Federal homelessness cuts come amid ‘perfect storm’ for LA service providers

Los Angeles homeless services providers say new funding shifts from the Trump administration are coming at a time when efforts to lower the number of people experiencing homelessness in the region are already facing difficult cuts.

Under the changes rolled out this week, federal funding through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development — known as HUD — will be shifted away from “housing-first” strategies that aim to get unhoused people into permanent housing and moved toward efforts that will first require participants to undergo drug treatment or seek work.

Rowan Vansleve, president of Hope The Mission, said L.A.’s homeless numbers could spike as current funding runs out and providers await the result of new funding applications.

“It could leave the most vulnerable — like people with disabilities or serious health issues, mental health issues — left out, which is really scary,” he said.

Ryan Smith, president and CEO of the St Joseph Center, said the federal cuts come amid “tectonic” shifts for L.A.’s homeless services system. Funding from voter-approved Measure A is replacing previous county funding, and the region’s lead homeless services agency is being wound down in favor of a new county homelessness department.

“This is a perfect storm of real challenges we're seeing,” Smith said. “Increased need for housing, for mutual aid, for the types of services that we get to do every day, but a lack of resources to make that happen.”

At last count, more than 72,000 people are experiencing homelessness across L.A. County. Resources for many, including families, have been stretched thin or exhausted, threatening to reverse what officials describe as progress toward reducing those numbers.