LA Mayor Karen Bass asked to testify to Congress for fraud hearing on federal homelessness dollars

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has been asked to testify before Congress for an investigation into “potential waste, fraud, and abuse” of federal homelessness funding.

The House of Representatives Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency sent a letter to Bass Wednesday about its concerns with the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, specifically “reports of blatant corruption” in LAHSA’s contracting process and "potential misallocation" of federal dollars.

“Homelessness in California is a long-standing problem, most notoriously in the Skid Row area of downtown Los Angeles,” the letter signed by chairman Tim Burchett states. “The problem has grown worse during your tenure as mayor.”

LAHSA told LAist it consistently welcomes audits and external assessments to continually improve its work, and "none of these reviews have ever found evidence of fraud or corruption."

"Both internal and independent audits have recommended operational enhancements, and LAHSA has delivered demonstrable progress," agency spokesperson Chris Yee said in an email.

Bass' office said in an email statement that it received the letter and was preparing a response.

What does the letter say?

The mayor is being asked to testify Sept. 15 on Capitol Hill for a hearing called "Fixing Fraud and Failure in Federally Funded Homelessness Services.”

The subcommittee is also asking for years worth of documents, including specific communications between the mayor’s office, LAHSA and the L.A. County Board of Supervisors going back to 2020.

Two of LAist’s articles were cited in the letter, including last year’s reporting on LAHSA’s former top official Va Lecia Adams Kellum.

LAist discovered through public records requests that Adams Kellum signed a $2.1 million contract and two other contract amendments with Upward Bound House, the Santa Monica-based nonprofit where her husband worked in senior leadership. A LAHSA spokesperson told LAist at the time that the contracts had inadvertently ended up in front of Adams Kellum to sign.

The backstory

Earlier this year, federal prosecutors announced a fraud case against the leader of a service provider who they accuse of pocketing at least $10 million in homelessness funds that flowed through LAHSA.

Top L.A. homeless service executives awarded at least $3.5 million in taxpayer contracts to the nonprofit even after their agency’s compliance team flagged the group as high-risk for failing to do its job, according to an LAist review of public records.

LAHSA and the Trump administration are also in a legal battle over federal homelessness funding, after the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development suspended LAHSA from federal grant activity in June, citing alleged mismanagement by the agency.

A federal judge granted a preliminary injunction on the suspension last month, with HUD Secretary Scott Turner vowing on social media to “fight this legally.”

A trial is scheduled to start in February.