The Brief

Nearly 300 apartments built for unhoused people are sitting empty in the city of Los Angeles more than two months after being declared ready for move in, largely due to longstanding bureaucratic rules.

City data reviewed by LAist shows 274 newly constructed apartments — each funded largely by a $1.2 billion voter-approved bond measure called Proposition HHH — had yet to have a resident as of Aug. 1, despite being declared “ready to occupy” by city officials more than 60 days prior.

That number is down from 444 empty units in May and 354 in June. And it’s expected to further improve in the coming weeks and months due to waivers L.A. Mayor Karen Bass requested and recently received from federal officials to speed up the process of housing people.

About 60 of the vacant units are in Skid Row Housing Trust buildings opened years ago, in 2020 and 2021. The nonprofit trust financially imploded earlier this year — and was taken over by a court-appointed receiver – though its most serious problems centered on its century-old buildings, not the newer ones where dozens of units remain vacant.

What’s causing the problems

In interviews, local officials and service providers said the overall vacancy issues with HHH housing are fueled by federal paperwork rules, and layers of eligibility restrictions regarding who can live in particular units.

Officials say many of the vacant units have people matched to them, who are still going through the process of getting their paperwork together. In some cases, people have been living outdoors for months as their assigned apartment sits empty.

Bass calls the vacant units one of her biggest frustrations as she tries to address homelessness. Her main homelessness program, Inside Safe, has sheltered more than 1,400 people in motel rooms but has only been able to move 8% of people into long-term housing. The program is estimated to have cost $32 million through the end of June, mainly on motel rooms and service providers.

“You better believe it's frustrating to me, because I don't want people to languish in motels,” Bass told LAist in an interview about the vacant units.

“I want people to be able to be mainstreamed back into the housing market. I want them to be a part of the workforce. I want them to be city employees, since we have so many vacancies. I don't want them living a life in a motel room. And then, yes, [the motels are] expensive,” she added.

“It is untenable to have [motels] become the city's system of interim housing,” Bass said. “This has to be a temporary system. And the only way to make it temporary is to move people…out of these motels.”

The apartments sit empty as L.A.’s latest homeless count, conducted in January, shows nearly 33,000 people are living outdoors without shelter.

Since taking office as mayor in December, Bass has taken on homelessness as her top issue, but is grappling with longstanding shortages of housing and case management staff. And many homeless programs in L.A. are provided by the federal and county governments. The 274 vacant units are overseen by the city.

Progress expected to speed up

In recent days and weeks, federal officials at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) have granted a series of waivers — after repeated requests by Bass — that are expected to speed up the process of filling up the units.

One of those waivers, which LAist was the first to report Monday, will allow people to move into housing first and gather their income documentation like bank statements and tax forms later — eliminating a key barrier that’s kept units vacant.

HUD approved another set of waivers in mid July that lift social security numbers and proof of disability as requirements before moving in.

After HUD previously rejected the waivers earlier this year, Bass requested them again and appealed directly to HUD’s top official, Secretary Marcia Fudge.

Va Lecia Adams Kellum, who leads the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), called HUD’s decision this week “a game changer.” LAHSA oversees the nonprofit service providers that help people qualify for housing.

“People experiencing homelessness will be able to move into housing faster and vacant units will be filled more quickly,” she said.

The waivers to let people move in and then sort out paperwork are collectively known as “presumptive eligibility” — meaning people self-certify they are eligible without needing to prove it before being allowed access to housing. Adams Kellum previously told LAist they would be the single most helpful policy change to get unhoused Angelenos housed.

“This is a waiver that, in the past, hasn't typically been granted,” said Richard Monocchio, a high-ranking HUD executive who oversees all housing subsidies in the country, in an LAist interview this week where he announced he was approving the income proof waiver.

“But the way I looked at it was, in light of the seriousness of the issue — and the city and the housing authorities requested to please take another look at that particular waiver request — I decided it was in the best interest of the city of L.A., and within federal purview.”

Complicated rules and paperwork

Officials also told LAist one of the challenges with the HHH units was the various layers of eligibility rules and extra applications people have to submit because the buildings were built with multiple funding streams — like federal and state dollars, in addition to the city money.

