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LA region's top homelessness official to step down this week
Va Lecia Adams Kellum on Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025.
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Carlin Stiehl
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LAist
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Topline:
The leader of the region’s top homelessness services agency will close out her tenure this week, as the organization continues to deal with ongoing criticism over accountability and a loss of county funding.
Va Lecia Adams Kellum’s last day as CEO of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, known as LAHSA, will be Friday, the agency announced.
Why it matters: LAHSA said in a statement that Adams Kellum led the agency through a period of “substantial change” and two years of drops in the point-in-time homeless count. But it hasn’t been smooth sailing — LAHSA faced fierce criticism in recent years after a county audit and a March report found serious accounting and oversight issues at the agency.
The backstory: Adams Kellum first said in April that she’d be stepping down, days after L.A. County officials moved to shift hundreds of millions in taxpayer funding away from LAHSA. She was hired in early 2023 and spent more than two years as the region’s top homeless services executive.
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“I am incredibly proud of LAHSA’s talented and dedicated staff and deeply grateful for their tireless work,” Adams Kellum said in a statement at the time she announced her departure.
What's next: The LAHSA Commission will vote on the next, new temporary leader, although an agency spokesperson did not know when. The commissioners directed staff to begin pre-hiring procedures for the interim CEO on July 11, according to LAHSA.
Read on … for more about Adams Kellum and LAHSA.
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