was launching an audit of Inside Safe.
Feldstein Soto’s spokesperson, Ivor Pine, did not respond to messages in recent days asking if the city attorney continues to believe the controller lacks authority to conduct the audit. It’s separate from a more sweeping audit that Carter is overseeing into city homeless services.
The recently-announced meals investigation, however, was launched after a tip to the controller’s fraud, waste and abuse hotline, according to the controller’s office. That’s a separate process from their ongoing audit of Inside Safe.
What do other service providers serve?
Many service providers told LAist they provide freshly prepared hot meals to residents daily.
Rowan Vansleve, president of Hope the Mission, said about 75% of the meals served to its Inside Safe participants are freshly prepared with whole foods and whole proteins. They include a fried chicken sandwich with potatoes and salad, which Vansleve described as the most popular meal the group has ever served.
“Their bodies have experienced some incredible trauma. Living on the streets just breaks you down,” he told LAist in an interview.
“Providing whole foods, nutritious foods, a variety of different foods, is vital to the healing process. We’ve gone at great lengths to [provide] that,” Vansleve said, adding that a private donor helped Hope the Mission build a kitchen where the meals are prepared.
He said meals they provide include:
- Stews and soups with oven-roasted vegetables
- Sliced chicken or turkey meat with carrots and potatoes
- Freshly baked granola
- Chicken or fish po’ boy sandwiches
- Chicken salad wraps
- Breakfast sandwiches with frittata egg, veggies, bacon, on English muffins baked in-house
- Sliced fruits
Rev. Richard Reed, who leads the nonprofit provider First to Serve, said the menu for its Inside Safe participants on a recent day included:
- Pancakes, hash browns, turkey sausage and orange juice or coffee for breakfast
- Korean beef bulgogi, white rice and green beans for lunch
- Black pepper chicken, garlic potatoes, roasted broccoli and dessert for dinner
The menu changes weekly, he said.
