The Brief

The Los Angeles County homelessness budget approved last week included tens of millions in cuts to established services, including a 78% reduction in funding for the region’s main homeless workforce development program.

LA:RISE provides services for people experiencing homelessness, county authorities said, but they do not specifically align with the county’s priorities for the next fiscal year, according to Cheri Todoroff, director of the Homeless Initiative, which manages the county’s spending.

More than 90% of the county homelessness funding will go to programs that focus on providing shelter and permanent housing, Todoroff said.

LA:RISE partners with 40 organizations, including Homeboy Industries, Goodwill and Downtown Women’s Center, to provide thousands of unhoused Angelenos and those at risk for homelessness with temporary paid work, job training and other support.

Organizations that work with LA:RISE called the county’s move short-sighted, because jobs are crucial for helping people transition out of homelessness.

"Reducing the role of workforce development and employment in this budget eliminates the possibility of solving homelessness at its root and reduces the odds of long-term stability after housing,” said Greg Ericksen with REDF (formerly the Roberts Enterprise Development Fund), a philanthropy organization that manages the program.

Amy Turk, chief executive of the Downtown Women’s Center in Skid Row, said her organization has successfully worked with LA:RISE to help keep clients housed by connecting them with steady incomes and job skills.

“In the grand sense of the county's budget, it’s not that much, but the outcomes that we get are significant,” said Turk. “To hobble that is really disappointing.”

LA:RISE was among the programs that saw the largest drop in county funding in the fiscal year that starts in July. The Board of Supervisors also approved cuts to some legal services, a program providing case management to people exiting jail, a mobile showers program for the homeless and more.

Last year, LA:RISE received $8.4 million in county funding, and the program served 1,200 clients. The new budget will provide LA:RISE with less than $1.8 million in county funds.

Those cuts will shrink the program, but not end it. But it means 600 fewer people will get access to temporary paid work, job training and other support, according to the county.

Homeboy Industries in L.A. works with the LA:RISE program to provide job training to at-risk Angelenos, including those formerly involved with gangs

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LAist

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Why cuts? 

The new spending plan was the first to allocate funding from voter-approved Measure A. The sales tax kicks in April 1 and is expected to generate $1 billion annually for homeless services and affordable housing efforts — essentially doubling the county’s homelessness dollars.

But a large portion of that money will go to a new affordable housing agency for L.A. County and to local governments within the county’s 88 cities for homelessness services.

Even with the influx of new sales tax revenue, the county’s general homeless services budget is facing a projected deficit, and more than $60 million had to be curtailed from existing programs.

Supervisors reversed planned budget cuts to some programs, including targeted homelessness prevention efforts and those serving unhoused young adults, but the workforce program wasn’t spared.

The Homeless Initiative is expected to propose at least $17 million in additional reductions to homeless services at the Board of Supervisors meeting this week.

“As budget amendments move forward, we urge against further cuts to the Homeless Initiative so providers can continue meeting people where they are with the care, support and proven solutions needed to create real impact,” Turk said.

How workforce development works

The LA:RISE initiative exists to help people locked out of the labor market because of homelessness, incarceration or disability become self-sufficient and less dependent on public assistance, program administrators said.

It began in 2014 with grant funding from the U.S. Department of Labor, but has since been funded by L.A. County and the city of L.A.’s workforce development departments, which partner with local service organizations.

“This program is like the bridge from coming out of homelessness, getting ready to go to work, but they're not quite ready right yet,” said Alexandria Piñeda, a former LA:RISE participant who now works full time for Downtown Women’s Center.

Piñeda said she moved from Texas to L.A. about five years ago to find work as a bartender. Then COVID-19 hit, and bars closed.

“I wasn't able to generate any more money because the whole city was shut down. So I ended up homeless, like really fast — within months,” Piñeda said.

She got into a hotel room through the Project RoomKey program and connected with the women’s center, where she learned about the job training program.

“ I didn't know how to do anything else, so that's why I got in LA: RISE to learn a new trade," said Piñeda. “They put me with candle making, and it's very similar to bartending, like I'm mixing and pouring and creating scents, being creative with it.”

The Downtown Women’s Center runs a company called Made By DWC that hires and trains unhoused women. It includes a cafe, clothing boutique and consumer goods line that sells candles, soaps and bath salts.

Piñeda completed 300 hours of paid job training. After she graduated, Made By DWC hired her full-time.