The complex funding structures used to construct the buildings allowed more units to be built, but also created a maze of extra restrictions, rules and paperwork requirements for people to move in.

As eligibility requirements stack, it becomes a challenge to find people who match the prerequisites.

“A lot of this is just the nature of working within a system that involves so many different partners – each having their own documentation, their own processes, their own qualifying conditions to use their money,” said Stephanie Klasky-Gamer, president and CEO of L.A. Family Housing, one of the biggest homeless service providers in L.A.

“There's just so many different qualifying conditions,” she said.

One example she cited is a HHH-funded apartment complex for young adults who recently aged out of the foster care system, where the funding requires 10% of the units be for people with certain disabilities that are more common for older people.

“It was very hard to lease up that building,” she said.

“So, it seems like a silly detail, but you add up all of those details, and it starts having an impact.”

LAHSA has also been changing its practices to speed up the process — like matching multiple people to a unit.

“The mayor has taught us all, don't be afraid to call out what's not working or any bottleneck and own that so we can fix it,” Adams Kellum told LAist in an interview.

“We have identified the bottlenecks. We're owning whatever part of that is us” and working to fix them quickly, said Adams Kellum, who started at LAHSA in April.

The results of Prop. HHH so far

While there are hundreds of vacancies, city data show 2,868 other units funded by HHH were occupied as of Aug. 1.

Another 3,500 units are listed as under construction and 2,200 in the design phase, for a total of around 8,600 apartments finished or planned under HHH. That’s 1,400 short of the 10,000 units the ballot measure promised within ten years when it went before voters back in 2016.

Mayor says transparency problems remain

Among the units that have been filled, the mayor says she’s running into transparency problems with knowing who gets to move in to the new housing, how those decisions are getting made – and even who is making the decisions.

“Who are they? And where did they come from? Were any of them from Inside Safe? Were any of them from a tiny home, bridge home?” Bass told LAist, saying she wants reforms for more transparency.

“That's not in the data that they've given me. It's just numbers…by building. But I want to know who they are,” she said. “It's very hard to determine who's going where, who's making the decision.”

Councilmember Nithya Raman told LAist it’s important that the city to use the resources it has — including the HHH units — in order to strengthen its ask for more federal housing dollars.

“We need more [housing vouchers]. But in order to really make the case for it, we have to ensure we’re fully utilizing what we have,” said Raman, who chairs the city council’s housing and homelessness committee.

Clearing hurdles

Sarah Dusseault, who co-chaired L.A. County’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Homelessness, said it’s essential to keep clearing through bureaucratic hurdles.

“It’s critical for us to be thinking, how can we make it easy….and that’s what Mayor Bass has been lifting up and pushing on,” she said.

“We’ve got to inject hope back into the system, by getting rid of red tape.”

While filling the vacancies is important, much more housing capacity is needed to solve homelessness, noted Klasky-Gamer, the L.A. Family Housing leader.

“Until we really do that – produce [housing] at the scale that the crisis demands – filling up all the vacancies is not going to end homelessness,” she said.

“That's the key part of this equation to end homelessness in people's lives.”

File this under things that could only happen in L.A.

Paradise Dynasty, the Singapore-based chain known for its signature eight-flavor xiao long bao, has teamed up with Burritos La Palma — the SoCal burrito institution whose birria de res recipe traces back over 45 years — to create a limited-edition birria soup dumpling. The Birria XLB will be available starting Monday (May 11) for a limited time at Paradise Dynasty locations.

I've eaten my weight in both soup dumplings and burritos, so naturally, I'm a fan of both.

Paradise Dynasty has been on a steady ascent as a major player in L.A.'s dumpling scene, with locations at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa and The Americana at Brand in Glendale.

Meanwhile, Burritos La Palma — known for its simple, savory burritos and finely crafted flour tortillas — has been capturing hearts and stomachs since Alberto Bañuelos opened the first eatery in L.A. in 2012. It’s since grown to several spots across L.A. and Orange County, earning a Michelin Bib Gourmand award in 2024 for its high-quality, Zacatecan-style handmade flour tortilla burritos at an affordable price.

How the collab came together

So what exactly is a birria soup dumpling? A delicate wrapper, lightly packed with tender birria de res — slow-braised beef stewed in chilies and spices — juicy, savory and gone in one bite.

