With more than a billion dollars a year coming to combat homelessness from the newly passed Measure A, Los Angeles County is pursuing the creation of a brand new department tagged with providing homeless services, while consolidating power from other agencies and departments.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted 4-0 on Tuesday, Nov. 26, with Supervisor Holly Mitchell abstaining. The board action asks its chief executive officer to produce a report about how to create the new department, which would likely be the largest county department.
A report on the feasibility of setting up a new county department, as well as how the department could be funded, staffed and operational, is due to the board in about two months. The report would also address accountability and contract management with homeless service providers.
The report will look into streamlining the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), by requiring the authority to transfer programs to the new county department.
LAHSA, a joint-powers agency between Los Angeles city and the county would retain “core functions” including organizing and performing the point-in-time Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count, and also providing emergency response outreach services to the unhoused.
Los Angeles County Supervisors Kathryn Barger and Lindsey Horvath, walk with Paul Krekorian, Council President, City of Los Angeles, during the 2024 LAHSA homeless count for Los Angeles County in North Hollywood on Tuesday Jan. 23, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
County CEO Fesia Davenport will also examine LAHSA’s staffing levels and how the new county department should be staffed to take on the work of many programs that would be transferred from LAHSA to the new county department.
If the new department is created, LAHSA employees would get the first opportunity to apply for the county jobs, the motion stated.
Third District Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, who sits on the LAHSA board, said the problems with LAHSA have continued for too long and now is the time for an organizational change in delivering homeless services in L.A. County.
“Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results doesn’t make sense,” she said. “We have an obligation to streamline programs and accelerate results.”
Horvath emphasized that a new county department should have direct oversight over Measure A funds, which start flowing April 1, 2025, for homeless services and building affordable housing. She also wants to fold into the new department the homeless services activities in 15 county departments.
“We need to integrate the system of care that can no longer remain siloed,” Horvath said.
Los Angeles City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez has introduced a motion to establish a Department of Homelessness in the city of Los Angeles, reportedly to move away from relying on LAHSA for homeless services.
Horvath said the city of L.A.’s similar action to move ahead with its own homeless services department indicated it was time for a change at the county level.
The impetus to strip LAHSA of many functions comes as a result of a county audit with 16 findings, including LAHSA’s alleged inability to track the dollars to nonprofit providers, and also track the number of providers.
The audit performed by the county’s Auditor-Controller’s Office released on Nov. 20 spells out numerous deficiencies in LAHSA’s fiscal practices. These include no agreements with partners for repaying cash advances from the county; failing to timely reimburse nonprofits in the field for services even when money was available; inadequate controls over contract reviews or cash payments; and inappropriate use of funds.
The scope of the audit released last week was focused on LAHSA management and financial practices and did not examine the nonprofit service providers that also contract with the county, the supervisors noted.
“Not only will a new county department centralize and streamline much of the county’s response to homelessness, it will also allow the county to implement adequate internal controls related to the use of county homelessness funds, including the new Measure A funds,” the motion read.
By limiting LAHSA’s role in homeless services, “there will be greater transparency, oversight, and accountability on the expenditure of public funds and the impacts of their measurable results,” the motion concluded.
Va Lecia Adams Kellum, chief executive officer of LAHSA, told the board of supervisors that in the last 20 months she has worked to fix LAHSA’s problems. “We did restructure the finance department. We made significant changes to get to the bottom of the difficulties,” she said.
Supervisor Mitchell opposed the creation of a new county homeless services department. She said she’d rather see the county focus on shoring up payments to service providers. She also noted the county has begun a new way of paying service providers faster, so they can keep their outreach services on the ground or even expand services, while ensuring more accountability.
“I am not sure this is the time or it is truly efficient to make this transition, when there are other remedies to be put in place to make LAHSA more efficient in getting people housed,” Mitchell said.
Fourth District Supervisor Janice Hahn expressed reservations about the idea. She urged Davenport to create a report that lists pros and cons. And she said she wanted the board to actually vote up or down on creating a new department after the report is delivered to the board and digested.
“It is still a massive humanitarian crisis. Whether or not we replace one bureaucracy with another, I am not so sure about,” said Hahn, who voted yes on pursuing the idea.
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