One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
LA County supervisors vote to explore cutting homeless services agency’s budget, creating new department
Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority workers observe sanitation workers removing an encampment in Venice Beach in 2023.
(
Brian Feinzimer
/
LAist
)
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to explore how it could trim the budget of the region’s top homeless services agency and move many of its duties to a yet-to-be created department.
The move comes after an audit of the Los Angeles Homeless Service Authority found late payments to subcontractors and inadequate monitoring of contracts to make sure providers were complying with the terms of the funding agreements. LAHSA’s current annual budget is $875 million.
Four supervisors voted in favor of the motion, which directs officials to report back early next year on how to create a new county department and begin transferring funding and duties away from LAHSA. One abstained.
What is being proposed?
The proposal calls for LAHSA’s duties to be limited to core functions, including the Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count and some emergency services. That means hundreds of millions of dollars managed by the agency could go to the new county department to distribute to dozens of service providers.
-
$496M homeless services budget gets green light moments before release of disappointing 2026 numbersThe decision comes as the embattled agency reports an uptick in homelessness in its annual count. -
The findings, released Friday, are part of a wide-range of new statistics based on a January point-in-time survey of homelessness across L.A. County. -
There are 45,194 people living without stable shelter in the city of L.A., according to four people briefed on the latest homeless count results.
If the county moves forward with the proposal, it would be a major change in how the county organizes its response to homelessness.
Sponsored message
“It is time to take the hard but necessary steps to double down on transparency and accountability on homelessness by creating a county department where we have direct oversight,” said Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, who co-authored the motion with Supervisor Kathryn Barger.
City and county officials have scrutinized the agency in recent weeks, following an audit that found the agency was not paying some service providers on time and that some contracts were not properly monitored and other issues.
Supervisor Holly Mitchell, who abstained from the vote, argued for implementing the audit’s recommendations instead of standing up a new department.
“I do not see how shifting all the homeless services funding and programs to one department addresses the true challenges that service providers are facing,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell also pointed out that the audit did not investigate whether tax dollars were spent incorrectly.
What’s next
County officials are expected to report back early next year with a summary of LAHSA functions that could transition to the new county department.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