“ I did one job training program and I was on my feet and I’m stable now,” said Piñeda, who currently rents an apartment in Compton. “I'm saving to buy a home. I was able to get a car.”

Today, she trains and mentors other women at the women’s center.

“ It is hard when you're in the program and you're trying to navigate housing or trying to navigate what you're going to eat tonight,” said Piñeda. “I understand that pressure because I went through it.  So I'm always reassuring them, like, ‘You're doing fine. If you're not, we'll talk about it, but you know, like, keep up the good work.’”

Nearly half of the program’s participants have moved on into competitive, unsubsidized jobs, according to LA:RISE.

Stories like Piñeda’s show that programs like this can be extremely helpful to individuals, but it’s harder to quantify how effective they are as a solution to the homelessness crisis.

A 2019 study of the LA:RISE program found participants had higher rates of employment and higher earnings than their peers in the short-term, but no measurable advantage years later.

Other research on workforce programs showed they had little effect on participants’ long-term housing stability.

LA:RISE reacts

The organizations that work with LA:RISE say its success is evident.

Long before she became executive director at the Center For Living and Learning, Maria Alexander had been held in county jail and then lived on the side of a L.A. freeway. Then she started a paid job training experience through a workforce development program.

“The strongest evidence that this program works is that we hire directly and operate our entire organization with over 90% of our staff hired from the LA:RISE program, including management and our finance team,” Alexander said.

She said county leaders should not ignore the role job training and a steady job play in ending homelessness.

“To invest in drug treatment and shelters and then drop the ball upon transitioning into the workforce will cause irreparable harm,” Alexander said. “Having a work location with peers who have overcome the same obstacles and can provide motivation, inspiration and much needed hand holding is immeasurable.”

Downtown L.A. nonprofit Chrysalis, which works with LA:RISE, has been doing this kind of work for four decades, connecting unhoused Angelenos with job training and paid gigs answering phones, cleaning streets or serving food.

The nonprofit says the budget cuts will mean a 50% decrease in its participants, or 100 fewer people next year.

“Last year, 2 million voters told our elected officials that they wanted Measure A and the supportive services it would fund,” said President and CEO Mark Loranger. “LA:RISE is a part of that promise and should not be cut from the budget.”

Representatives from the Center for Employment Opportunities, which works with LA:RISE, said it will also have to drastically reduce enrollments.

“Taking away funding from people who are ready and able to work, those who are ready for full engagement and participation in the workforce and housing would put more Angelenos at risk of long-term homelessness,” said Tiffany Elder, a spokesperson for the organization.

Next steps 

The new county budget goes into effect July 1.

In addition to the remaining $1.8 million in funding from L.A. County, the program also receives about $3 million in annual funding from the city of L.A.’s Economic and Workforce Development Department.

That department recently requested an increase in LA:RISE funding from the city, but that appears unlikely given the city’s budget deficit.

Kelly LoBianco, director of the county’s Department of Economic Opportunity, said she hopes the cuts are only temporary.

“ We think it's an important program and an important model at a time like this,” she said. “We do feel like in addition to maintaining these levels, there’s also a need to scale them to meet the moment.”

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

While deciphering posted parking regulations around L.A. lately, you may have noticed new signs.

“This property is owned or controlled by the city of Los Angeles,” the shiny red-and-white placards say. "It may only be used for its intended purpose and not used for immigration enforcement as a staging area, processing location, or operations base.”

The LA Local recently spotted them at Hollenbeck Park’s parking lot and at various parking lots close to Echo Park. The mayor’s office told The LA Local the city has installed 500 of them at various locations, including at MacArthur Park, Lafayette Park, the Los Angeles Zoo and Metrolink stations.

The city has received no reports that agents have used the city-owned spaces since the signs were installed. A spokesperson for the mayor’s office said that the city could sue for a restraining order if federal agencies violate the prohibition.

Why were the signs posted?

Mayor Karen Bass ordered that these signs be posted on all city-owned property in February as part of her Executive Order 17. A spokesperson for the mayor’s office said they placed the signs in locations “identified as more likely to be used for [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] operational activity.”

Since the federal government began sweeping operations in Los Angeles last year, immigration advocates and community members have called for the city to do more to keep immigrant residents safer.

In response, Bass issued Executive Order 17, saying the “City must and can do more to protect our City and all who live, work and visit the City of Angels.”

