Committee asks CLA to study county plan to create Department of Homelessness and possible effects on LAHSA

The Los Angeles City Housing and Homelessness Committee voted to request an analysis from the Chief Legislative Analyst on a Los Angeles County proposal to create a county Department of Homelessness and to reassign or withdraw county funding that now flows to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA).

The committee approved the request by unanimous vote of members present (Council members Raman, Gerardo and Blumenfield; Council members Price and Nazarian were absent). Chair Councilmember Grama said the city needs clarity on how a county reorganization would affect shared contracts, staff and services used by the city.

Why it matters: County staff briefings indicate the proposal would “result in a significant change to the structure of the homelessness response system in Los Angeles County,” and county reporting cited by the CLA suggests roughly half of LAHSA staff costs are currently funded by the county. John Wickham of the CLA told the committee that, by appearance, the county plan would create a new homelessness department and remove a substantial portion of…