LA County supervisors approve more cuts to homelessness programs

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to cut more funds from several homelessness service programs — including those that aim to prevent people from becoming unhoused — in order to balance the budget for the next fiscal year.

Last month, the board approved a $908 million homelessness funding package for the fiscal year that starts July 1.

On Tuesday, the supervisors eliminated $5 million in county funding for a program that works with landlords to secure housing. That program is run by the regional Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, or LAHSA.

They also reduced the Department of Health Services’ shelter budget by $3.9 million, and cut an additional $507,000 in funding for a program that helps unhoused people clear their criminal records.

The supervisors trimmed some funding from homelessness prevention programs but avoided eliminating them entirely. Instead of cutting $26 million from those programs, it cut $16 million.

The latest proposed budget will fund homelessness prevention programs at 25% of last year’s funding levels.

" I think this is a more appropriate first step at trying to make sure that we keep these critical services,” Supervisor Holly Mitchell said during Tuesday’s meeting.

County faces a budget deficit

County officials said the cuts were necessary because of a projected deficit and increased costs for homeless services next fiscal year.

The proposed budget is the first to include allocations from the county’’s new Measure A sales tax, which went into effect this month.

Measure A is expected to bring in more than $1 billion annually, but much of that funding is dedicated to fund new approaches including a county agency focused on affordable housing, rather than the homeless services budget.

The L.A. County Homeless Initiative had argued previously that much of the prevention work could be taken up by the new affordable housing agency.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Supervisor Lindsey Horvath questioned that logic. She said the state law that establishes the new agency — called the L.A. County Affordable Housing Solutions Agency, or LACAHSA — doesn’t allow it to take over prevention funding entirely.

“We need clear direction on what can happen at LACAHSA to ensure that we have an understanding of what prevention work is able to happen there and what prevention work must continue to be funded by the county,” she said.

County explores restoring funding

Horvath proposed a failed motion Tuesday to restore full funding to those programs. She said she’ll keep pushing for that.

“Prevention programs are essential to ending our homelessness crisis, and we must fund these programs as aggressively as we fund housing and services,” she said in a statement to LAist.

Board Chair Kathryn Barger indicated the cuts were necessary, but she also said it was important to preserve as much funding as possible for people at highest risk of becoming unhoused.

“This restoration [of some funding] is about protecting our most vulnerable youth and ensuring we don't let up on the progress we've made to prevent homelessness before it begins,” Barger said in a statement.

The supervisors directed county staff to report back on other ways to reinstate more funding to homelessness prevention.