By\u00a0Aaron Schrank for LAist<\/p>\n
Originally published<\/a>\u00a0July 24, 2025<\/p>\n L.A. County is bracing for a potentially devastating shortfall in funding for homelessness services in the years ahead as the federal government signals cuts, officials said Thursday.<\/p>\n The county\u2019s financial concerns come amid a perfect storm of local, state and federal funding reductions, said Sarah Mahin, director of the county\u2019s new homelessness department.<\/p>\n Her warning came on the same day President Donald Trump signed an executive order seeking to overhaul the way the U.S. manages homelessness, prompting more local concerns.<\/p>\n The order seeks to shift federal grant funding to states and cities that enforce prohibitions on urban camping, enforce prohibitions on drug use and adopt policies allowing people with serious mental illnesses or substance use disorders to be forced into treatment.<\/p>\n \u201cThe federal government is on an all-out assault on funding and services for our most vulnerable,\u201d Mahin said at a meeting with county homelessness officials. \u201cOur housing authorities no longer have vouchers to issue. Medi-CAL is being cut. Food assistance is being cut. \u200aThe people we serve are more at risk than ever before and resources are disappearing.\u201d<\/p>\n Mahin, who began leading the new department this month, said local officials are still determining the full effects of the federal government\u2019s actions on homelessness, but there will be more significant cuts to come.<\/p>\n Amy Perkins, homelessness advisor to L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, said representatives with the Department of Housing and Urban Development recently indicated they might pull more homeless funding from L.A.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s important to state that we met with HUD this week, with a Trump appointee who made very clear that he would recommend there would be no funding coming to our city,\u201d Perkins said at Thursday\u2019s meeting.<\/p>\n