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 county funding from LAHSA. Wickham said county materials cited an approximate 52% of staff positions funded by county dollars and warned that many positions are braided across city, state and county funding streams.

CLA summary and outstanding questions John Wickham, Office of the Chief Legislative Analyst, told the committee that the county had not yet supplied a public financial analysis and that the CLA is awaiting that detail. "They have not actually received a financial analysis of this proposal yet," Wickham said, adding that the analysis was expected later in the week.

Wickham flagged several outstanding questions for the city, including whether county and city investments at LAHSA can be unbraided without disrupting services, what will remain at LAHSA after any withdrawal of county funding, and how contract management and data systems would be affected. He said county language describing what functions would remain at LAHSA appeared to be determined unilaterally by the Board of Supervisors rather than via the broader regional governance bodies the county has established.

City departments and contract management Members asked department staff how contract administration and operations would be affected if county funding were removed from LAHSA. Lorena Sanchez of the Los Angeles Housing Department (LAHD) said LAHD currently holds seven contracts with LAHSA and that LAHD also receives county funds directly for some programs (for example, tiny homes, bridge homes, interim housing, safe parking and safe sleep sites). "We have several programs that are funded through the county…depending on what ends up happening, we will still be fully funded to operate that," Sanchez said, while noting the city would need to determine invoicing and operational arrangements after any county changes.

Committee concerns and next steps Committee members voiced concern about continuity of services, staffing loss at LAHSA, and the city’s capacity to assume increased administrative or contracting responsibility. Councilmember Blumenfield asked whether the city would be left contracting with a diminished LAHSA. Wickham said those outcomes are unclear and emphasized the need for a careful, system-wide analysis.

The committee asked the CLA to prepare a report that examines how the city would ensure continuity of services during a transition, the potential financial implications if the city had to assume greater administrative responsibility, and alternatives for coordination and data sharing. The committee approved the request for a CLA report and directed that the CLA include the specific impacts on city-LAHSA contracts, HMIS (the Homeless Management Information System), point-in-time count responsibilities and other shared functions.

Provenance (transcript evidence): The committee discussion opened when the special agenda motion was read into the record at s=3732.0352 ("Item number 1 is a motion…relative to the establishment of a new Los Angeles County Department for Homelessness…"). John Wickham’s remarks to the committee began at s=3935.5251 ("Good afternoon. John Wickham with the office of the chief legislative analyst...") and continued through s=4228.485 when he summarized likely impacts and unanswered financial questions.