It all began with a call from Paradise Dynasty, when Jason Kuo, district manager for Paradise Dynasty USA, reached out to Bañuelos, calling it, simply, a perfect match between the two dishes.

Kuo said the idea came straight from the community.

"When we started asking guests and people around us what flavor they would want to see in a soup dumpling, birria kept coming up again and again — it was very clear. If we're going to do birria, it has to be done right. Burritos La Palma was the first name that came to mind."

Bañuelos was "beyond thrilled" to have been approached.

"We come from a small town in Mexico, and to be able to elevate to the level of Paradise Dynasty and that culinary perfection, I can't even really put it into words," he said.

It took months of R&D to get the right consistency. Bañuelos said the process required dialing down the moisture and upping the spice potency and landed on serving a fresh red salsa with thin slivers of serrano peppers alongside — a riff on the black vinegar and pickled ginger traditionally served with soup dumplings.

The Birria XLB's juicy interior is part of what makes it work — the dish is served with a fresh, tomato-based salsa and slivers of serrano pepper in place of the traditional black vinegar and pickled ginger.

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Katrina Frederick

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Courtesy Paradise Dynasty

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How it tastes

I got a chance to try the dumplings ahead of the public launch and was struck by how well the combination worked. The juicy nature of birria is almost turbocharged in dumpling form, its savory, herbaceous flavors fully encapsulated in the thin skin, creating an exceptional texture in every bite. The dish hits even harder when dipped in the light tomato-based salsa — a rush of freshness that cuts through the richness, with a spike of heat from fresh serrano. (Feel free to skip the peppers if spice isn't your thing.)

But what's most impressive is how organic it all feels. This isn't fusion for fusion's sake — it's a natural meeting of two dishes that are deeply embedded in the Southern California diet, each playing to the other's strengths.

It feels like a logical meeting of the minds — birria and soup dumplings have both been part of L.A.'s culinary zeitgeist for the better part of a decade, and it makes sense that these worlds should collide.

When asked whether a collaboration like this could happen anywhere else, Bañuelos was quick: "It has to start in L.A. You just can't compete."

Where to try it

Nine Democratic House members from California are demanding information about how the Trump administration is treating unaccompanied migrant children who are pregnant and in federal custody. They’ve signed a letter, along with 39 other House Democrats, to Trump officials expressing their concern that the girls are not receiving adequate medical care or access to abortion.

The letter comes in the wake of an investigation by the California and Texas Newsrooms, public media collaboratives in those states. LAist is part of The California Newsroom.

The joint investigation found that the federal government is detaining pregnant migrant girls in a single group home in South Texas. Doctors and reproductive-health experts interviewed for the investigation said prenatal care is severely limited in that region.

The letter says the detention violates federal regulations because the children are “entitled to the full range of medical care, including reproductive health care.”

Rep. Gil Cisneros, who represents the central San Gabriel Valley, says he worries that pregnant migrants who are apprehended in California will be put at risk if they’re sent to a part of Texas that is short on obstetric care. Of particularly concern: High-risk pregnancies are common among minors.

“If they were in California," he said, "they would be able to have more choices of the type of health care that they would get when it comes to reproductive health care.”

Rep. Judy Chu, who represents the West San Gabriel Valley, wrote in a statement that “this administration is so intent on restricting abortion that it is using immigration detention as a tool to control these girls’ bodies.”

Mark Betancourt is a regular contributor to The California Newsroom. 

The U.S. Department of Education is investigating how the Los Angeles Unified School District responds to educators accused of sexual misconduct with students.

The department accuses the district of maintaining a policy that “automatically” reassigns teachers to other schools when they are accused of sexual misconduct with students and cites a 2024 agreement with the teachers union.

A Los Angeles Unified spokesperson wrote in a statement that it’s “not true” that staff being investigated for sexual misconduct are reassigned to other school sites.

“‘Reassignment’ typically means an employee is directed to remain at home and away from students and schools during an investigation,” the spokesperson wrote.

United Teachers Los Angeles called the DOE's accusations a “fundamental misunderstanding” of the district’s reassignment policy.

“[Employees] are not reassigned to another classroom or to any other setting where they would interact with students,” read a statement provided by the union. “This policy protects both students and staff and creates conditions for a thorough and appropriate investigation of allegations.”

