A long-running debate at Los Angeles City Hall over the future of the region’s primary homelessness agency is now beginning to reshape the organization itself, as the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority prepares to lay off hundreds of employees amid sweeping funding and governance changes.
The layoffs follow Los Angeles County’s decision to withdraw funding from LAHSA and launch its own homelessness department, alongside recent moves by city leaders to consider shifting programs away from the agency or restructuring its governance. Together, the developments mark a turning point for the joint city-county agency, which has coordinated housing and services for people experiencing homelessness across the region for decades.
LAHSA officials this week notified labor leaders and government partners that the agency plans to lay off 284 employees by the end of June, part of a broader restructuring that will eliminate more than 400 positions. The changes come as the agency prepares for a significantly reduced role beginning in the next fiscal year, which starts July 1.
“This shift is being made to help the City and County work to end homelessness,” LAHSA said in a statement to this publication Friday.
LAHSA said affected staff will remain in their roles through June 30, with county-funded programs shifting to the county’s new homelessness department the following day.
Beginning July 1, the agency will take on a more limited role focused on coordinating the region’s rehousing system, including managing data, helping coordinate how people access services and leading applications for annual federal funding.
The agency added city funding is expected to make up the majority of its staffing budget going forward, making its future structure heavily dependent on decisions by the City of Los Angeles.
“With sufficient city funding, LAHSA will be positioned to serve the city’s needs and provide robust data and oversight that empowers the city to make the best decisions on how to end homelessness in LA,” LAHSA said.
The agency did not directly address whether the transition could affect service continuity, instead directing questions about services to the county, which will take over many programs.
The layoffs stem largely from funding changes already set in motion by Los Angeles County, which voted in April 2025 to create its own Department of Homeless Services and Housing, and shift hundreds of millions of dollars away from LAHSA. County officials said the move was intended to create a more centralized and accountable system, following audits that raised concerns about LAHSA’s financial management.
Even before the county’s decision, some city leaders had begun raising concerns about LAHSA’s structure and effectiveness. In November 2024, Councilmembers Monica Rodriguez and Bob Blumenfield introduced a motion calling for the city to explore bypassing LAHSA and contracting directly with service providers, citing concerns about fragmentation and accountability.
That effort advanced in March 2025, when the City Council voted to study the feasibility of bypassing LAHSA and contracting directly with providers.
But when Los Angeles County moved forward with its plan, city officials, including Mayor Karen Bass and Councilmember Nithya Raman, chair of the City Council’s Housing and Homelessness Committee, urged the county to reconsider, warning that dismantling the joint system could disrupt services and undermine recent progress.
“Although it is clear that the Joint Powers Authority has not lived up to its promise, it is also clear that an isolated approach has not worked – and produced even more dire results,” the letter read. “Time and time again, when confronting our homelessness crisis, instead of focusing on people, officials focus on infrastructure. In this move of replacing one bureaucracy with another, history repeats itself.”
In the months since, the debate at City Hall has shifted from whether to reform LAHSA to how the city should restructure its role within, or potentially beyond, the agency.
In September 2025, the City Council voted to explore whether Los Angeles could withdraw all legally allowable homelessness funding from LAHSA and instead contract with the county’s new homelessness department.
That debate intensified this March, when city officials outlined multiple options for restructuring the city’s approach to homelessness, including maintaining LAHSA with reforms, shifting responsibilities to the county, or bringing more programs in-house.
On April 15, the City Council’s Housing and Homelessness Committee advanced recommendations that would begin shifting some city-funded programs away from LAHSA over the next fiscal year and explore changes to the agency’s governance structure. The proposals also call for hiring consultants and requiring regular reports on the transition.
Bass’s office said Friday that she supports a responsible transition away from LAHSA while maintaining services for people experiencing homelessness, and welcomed the committee’s adoption of her recommendations.
“As we navigate the transition away from LAHSA in a responsible way, we are making sure that people are not turned back out onto the street, and are increasing oversight and accountability over LAHSA in the interim,” her office said in a statement. “Mayor Bass has taken action already, with positions funded in her proposed budget to ensure better accountability.”
Raman similarly emphasized the need for a measured approach.
“We cannot continue to respond to instability and broken pathways in the homelessness system by pretending the status quo is our only option. Nor should we self-inflict chaos through an abrupt separation with LAHSA,” she said in a written statement Friday. “The responsible path forward is through a managed transition that retains the services that work, corrects for the issues that have impaired the system for far too long, all while emphasizing fiscal sustainability.”
Raman said the approach would require stronger city oversight while preserving LAHSA’s institutional knowledge and incorporating staff into a more accountable city-led system.
Councilmember Ysabel Jurado, who sits on the Housing and Homelessness Committee, said Friday the recommendations are intended to better align the city’s homelessness response with local needs while avoiding service disruptions and improving long-term coordination.
“As Los Angeles County shifts its approach to homelessness funding, the Housing & Homelessness Committee recommendations represent an important step toward ensuring the City has a homelessness response system that is aligned with the scale and specific needs of our communities,” she said in a written statement.
She added maintaining services will be critical during the transition.
“At the same time, we cannot risk disruptions: unhoused Angelenos still rely on LAHSA’s existing system, and those services must continue without interruption,” Jurado said.
While Jurado emphasized continuity, Councilmember Tim McOsker focused on how the city’s role may need to change as the region’s funding structure shifts.
McOsker, who also sits on the committee, has pushed for increased city control over LAHSA’s governance, arguing that the county’s decision to pull funding has fundamentally altered the region’s homelessness response system and will leave the city as the primary funder of many of the agency’s functions.
He has proposed renegotiating the agency’s joint powers agreement to give the city majority control over its governing commission, as well as shifting some administrative functions, including contracting and payments, directly to the city.
“Any transition must be thoughtful and service-driven. Abrupt structural changes without a clear plan risk disrupting care for people currently in the system, and that is unacceptable,” McOsker spokesperson Sophie Gilchrist said Friday.
While city leaders debated how to restructure the system, LAHSA employees said the uncertainty is already taking a toll.
Ash Afanan, an analyst in LAHSA’s system and planning department who spoke in a personal capacity, said Friday staff are experiencing widespread fear following the layoff announcement. LAHSA has said it will not finalize which employees are affected until April 30.
“We’re experiencing a lot of fear, a lot of uncertainty, ” he said. “Even the folks that aren’t getting laid off were being told that we might be laid off in the future depending on what the city does.”
Afanan added that changes could have consequences for people relying on services.
“It’s going to be really detrimental and I don’t want to sugarcoat it,” he said. “The people that are most in need of our help are going to be the ones that are suffering the most.”
Afanan said he hopes city leaders will take the agency’s recent work into account — including what LAHSA says are a 14% countywide reduction in street homelessness and an 18% within the city— as they weigh next steps.
“I hope the city will at least look at our efforts … they haven’t made up their minds already, that they’re actually going to give us a fair shot,” he said, “because the county didn’t give us a fair shot, and I hope that the city does.”
The City Council is expected to take up the committee’s recommendations at a future meeting, as officials continue to weigh how to restructure the region’s homelessness response without disrupting services for those who rely on them.