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 restorations. - The main restorations directed by the board included approximately $7 million targeted to transitional-age-youth items (regional youth coordination, campus peer navigation, youth housing navigation and host-home supports) and approximately $19.1 million in prevention-related expenditures (problem solving, case management and narrowly targeted rental/financial assistance). The board stipulated that prevention restorations be funded up to the actual level of fiscal-year-to-date expenditures as documented in invoices through March 31, 2025, then prorated to a full year for contracting purposes. - To cover the initial $5 million of the restorations, the board approved using $5 million from the housing-acquisition/housing-location line item and directed staff to report back within one week with options for additional non-Pathway Home funding sources to avoid drawing further dollars from Pathway Home.

What the board said - Supervisor Lindsay Horvath, who offered the amendment changing the formula used to allocate city-level Measure A "Local Solutions" money and who authored the restoration motion, said in debate that protecting youth and prevention is a priority: "We cannot afford to go backwards" on youth funding and prevention that prevent chronic homelessness. - Sherry Todoroff, director of the Homeless Initiative, briefed the board on operations under the emergency declaration, ECRC (Emergency Coordinated Response Center) and Pathway Home metrics. She noted the system placed thousands of people into interim housing in 2024 and emphasized continued pressure on permanent housing supply: "We need to see those numbers be much higher; it's not an issue of rent money, it's an issue of housing stock."

Public comment and stakeholder response - Hundreds of public speakers joined in person and remotely. Speakers included city officials, COG chairs, nonprofit providers, workforce programs and dozens of young people and survivors who urged preservation of youth-specific programs (Campus Peer Navigation, ConnectLA, host homes) and restoration of prevention funds (tenant legal services, problem solving, short-term subsidies). - Multiple city coalitions urged a formula change for the Local Solutions Fund (the board adopted an amendment switching the recommended city allocation formula), and several regional COGs asked for more time to finalize city-level allocations; the board nonetheless approved the goals and the amended budget to avoid contract delays.

Next steps and oversight - The board required a one-week CEO/HI reportback to identify non-Pathway Home funding sources for the restorations after the $5 million housing-acquisition offset, and a 9/25/2025 report on standards-of-care: the county will convene an ECRA ad hoc subcommittee (executive committee on regional homeless alignment) with multiple departments to develop standardized service-level practices and contract performance indicators and to demonstrate how Measure A goals are aligned to the standards. - The board also directed that prevention restorations be implemented using actual FY24-25 expenditures through March 31, 2025 (prorated), to allow contracts to begin July 1 without waiting for final year-end accounting.

Background: Pathway Home & Measure A - Pathway Home is the county's encampment-resolution program; fiscal-year proposals requested funding to expand operations countywide. Supervisors repeatedly said Pathway Home is a core tool but that growth must be balanced with investments in youth and prevention. The board's one-week reportback must identify alternatives so the county does not reduce Pathway Home operations while restoring youth and prevention.

What to watch - The county and partner cities will now move quickly to execute contracts so services are uninterrupted on July 1. The September standards-of-care report will be closely watched; it must explain how Measure A-funded programs will be contractually aligned with shared performance measures and with the county's service model.

Ending note - Supervisors and community leaders framed the vote as a compromise: protect immediate services for young and at-risk populations while keeping the broader Measure A investments on track. The board emphasized this fiscal year is a transition year; members instructed staff to continue engaging cities, providers and advocates as allocations are operationalized.