You may have seen the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) 2025 Homeless Count results, and while I’m happy to see continued progress and programs that are getting people off the streets, I want to be realistic about the challenges we continue to face.
The good news is that there was a 10% drop in homelessness in LA County with a 8.5% increase in people being sheltered. There was a 2.5% increase in permanent housing placements with almost 28,000 people transitioning from shelter to actual apartments last year.
Even with this progress and hundreds of millions being spent, there remain over 72,000 people on the streets in the County, 43,000 people in our City. The Count is a snapshot of a moment in time, and its projections are less accurate at the local level. After many years of revised data and questionable formulas, I take the LAHSA numbers with some doubts. Even so, it’s great to see the continued trend of people moving out of homelessness.
With serious budget issues at all levels of government, our challenge is how to speed up progress as costs continue to go up and federal funding becomes more scarce. We remain in an all hands on deck ”homelessness emergency” with unprecedented City investment and efforts. All levels of government must help stop this humanitarian crisis. LA is not unique in this struggle. Almost every major American city faces the same challenge.
Meanwhile, LAHSA’s fate is unknown. A joint authority of the City and County, LAHSA is shrinking because the County is pulling out most of their contribution to the agency. Measure A funding (the recent voter approved sales tax that generates funds for homeless services and housing), will be kept by the County to create its own new homeless department. However, LAHSA wasn't built to be a long term fix- it was created out of a lawsuit years ago between the City and County. LAHSA operates as its own entity, leaving endless room for lack of oversight.
Fortunately, a new CEO has been nominated, Gita O’Neill. She is an Assistant LA City Attorney and has worked as Director of Homeless Policies and Strategies. She is well positioned to understand the City’s struggle and what is and isn’t an appropriate role. The LAHSA commission will vote on her confirmation and hopefully usher in a new era of accountability and clearly defined responsibilities.
So, what should the City be doing? As the County creates a new department, my staff and I are working closely with our County counterparts to push them to properly take on their responsibilities and not simply expect the City to take up the slack caused by their actions. By Charter, social services are not a City issue. Much like the County Department of Mental Health and Family Services, many homeless programs the City has been funding for years should actually be under the jurisdiction of the County because they are responsible to address these needs and they receive the federal and state funds to do so. The more services they take on, the more City money can be freed up to deal with the brick and mortar issues such as building housing.
I remain focused on the future by finding ways to ensure that taxpayers are getting the most out of their tax dollars and by more efficiently addressing the issues of homelessness that impact every community in LA.
The homeless count numbers this year are positive and reflect an immense level of effort and
unprecedented funding to make this progress. But, again, the bang of your buck ratio is not nearly enough. We must find ways to scale up successful, cost effective programs and services for the unhoused, and ensure that our sidewalks, parks, and other public facilities remain accessible for everyone. My staff and I remain laser focused on this goal.