Board approves Measure A spending plan with changes after debate over youth, prevention and Pathway Home

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on March 25 approved the Homeless Initiative budget recommendations tied to Measure A with late amendments to restore several youth- and prevention-focused programs and to require a follow-up report to identify non-Pathway Home funding sources.

The action, taken after a lengthy set-matter presentation and more than two hours of public comment from cities, provider networks and young people with lived experience, changes the administration's initial budget to restore transitional-age-youth (TAY) and certain prevention investments and directs staff to return with options to avoid reducing Pathway Home operations.

Why it matters: The vote sets the county's first-year implementation priorities under Measure A, the voter-approved half-cent sales tax for homelessness and housing. Supervisors and hundreds of providers and advocates had urged preservation of youth programs and eviction-prevention services; the board accepted a set of amendments aimed at preserving those priorities while holding the overall budget within projected revenue.

Board action and key changes - The board voted 5-0 to approve the Homeless Initiative funding recommendations as amended (final roll call recorded as 5-0). The package restores several targeted TAY and prevention items originally reduced in the draft budget and directs the chief executive officer/HI to identify alternatives to relying on Pathway Home dollars to pay for the…