Is LA still considering a break from the region’s homelessness agency?

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It’s been four months since the Los Angeles City Council voted to explore pulling city funding from the region’s top homeless services agency and setting up its own method to contract with providers directly.

That vote — asking city staff to report what it would take for the city to break from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, or LAHSA — came shortly after L.A. County voted to withdraw funding from the regional agency and launch its own homelessness department.

The report is long overdue. A city staffer told LAist a few months ago that the report was expected in late April.

The city’s chief legislative analyst told LAist the report is expected later this month.

“I am eagerly awaiting these reports … so that council can reform the current system, including exploring the creation of a dedicated city Department of Homelessness,” Councilmember Monica Rodriguez told LAist in an email.

Rodriguez proposed the motion to direct staff to draft the report.

She and other L.A. council members said this month that they’ve had no further discussions about the potential move since the council voted in April.

What’s the hold up?

Sharon Tso, the city’s chief legislative analyst, told LAist the report would be released before the end of the legislative recess, which is scheduled to end July 29.

The report is expected to outline ways that the city can contract directly with homeless service providers, instead of going through LAHSA.

City officials are also watching the county closely as it works to set up its new homelessness department. Sarah Mahin was recently appointed to head that department, having previously served as the director for the county’s Housing for Health program.

Councilmember Nithya Raman in March instructed Tso to produce another report on how the county’s homelessness department may affect the city’s contracts with LAHSA.

The city set a 30-day deadline for the report, which has passed. Tso did not have an estimate for when that report would be released.

“ I have impressed upon our reporting departments the urgency of this, but I think the reality is even the county does not fully understand what this process will look like yet,” Raman said.

“ I think that’s probably why the report has been delayed,” she continued, “because I think there’s still a lot of unanswered questions.”

What will happen to LAHSA?

LAHSA’s future is unclear. L.A. County voted on April 1 to pull $300 million in funding from the regional agency.

This has left it with critical budget shortfalls, resulting in layoffs and concerns about its ability to continue providing services.

The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority was established in 1993 as a joint powers authority between the city and the county of Los Angeles to address homelessness. The agency provides services to unhoused people throughout L.A. County, connecting them with housing opportunities, healthcare, education and other resources.

LAHSA is also responsible for the annual point-in-time homeless count, which provides data on the number of homeless people living in the greater Los Angeles region.

Funding for LAHSA is provided primarily through a combination of county, city, state and federal dollars. In the fiscal year that ended in June, 40% of LAHSA’s funding came from the county, and 35% came from the city.

LAHSA’s total budget for the last fiscal year was $875 million.

Why did the county pull out?

LAHSA has been under heavy scrutiny over the past year for lacking oversight and allegations of improper conduct at the agency.

A 2024 audit, ordered by L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, found that LAHSA lacked oversight into the homelessness programs it funded. The agency was not monitoring service providers to ensure that services were provided and was regularly late in making payments to program providers.

That audit prompted the county Board of Supervisors to revoke its future contracts for LAHSA.

“The audit findings make clear the structure we have for service delivery is not working,” Horvath said at the time. “We need greater accountability and bold action.”

The then-head of LAHSA, Va Lecia Adams Kellum, stepped down days after to the county pulling funding.

Days later, the L.A. City Council voted unanimously to explore what bypassing LAHSA and contracting directly with homeless service providers would look like.

A separate audit commissioned by U.S. District Judge David O. Carter uncovered similar issues, finding that there was a lack of “financial accountability” that led to an inability to accurately track spending. This audit also prompted a separate federal investigation into homelessness spending in California more broadly.

Carter ruled in June that the city of L.A. had failed to provide federally required housing for unsheltered residents and criticized LAHSA for its handling of data.

What are the city’s next steps?

LAist reached out to each of the council members with questions about L.A. possibly pulling funding from LAHSA.

Raman emphasized a need to work carefully with the county to ensure that their transition away from LAHSA does not affect the city’s ability to provide services.

“ The county is moving extraordinarily fast, and I’m scared of how quickly they’re moving,” she said. “I’m scared about the impacts for people experiencing homelessness.”

Other council members expressed a mix of views on how to move forward with the city’s support of LAHSA but generally agreed that change was needed.

“We can’t keep doing the same things and expect different results — and that means holding all partners, including LAHSA, accountable,” said Councilmember Ysabel Jurado, who represents neighborhoods in and around downtown.

“Any structural changes must be thoughtful and deliberate, because the people we serve can’t afford disruption,” she continued.

Councilmember Hugo Martinez, whose district includes Hollywood and Echo Park, echoed that his focus was on improving how homelessness services are handled in the city, regardless of whether that was via LAHSA or the city.

“I’m keeping an open mind, but our priority is getting people housed rather than preserving or promoting broken systems,” he wrote.

A spokesperson for Councilmember Adrin Nazarian, who represents North Hollywood and other neighborhoods in the San Fernando Valley, wrote that Nazarian would not comment until the release of the chief legislative analyst’s report.

The remaining council members did not respond to requests for comment.