Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
LA Audit: Homeless Agency Fails to Hit Housing Goals
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
August 30, 2019

Share

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority has failed to meet goals for placing people into permanent housing and for referring them to substance abuse and mental health treatment, according to a city audit released Wednesday.

“It ultimately says nothing about LAHSA’s outreach efforts, which contacted record numbers of our homeless neighbors in the year it studied,” Lynn said in a statement. He said the authority is working with “better data collection and metrics.” Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority executive director Peter Lynn
Despite having more than doubled its number of outreach workers over the last two years, the agency missed seven of nine goals during the 2017-18 fiscal year and five of eight last fiscal year, auditors concluded.
Workers aimed to get 10% of the homeless people they assessed into permanent housing. But in the fiscal year that ended in June, they placed only 4%, the report found. The goal for placing people in shelters was 20%, but workers achieved only 14%.
While attributing some of the shortfalls to the underlying shortage of affordable housing and treatment resources in LA, the audit also criticized the city for setting fuzzy goals that weren’t linked to the scale of the homelessness crisis.
Authority executive director Peter Lynn said the city’s report was misleading because it only looked at measures that aren’t good at judging effectiveness.
“It ultimately says nothing about LAHSA’s outreach efforts, which contacted record numbers of our homeless neighbors in the year it studied,” Lynn said in a statement. He said the authority is working with “better data collection and metrics.”

There Were Close to 60,000 Homeless People Living in Los Angeles County

Officials have declared homelessness a state of emergency in the nation’s second-largest city, where housing prices have spiked. Freeway overpasses are lined with tents, and it’s a common sight to see someone pushing a shopping cart filled with belongings through downtown streets.
While once largely confined to the notorious Skid Row neighborhood, encampments have spread citywide.
Heidi Marston, the authority’s chief program officer, told the Los Angeles Times that the agency “can’t place people in shelter or housing that has yet to be built or is blocked.”
She said federal privacy rules prevented it from accurately reporting mental health and substance abuse referrals, so the agency no longer uses those goals.
In its 2019 count, the authority reported that there were close to 60,000 homeless people living in Los Angeles County, with more than 36,000 of them in the city. All but about 25% live on the streets.
The audit faulted the authority for reporting it had placed 21,000 into permanent housing. The number include placements made by other agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as duplicates by counting individuals or families that fell in and out of homelessness during the year, the audit said.
City Controller Ron Galperin said the city and authority should revamp its goals to be understandable and specify the number of people expected to receive assistance, rather than using a percentage. The authority also should adopt a data-driven outreach system modeled after that used by police departments nationwide, including the LAPD, he said.
Marston said the authority is already doing that at the city’s Unified Homeless Response Center and that it has set better goals for data collection and reporting.

DON'T MISS

Braves’ Jurickson Profar Hit With 80-Game PED Ban

DON'T MISS

Watch: City Demolishes Historic Chinatown Building to Make Way for Housing

DON'T MISS

The Mystery of Melania Trump’s Wedding Dress and an eBay Sale

DON'T MISS

Heading to Sierra? Prepare for Heavy Snow

DON'T MISS

Mexican National Caught in Fresno County Pleads Guilty to Fentanyl Trafficking

DON'T MISS

CA Snowpack Is Near-Average. What Does This Mean for Water Supplies?

DON'T MISS

Shohei Ohtani Adds Another No. 1 to His Resume: MLB’s Best-Selling Jersey

DON'T MISS

Tush Push Is the Hottest Topic at the NFL League Meetings

DON'T MISS

U.S. Bank Executive Terry Dolan Dies in Plane Crash Near Minneapolis

DON'T MISS

Trump Administration Will Review Billions in Funding for Harvard

UP NEXT

U.S. Bank Executive Terry Dolan Dies in Plane Crash Near Minneapolis

UP NEXT

California Gov. Newsom Says the Democratic Brand Is ‘Toxic’

UP NEXT

Silver Fire Grows to 1,250 Acres, Threatens Homes in Inyo County

UP NEXT

Sue or Hold Back? The University of California Does Both as It Faces Trump’s Wrath

UP NEXT

Top Vaccine Official Resigns From FDA, Criticizes RFK Jr. for Promoting Misinformation, Lies

UP NEXT

California Food Banks Brace for Funding Cuts, and Not Only From the Trump Administration

UP NEXT

Cal State Automatically Admitting High School Students With Good Grades

UP NEXT

California Democratic Lawmaker Exaggerated His Record as a Police Officer

UP NEXT

Utah Becomes the First State to Ban Fluoride in Public Drinking Water

UP NEXT

Wilmer Flores’ 3-Run Homer in the 9th Inning Propels Giants to Victory Over Reds

Heading to Sierra? Prepare for Heavy Snow

1 hour ago

Mexican National Caught in Fresno County Pleads Guilty to Fentanyl Trafficking

1 hour ago

CA Snowpack Is Near-Average. What Does This Mean for Water Supplies?

2 hours ago

Shohei Ohtani Adds Another No. 1 to His Resume: MLB’s Best-Selling Jersey

3 hours ago

Tush Push Is the Hottest Topic at the NFL League Meetings

3 hours ago

U.S. Bank Executive Terry Dolan Dies in Plane Crash Near Minneapolis

3 hours ago

Trump Administration Will Review Billions in Funding for Harvard

4 hours ago

Former MLB Pitcher CJ Wilson of Fresno on New Torpedo Bats: ‘Still Room for Innovation’

4 hours ago

Man Arrested After Shooting at Fresno’s Switch Nightclub

4 hours ago

Who Is Fresno’s ‘Fake’ ICE Agent? He Speaks Up

5 hours ago

Braves’ Jurickson Profar Hit With 80-Game PED Ban

NEW YORK — Atlanta Braves outfielder Jurickson Profar has been suspended for 80 games without pay for performance-enhancing drug use. Major ...

16 minutes ago

Jurickson Profar
16 minutes ago

Braves’ Jurickson Profar Hit With 80-Game PED Ban

42 minutes ago

Watch: City Demolishes Historic Chinatown Building to Make Way for Housing

Photo of First Lady Melania Trump
1 hour ago

The Mystery of Melania Trump’s Wedding Dress and an eBay Sale

1 hour ago

Heading to Sierra? Prepare for Heavy Snow

Miguel Obed Romero Reyes, 25, of Sinaloa, Mexico, pleaded guilty Monday, March 31, 2025, to trafficking more than 200,000 fentanyl pills after authorities seized the drugs during a traffic stop on Interstate 5. (DOJ)
1 hour ago

Mexican National Caught in Fresno County Pleads Guilty to Fentanyl Trafficking

2 hours ago

CA Snowpack Is Near-Average. What Does This Mean for Water Supplies?

3 hours ago

Shohei Ohtani Adds Another No. 1 to His Resume: MLB’s Best-Selling Jersey

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) lines up for the goal line Tush Push play during the NFL championship playoff football game against the Washington Commanders, Jan. 26, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP File)
3 hours ago

Tush Push Is the Hottest Topic at the NFL League Meetings

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend