The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has voted to pull funding from the regional agency tasked with combating the homelessness crisis and will instead create a new countywide department to take on the effort.
The Board voted 4-0 Tuesday to revoke hundreds of millions in annual taxpayer fund for the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority after audits and a judge’s ruling found that the agency had mismanaged and failed to track millions of dollars.
The County will now shift the previously earmarked funds toward creating a new countywide department to manage the crisis, which Supervisor Lindsay Horvath said will be modeled after the Department of Health Services’ Housing for Health program, which she says has the best success rate in the region.
“Los Angeles County is leaving the status quo behind, and is embracing a model for homeless services that centers accountability and results,” Horvath said in a release. “This isn’t making the system bigger; it’s making it work better, which our communities have been demanding for years.”
The taxpayer funding originally meant for LAHSA will be stripped from the agency by next year.
Horvath was joined in the vote by fellow supervisors Kathryn Barger, Janice Hahn and Hilda Solis. Supervisor Holly Mitchell abstained.
While unanimity was essentially reached at the County level, Los Angeles city leaders had urged the County leaders not to pull funding from LAHSA, and instead work on solutions to better rein in spending increase transparency in the agency.
“LAHSA desperately needs more transparency and accountability. However, the speed at which the County is moving raises serious concerns about service disruptions,” a statement from L.A. City Councilmember Ysabel Jurado reads.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass agreed that there have been persistent and systemic issues with LAHSA and the region’s approach to battling homelessness, but argued that the corner has already been turned in the last two years since she took office and made the crisis her main priority.
“We are making forward movement. We must keep building on this and confronting our challenges, together,” a letter from Bass and Councilmember Nithya Raman reads.
The two highlighted the decrease in homelessness in L.A. City in the previous point-in-time count as proof that the joined efforts between the City and County are working.
“While homelessness rises across the country, we are driving it down and have dispelled the myth that people want to live on the streets,” the letter reads. “We locked arms, each declaring a state of emergency, and have moved with unprecedented urgency. We are making forward movement.”
But the Supes ultimately decided that the way things are happening now simply aren’t good enough, and any progress will need much more oversight and transparency if taxpayer money will be used to tackle the problem.
“This crisis demands a dedicated County department—one that will focus relentlessly on addressing the root causes of homelessness with a comprehensive, accountable approach,” Barger said. “Our Board is taking full responsibility for the tax dollars we collect and distribute, ensuring transparency, efficiency, and real results for those we serve. The buck stops here.”