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Committee approves CLA opioid remediation plan and asks for mayor—s program metrics
Summary
The Housing and Homelessness Committee approved a follow-up report from the City—s Chief Legislative Analyst on using opioid settlement funds for harm-reduction work, directing departments to seek reimbursements and asking for a CLA report on mayoral expenditures to inform any RFP.
The Los Angeles City Housing and Homelessness Committee on July 30 approved a Chief Legislative Analyst (CLA) report laying out options for an opioid remediation program and directed city departments to pursue reimbursements from opioid settlement funds.
The committee voted to note-and-file the CLA analysis, request the mayor—s office, the Housing Department and the Department of Disability, in coordination with the City Administrative Officer (CAO), to compile invoices for reimbursement, and to have the CLA report back in 90 days on progress toward a city-county partnership to create a Westlake/MacArthur Park harm-reduction center.
The CLA—s presentation summarized allowable uses of opioid settlement money and proposed two program delivery options. Option A would have the Housing Department issue an RFP covering seven city regions with $500,000 contracts in each region (total $3,500,000). Option B would have the Department of Disability run a smaller set of $300,000 contracts in seven regions (total $2,100,000). The CLA recommended harm-reduction activities such as naloxone distribution, outreach and engagement, syringe-exchange and testing-strip distribution, wound care, and referrals to treatment.
CLA staff said one near-term task is determining how much existing street-medicine and mayoral "circle" programs can be reimbursed from settlement funds. Committee members were told the city has not yet segmented some invoices for reimbursement and that the mayor—s collaborative programs (notably the Insight Safe referrals) are the only active source of invoice data at this time. The CLA estimated reimbursable amounts could be in the low hundreds of thousands of dollars, but stressed that exact figures depend on departmental invoicing and eligibility determinations.
Committee members asked which department could administer an RFP most quickly. The CLA said both departments could run the program but that the Department of Disability has a longer history with harm-reduction contracts while the Housing Department has broader capacity and experience coordinating with county partners for services tied to housing. Councilmembers also asked about equity in distributing funds across the seven regions; the CLA said the proposal used an even split and that overlaying county services complicates an immediate, needs-based reallocation.
The committee added an amendment instructing the CLA to report back to the committee, in partnership with the mayor—s office, on outcomes and metrics from mayoral opioid expenditures so those results can inform any final RFP. The motion passed on a roll call: Council member Raman, yes; Council member Jurado, yes; Council member Blumenfield, absent (2 ayes, item approved as amended).
The CLA noted the city is also coordinating with county public-health officials on a Westlake-area harm-reduction drop-in center and that the county has a potential site and funding strategy under development.
The committee action does not itself appropriate new settlement funds; it authorizes program design steps, departmental invoicing for potential reimbursement, and further reporting to the committee. The amount recommended for option A ($3,500,000) and option B ($2,100,000) were presented as program-design choices for council consideration.
The committee directed staff to bring back the requested CLA status report before any RFP is finalized so the council can see how previously allocated mayoral opioid funds were spent and what outcomes they produced.