A sign at MacArthur Park prohibits federal agents from using city-owned property to stage for immigration enforcement operations.

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How have federal immigration operations involved city property and employees?

In July 2025, about 100 federal agents conducted an operation in MacArthur Park. Days later, Bass issued a separate executive order clarifying the city’s property and resources could not be used for federal immigration enforcement. 

Meanwhile, LAPD Police Chief Jim McDonnell has made repeated statements that he doesn’t agree with or plan to enforce various state laws requiring federal agents to identify themselves and do their work without a mask. (After the Trump administration filed lawsuits, courts have blocked various provisions of those state laws in court anyway.)

Some advocates and Angelenos have called on LAPD to draw a clearer line between the local policing work they are responsible for and the immigration enforcement federal agents do.

Bass’ February order requiring the signs be installed came soon after.

The city has also prohibited its employees from working second jobs with federal immigration enforcement.

What else does Executive Order 17 do?

The order states that unless federal agents have a warrant or court order, they are not allowed to use city-owned or operated property to stage for operations. It also requires LAPD officers to identify federal agents and record their interactions with them. The police commission has since started to publicly report basic details about those interactions.

What happens if federal agents use the city spaces anyway?

The order does not establish what penalties federal agents could face if they are found to be using city property for staging. A spokesperson for the mayor’s office said that the city could sue or pursue a restraining order if federal agencies violate the prohibition.

“Any necessary response will be handled in accordance with the Executive Order and applicable City protocols,” the city statement said.

Hundreds of organizations are rallying at MacArthur Park on Friday in one of many events recognizing May Day, which is expected to draw thousands of people. 

The rally began at 10 a.m. with speakers, and then the event will march to City Hall around noon. Westlake is no stranger to International Workers’ Day, said Victor Narro, project director with the UCLA James Lawson Jr. Worker Justice Center, which sits across the street from MacArthur Park.

“We’re dealing with so much this year, and I think May Day is going to be a chance for us to come together,” Narro told The LA Local ahead of the rally. 

Advocacy groups from different backgrounds, like immigrants’ rights, housing, LGBTQ rights, and economic justice, will unite for the cause of workers’ rights, Narro said.

“It’s really an inclusive march,” he said. “This really is unlike any other march.”

Organizers also hope to make the event safe for undocumented immigrants and emphasize that they are taking security seriously.

“You just don’t know with this administration,” he added. 

Organizers are calling for a boycott and will rally under the banner, “Solo El Pueblo Shuts it Down – No Work, No School, No Shopping” with the march ending at Gloria Molina Grand Park at the foot of City Hall. 

This year’s May Day also marks the 20th anniversary of La Gran Marcha, when millions of people took to the streets around the country to protest proposed legislation that would have included making it a felony offense to be an undocumented immigrant.

The event is still fresh in a lot of people’s minds, including Juan Aguilar, a supermarket worker who came to the United States in 1989 and participated in the 2006 march in downtown L.A.

“I was really impressed by the number of people there. And I didn’t feel afraid. People weren’t afraid,” he said at a sign-making event for this year’s May Day rally at the Korean Immigrant Workers Advocates in Koreatown. 

He feels it’s so much different now. Back then, Aguilar said, people were only afraid near the border.

“Once you were inside the country, you could move freely. Now it’s everywhere,” he said. “People are afraid because raids can happen at any moment. At work, on the street, leaving court, anywhere.”

The fear in the community has prompted Aguilar to participate in this year’s rally.

Friday will also be Jay Lee’s first time participating in the May Day rally and march. He pointed to the role labor movements have played in shaping migration and identity within Korean communities.

“Korea’s got this huge history of labor,” Lee said. “The existence of the Korean diaspora here is inherently tied to the labor movement in Korea.”

For Lee, a Korean American, this year’s May Day is especially significant. It marks the first year South Korea has designated May 1 as a mandatory public holiday for all workers, including those in the public sector. Previously, only private-sector workers had the day off.

He said this year’s march is also about solidarity across communities.

“We’re going to be marching with Black workers, the Latino centers, the Filipino centers,” Lee said. “We’re going to be all marching together as one voice, and I think that’s really cool.”

The LA Local has reporters on the ground. Check back for updates, and see more photos and video on our Instagram.

The two chicks growing in Big Bear’s famous bald eagle nest have been named.

