Nearly half of L.A.’s record homelessness budget went unspent, city controller finds
1 month, 3 weeks ago

Nearly half of L.A.’s record homelessness budget went unspent, city controller finds

LA Times  

Mayor Karen Bass, left, chats with Jawonna Smith before Smith was moved from a tent to a motel under the Inside Safe program. Nearly half of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’ record $1.3-billion homelessness budget for fiscal 2023-24 went unspent, an analysis by the city controller found. According to Mejia, the city spent or encumbered only about 30% of its $262 million in grants from the state Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention Program and 58% of its $267-million budget for Bass’ Inside Safe encampment reduction program. The city also spent or encumbered less than half of the $150 million it received from Measure ULA, the so-called “mansion tax” on real estate sales of $5.15 million or more, and also failed to spend $30 million from other federal, state and local grants and $16 million for substance use disorder treatment beds. It said $100 million of the “unspent” Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention funds included multiyear grants not intended to be spent in one budget year.

City Homelessness Million Spent Inside Safe Bass Mejia Controller  city  budget  unspent  half  homelessness  inside  las  finds  controller  bass  mayor  million  went  record  spent  encumbered  nearly

History of this topic

L.A. to boost pay for nonprofits at its homeless shelters
4 weeks ago

L.A. to boost pay for nonprofits at its homeless shelters

LA Times  

Ramiro Arana-Beserra, 56, checks out a tiny home village in Boyle Heights in February. He told the council that a push to $80 would “exhaust” the pool of state funds used by the city to pay for interim homeless housing during the current budget year. Jerry Jones, who heads the coalition, said homeless service providers have struggled for several years, …

A radical reshaping of L.A. County’s homeless services system is proposed
1 month, 2 weeks ago

A radical reshaping of L.A. County’s homeless services system is proposed

LA Times  

Los Angeles City Council President Paul Krekorian, from right, and L.A. County Supervisors Lindsey Horvath and Kathryn Barger join other volunteers to count the homeless in North Hollywood on Jan. 23. Responding to long-standing dissatisfaction over the effectiveness of homelessness programs, Supervisors Lindsey Horvath and Kathryn Barger are proposing a new county department that would take over hundreds of millions …

Amid a serious budget crunch, L.A. faces pressure to pay more for homeless services
2 months ago

Amid a serious budget crunch, L.A. faces pressure to pay more for homeless services

LA Times  

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, pictured in June, vowed to keep the city’s interim housing sites open to serve the city’s homeless population. The Greater LA Coalition on Homelessness, which represents dozens of homeless service providers across L.A. County, said those nonprofit groups have not been getting paid for the full cost of the services they provide at the city’s …

Los Angeles’ $22-billion homelessness problem gives leaders a choice: Double down or change strategies
2 months, 3 weeks ago

Los Angeles’ $22-billion homelessness problem gives leaders a choice: Double down or change strategies

LA Times  

City of Los Angeles officials are finally confronting a question that has seemed too big to answer: How much would it actually cost to get every person living on the street today indoors and make sure that no one languished there for years again? “In other ways, it doesn’t seem that eye-popping to me for the scale of the problem.” …

The under-the-radar proposal to end homelessness in Los Angeles for $20 billion
3 months, 4 weeks ago

The under-the-radar proposal to end homelessness in Los Angeles for $20 billion

LA Times  

A homeless man waits for transportation to housing as Mayor Karen Bass’ Inside Safe program employees along with the Sanitation Bureau clean up homeless encampments along Hollywood Boulevard and Gower Street in Hollywood in August. It would cost $20.4 billion to end homelessness in Los Angeles in a decade, a price tag requiring local, state and federal governments to more …

Number of homeless residents in Los Angeles County decreases in annual count
6 months, 1 week ago

Number of homeless residents in Los Angeles County decreases in annual count

Associated Press  

LOS ANGELES — The number of homeless residents counted in Los Angeles County has dipped slightly, decreasing by about 0.3% since last year as California continues to struggle with the long-running crisis of tens of thousands of people sleeping in cars and encampments. Results released Friday from a federally required tally conducted in January found 75,312 people were homeless on …

Editorial: Drop in L.A.’s homeless population shows efforts to house people are paying off
6 months, 2 weeks ago

Editorial: Drop in L.A.’s homeless population shows efforts to house people are paying off

LA Times  

Wah Chen, 52, counts a homeless man sleeping next to his tent while participating in the second night of the 2024 Los Angeles County homeless count on Jan. 24. The results of the 2024 point-in-time homeless count released Friday show a 2.2% drop in the population of unhoused people living in the city of Los Angeles, from 46,260 in 2023 …

Proposed L.A. County budget adds mental health workers, homelessness funding
8 months, 2 weeks ago

Proposed L.A. County budget adds mental health workers, homelessness funding

LA Times  

A man walks with his dog along a street on Skid Row in January 2024. Los Angeles County’s proposed budget for next year is about $1.4 billion smaller than the previous year’s but adds more mental health workers and increases funding to address homelessness. County Chief Executive Fesia Davenport said at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting that her budget of …

Bass budget would reduce homelessness funding, scale back LAPD hiring goal
8 months, 2 weeks ago

Bass budget would reduce homelessness funding, scale back LAPD hiring goal

LA Times  

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass delivered her second State of the City Address at City Hall last week. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass proposed a $12.8 billion budget on Monday that would reduce spending on homelessness initiatives, scale back an effort to hire more police officers and eliminate more than 2,100 vacant positions. The mayor’s team said her proposed budget …

Mayor Bass’ ambitious housing program calls on L.A.’s wealthy. Can she pull it off?
8 months, 3 weeks ago

Mayor Bass’ ambitious housing program calls on L.A.’s wealthy. Can she pull it off?

LA Times  

Philanthropic and real estate leaders reacted with hope and skepticism to the initiative, LA4LA, which Mayor Karen Bass unveiled Monday during her State of the City address. “People are a little less cynical, because she has shown that things can be done,” said Bojarsky, pointing to Bass’ executive order speeding up affordable housing construction and other programs led by her …

Mayor Karen Bass urges L.A.’s wealthy to fund homeless housing
8 months, 3 weeks ago

Mayor Karen Bass urges L.A.’s wealthy to fund homeless housing

LA Times  

L.A. Mayor Karen Bass delivers her second State of the City address at City Hall on Monday. “And now we must prevail on the humanity and generosity of the private sector.” The pitch comes as Bass is working to break a logjam that has limited the city’s ability to move homeless Angelenos out of interim housing, such as hotel and …

Letters to the Editor: California doesn’t know if $20 billion spent on homelessness has worked. Who gets fired?
8 months, 3 weeks ago

Letters to the Editor: California doesn’t know if $20 billion spent on homelessness has worked. Who gets fired?

LA Times  

An encampment under the 101 Freeway in Hollywood is cleared on March 7. To the editor: As much an opponent of added bureaucracy as I am, it amazes me that California has not created a new agency whose sole job is to fight homelessness. But The Times reports that the council created to monitor the $20 billion the state has …

How effective are California's homelessness programs? State hasn't been tracking
9 months ago

How effective are California's homelessness programs? State hasn't been tracking

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy California spent $24 billion to …

One year on, has the mayor of LA finally put a dent in homelessness?
1 year ago

One year on, has the mayor of LA finally put a dent in homelessness?

The Independent  

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. open image in gallery The Palm Tree Inn …

Homeless numbers in Los Angeles could surge again, even as thousands move to temporary shelter
1 year ago

Homeless numbers in Los Angeles could surge again, even as thousands move to temporary shelter

Associated Press  

LOS ANGELES — In the hours after being elected mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass made a promise that will be an inescapable metric of her time in office: “We are going to solve homelessness.” The Democratic member of Congress, who had been on then-candidate Joe Biden’s short list for vice president, envisioned streets clear of more than 40,000 homeless …

Column: Is L.A. actually solving homelessness? The answer will start with perception, not reality
1 year, 1 month ago

Column: Is L.A. actually solving homelessness? The answer will start with perception, not reality

LA Times  

Mayor Karen Bass, accompanied by HUD official Richard J. Monocchio, left, and City Councilmembers Nithya Raman, far left, Hugo Soto-Martinez and Bob Blumenfield, speak to reporters in Hollywood on Wednesday. “I do really worry that it’s become normalized in public discourse to speak about people experiencing homelessness as, like, a problem for those who are not homeless — as opposed …

Bass says L.A. has put 21,000 homeless people into interim housing. Here’s what that means
1 year, 1 month ago

Bass says L.A. has put 21,000 homeless people into interim housing. Here’s what that means

LA Times  

Mayor Karen Bass speaks with Darnell Woods after a news conference in Hollywood on Selma Avenue, which was once home to dozens of unhoused residents. Over the past year, Los Angeles city and county agencies have moved more than 21,000 unhoused Angelenos into interim housing — motel rooms, shelter beds, tiny home villages and an assortment of other sites, Mayor …

As challenges loom, L.A. City Council approves $150 million in ‘mansion tax’ spending
1 year, 4 months ago

As challenges loom, L.A. City Council approves $150 million in ‘mansion tax’ spending

LA Times  

Passed by voters in November, Measure ULA places a transfer tax on property sales above $5 million in L.A. The Los Angeles City Council passed a $150-million spending plan for funds raised by Measure ULA on Tuesday, marking the first time funds will be specifically allocated since Angelenos passed the tax in November. Dubbed a ‘mansion tax,’ Measure ULA took …

Number of homeless residents in Los Angeles County jumps by 9% in annual count
1 year, 6 months ago

Number of homeless residents in Los Angeles County jumps by 9% in annual count

Associated Press  

The number of homeless residents counted in Los Angeles County has spiked again, increasing by 9% since last year in the latest marker of how deep the crisis is of people sleeping in cars, encampments or shelters in California. Results released Thursday from a federally required tally conducted in January found 75,518 people were homeless on any given night across …

Number of homeless residents in Los Angeles County jumps by 9% in annual count
1 year, 6 months ago

Number of homeless residents in Los Angeles County jumps by 9% in annual count

The Independent  

Get Nadine White's Race Report newsletter for a fresh perspective on the week's news Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The number of homeless residents counted in Los …

L.A. mayor reports that 14,000 homeless people have moved off the streets
1 year, 6 months ago

L.A. mayor reports that 14,000 homeless people have moved off the streets

LA Times  

Tierra Signer waits with her belongings, to get housing under Inside Safe program, along 400 S. San Vicente Boulevard. More than 14,000 people experiencing homelessness have been moved off the streets during the first six months of her administration, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass reported Tuesday. Bass said the housing placements resulted from executive directives she enacted upon entering office, …

Bass’ $250-million budget proposal for homelessness program clears a key council hurdle
1 year, 7 months ago

Bass’ $250-million budget proposal for homelessness program clears a key council hurdle

LA Times  

People living in tents behind the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures were moved into a motel in February under Mayor Karen Bass’ Inside Safe program. Mayor Karen Bass’ first citywide budget cleared an important hurdle on Friday, with a five-member committee paving the way for her to spend $250 million on Inside Safe, her strategy for combating homelessness. The City …

Karen Bass wants to spend $1.3 billion to address homelessness. Here’s how
1 year, 8 months ago

Karen Bass wants to spend $1.3 billion to address homelessness. