More than three dozen women and children are at risk of losing the services that supported their families after escaping domestic violence, officials are warning.<\/p>\n
The contract for an L.A.-area transitional shelter for domestic violence survivors expired at the end of March. No funding has come in since then through the region\u2019s troubled homeless services agency<\/a>, according to Jewish Family Service L.A.<\/a>, which runs the shelter<\/a>.<\/p>\n That has forced the organization to cover<\/a> the roughly $300,000 in annual costs to keep the shelter up and running, according to Eli Veitzer. If that contract doesn\u2019t come through, he said the shelter won’t be able to take in new survivors and officials would have to find other arrangements for the families currently in their care.<\/p>\n \u201cThe women who are in our shelters have experienced enormous trauma and fear and violence,\u201d he told LAist. \u201cBut the children who are in our shelters are just children, and they’ve also experienced all of that.\u201d<\/p>\n Learn the ins and outs behind L.A.’s housing crisis.<\/p>\n Sign up for Building Your Block, a seven-issue newsletter course from LAist that explains the obstacles around housing development in L.A. and what you can do to make things better.<\/p>\n \u201cI’d like to know how they would explain to a 10-year-old girl who’s gone through hell why there’s no more money for the shelter?\u201d Veitzer added, his voice cracking with emotion.<\/p>\n The number of people experiencing homelessness in L.A.<\/a> from fleeing domestic or intimate partner violence jumped more than 43%<\/a> since early last year<\/a>, according to the results of the annual point in time count released<\/a> in recent weeks. That equates to more than 5,690 people in the city.<\/p>\n The shelter contract is through the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, also known as LAHSA<\/a>, and funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. LAHSA told LAist the plight of providers like the shelter is why LAHSA is suing HUD over its decision to suspend the agency from federal grant activity.<\/p>\n \u201cTheir actions are putting thousands of people who are safely inside housing in danger of returning to the street,\u201d Ahmad Chapman, a spokesperson for LAHSA, said in an email.<\/p>\n A survivor\u2019s \u2018safe haven\u2019<\/p>\n Yaminah is a single mother of two children, a 6-year-old daughter and an 11-year-old son, and a former resident of the Hope Transitional Shelter that\u2019s dealing with the budget shortfall.<\/p>\n She suffered more than eight years of emotional and physical abuse from her children\u2019s father, whom she said she now has a restraining order against. LAist is not publishing her last name out of concern for Yaminah and her children\u2019s safety.<\/p>\n In 2024, Yaminah and her children ended up homeless after fleeing the violence. She said she called more than 20 shelters looking for help and a place to stay. But every call was a closed door, with wait lists stretching up to two years, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was so discouraging. But I knew I couldn’t give up because my babies were looking at me.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u2014 Yaminah told LAist.<\/p>\n Their first stay at an emergency crisis shelter connected her to the Hope Transitional Shelter, which provides free, long-term services for women and children who are survivors of domestic violence. Families get assistance with case management, as well as parenting and mental health support. The average stay is between 9 to 15 months, and the eventual goal is to help families move into their own housing.<\/p>\n Yaminah described the transitional shelter as a \u201csafe haven\u201d that gave her family a chance to get back on their feet.<\/p>\n \u201cWe didn’t have to worry about our fear that \u2018Oh what if he finds us,\u2019\u201d she added. \u201cIt just gave us that sense of I’m safe, someone else cares, someone is here to help me. And that’s so important, because when you’re in a domestic violence situation, you feel alone.\u201d<\/p>\n Yaminah and Veitzer, who leads the shelter organization Jewish Family Service L.A., said many survivors stay in domestic violence situations because they don\u2019t know a way out. Yaminah said a loss of funding could be \u201cdetrimental\u201d with fewer shelter beds and even longer wait lists.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat options are you giving them? Where do they go? So do I just stay with the person that’s abusing me?\u201d she said. \u201cIf the shelters are not fund[ed], it’s out of their hands. How can they help us?\u201d<\/p>\n How we got here<\/p>\n HUD suspended LAHSA<\/a> from federal grant activity in June, pending an investigation into alleged mismanagement<\/a> by the agency. HUD has said the suspension means LAHSA cannot fulfill its role as collaborative applicant for the entire region\u2019s application for federal homelessness dollars for the upcoming fiscal year.<\/p>\n LAHSA filed a lawsuit challenging the suspension<\/a> a few weeks later, and a federal judge intervened<\/a> last month. U.S. District Judge David O. Carter issued a legal order<\/a> pausing HUD\u2019s effort to suspend LAHSA pending an Aug. 6 court date.<\/p>\n Chapman said the agency is looking forward to this week’s hearing \u201cwhere LAHSA will have its day in court on behalf of all of these federally funded service providers.\u201d<\/p>\n The shelter is being left in limbo amid the federal funding drama, according to Veitzer. LAHSA\u2019s contract is its largest funding source, accounting for 50% to 60% of the program\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n