What to expect from the federal investigation

The federal investigation, overseen by the department’s Office for Civil Rights, will assess whether the district’s policy violates Title IX, a law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in federally funded education programs.

Kimberly Richey, the assistant secretary for civil rights, wrote in a statement that Title IX requires schools to address claims of sexual misconduct in a “timely manner.”

“It is unconscionable that the district would simply ignore Title IX’s procedural requirements to protect teachers who cause life-changing harm to their kids,” Richey wrote. “The Trump administration will always fight to uphold the law, protect the safety of all students and restore common sense to our schools.”

The Trump administration also has recently targeted LAUSD's desegregation policy and transgender student protections.

Last year, the office failed to resolve any cases related to sexual harassment, sexual violence or racial harassment, according to a report released by Sen. Bernie Sanders in late April. Sanders is the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Education Committee.

In March 2025, the Trump administration pushed to cut over half of OCR’s nearly 600 staff members, which contributed to a growing backlog of cases. Those employees were placed on administrative leave pending the result of legal challenges, and many were later brought back.

The Education Department has also withheld records related to civil rights investigations, prompting a lawsuit from investigative nonprofit newsroom ProPublica.

What does LAUSD’s policy say? 

LAUSD protocol related to employee misconduct says administrators must remove accused employees from their classroom or worksite whenever there is a risk to the safety of students or staff.

The 110-page protocol document also lists several other requirements for allegations related to sexual misconduct, including contacting law enforcement and the agencies that license teachers.

“Los Angeles Unified takes all allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment with the utmost seriousness,” a spokesperson wrote in a statement. “Our primary responsibility is to ensure the safety, dignity and well-being of every student and staff member in our care.” The statement also said the district follows Title IX procedures and continuously reviews its policies, training and reporting systems.

The UTLA settlement outlines several circumstances where an employee can be reassigned, including a law enforcement investigation of misconduct, sexual harassment of a student, behavior toward a student perceived to be motivated by a sexual interest and communicating with a student for non-school-related purposes.

School employees are “mandated reporters” who must, by law, notify local law enforcement or child welfare agencies of suspected child abuse or neglect. California Attorney General Rob Bonta reminded K-12 school district leaders in late April of their legal obligation to prevent sexual misconduct and protect students.

How prevalent is sexual misconduct in California schools?

There have been few comprehensive studies of sexual misconduct in schools. A 2004 report to the Department of Education estimated 1-in-10 students experiences sexual misconduct, ranging from inappropriate comments to physical abuse.

A new California law requires schools to train students and staff to recognize and report misconduct and write new policies on “appropriate behavior.” It also will create a new database of educators credibly accused of abuse.

More than 1,000 lawsuits related to sexual abuse that date to the 1940s have been filed against California school districts since the enactment of a 2019 law that gave victims a three-year window to sue.

LAUSD has authorized $750 million in bonds to pay for sexual misconduct settlements related to suits stemming from the law.

The LA County Library has begun its Summer of Soccer program to bring the excitement of the North American tournament to all Angelenos.

“Soccer has a unique way of bringing people together across cultures and communities,” Skye Patrick, director of the LA County Library, said on the library website.

The program kicked off May 1 with the library system offering limited-edition Summer of Soccer library cards, emblazoned with the library logo, the outline of a soccer pitch and a ball hitting the back of a net.

The new limited-edition Summer of Soccer library cards

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Courtesy LA County Public Library

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The cards are available for free for anyone signing up for the first time and for $1 for people who already have an LA County Library card.

From soccer story time to making circuit boards

There’s a whole range of Summer of Soccer events at branch libraries, from May 20 to July 9.

Highlights include a soccer-themed story time for 2- to 5-year-olds at Graham Library, north of Watts at 3:30 p.m. June 4, while at 3 p.m. the same day, the A C Bilbrew Library west of Compton hosts “Makey Makey for Teens,” which will lead youth through the steps to make their own game controllers and test them on a virtual soccer field. This and other programs repeat at other branches.

All Summer of Soccer events are free and are designed to support youth and families during the summer months when school is not in session.

The LA County Library serves more than three million residents through its 86 libraries and four Cultural Resource Centers, as well as Bookmobiles and other outreach vehicles.