The offspring of famous parents Jackie and Shadow will be called Sandy and Luna, according to Friends of Big Bear Valley, the nonprofit that runs a popular YouTube livestream of the nest and is working to preserve acres of land in the area.

The organization announced the results of this year’s chick naming contest Friday after inviting the eagles’ fanbase to submit suggestions with a donation last month.

Keeping with tradition, the final votes were left up to Big Bear Valley third-grade students. A list of names was selected randomly from the nearly 64,000 public fundraiser submissions and delivered on ballots to the students, who are studying bald eagles in school, earlier this week.

Sandy was the most popular name entered into the contest with more than 3,700 submissions, according to Friends of Big Bear Valley.

The name is an homage to Sandy Steers, an environmental advocate who helped launch the eagle livestream and the nonprofit’s late executive director. She died in February, a few weeks before the pair of eggs were laid.

“Please know that although Sandy would not have wanted us to outright name one of the eaglets Sandy, she would have been honored that you and the students went through the process and named one of the 2026 eaglets after her,” the organization wrote on Facebook Friday to its more than 1.2 million followers.

Chick naming traditions

Sandy and Luna have been known as Chick 1 and Chick 2, respectively, since they hatched in early April.

Once the eaglets arrived, Friends of Big Bear Valley was swarmed with hundreds of requests to name one of the chicks “Sandy.”

But it’s a right of passage for the Big Bear third graders to name the chicks, and the tradition was “one of Sandy’s greatest joys,” according to Jenny Voisard, Friends of Big Bear Valley’s media manager.

Jackie and Shadow, the adult birds whose parenting saga each nesting season has captured human attention around the world, have had previous chicks named Stormy, BBB (for Big Bear Baby), Simba, Spirit and Cookie through a similar process.

“Last year, because Jackie and Shadow did not have chicks the previous two seasons, she opened it up to the other grades that didn’t get to participate when they were in the third grade,” Voisard said in a statement. “That was Sandy. Education was extremely important to her.”

Last season’s eaglets were dubbed Sunny and Gizmo by the Big Bear elementary students, who voted on 30 finalists pulled from about 54,000 name choices crowdsourced in a week-long fundraiser.

What’s next for Sandy and Luna

The nonprofit asked people to submit gender neutral names because the sex of each eaglet is not yet known.

Sandy and Luna are nearly 4 weeks old as of Friday, but once the eaglets reach around 9 to 10 weeks old, there should be signs that can help Friends of Big Bear Valley make an educated guess.

One of Jackie and Shadow's chicks peaks out from behind its parent on April 5.

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Friends of Big Bear Valley

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YouTube

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Big Bear's famous bald eaglets on April 7.

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Friends of Big Bear Valley

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YouTube

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The chicks in the nest overlooking Big Bear Lake on April 12.

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Friends of Big Bear Valley

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YouTube

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Sandy and Luna, formally known as Chick 1 and Chick 2, stretching in the nest on April 30.

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Friends of Big Bear Valley

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YouTube

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Some of the signs the nonprofit looks out for include the chick’s size, ankle thickness and vocal pitch.

Generally speaking, female bald eagles are larger than males. Female bald eagles also tend to have larger vocal organs — the syrinx — which leads to deeper, lower-pitched vocalizations, according to Friends of Big Bear Valley.

The only definitive way to know the eaglets’ sex is through a blood test, which nonprofit officials have said is unlikely. There is no human intervention in the nest during nesting season, according to Voisard.

When the eaglets are around 10 to 14 weeks old, they could fledge, or take their first flight away from the nest overlooking Big Bear Lake.

But as the nonprofit often reminds fans, nature is in charge of the timeline — a previous eaglet named Simba took 16 weeks to fledge.

Fledglings from Southern California have been spotted as far north as British Columbia, as far east as Yellowstone and as far south as Baja California, according to Friends of Big Bear Valley.

Big picture progress

Friends of Big Bear Valley is continuing to lead a $10 million fundraiser to buy more than 62-acres near the nest to preserve it from a planned housing project called Moon Camp.

Instead, the organization and the San Bernardino Mountains Land Trust want the land to be placed under a permanent conservatorship.

Officials say “Save Moon Camp” is the most ambitious fundraising effort in the history of Friends of Big Bear Valley. It’s raised more than $2.3 million as of Friday.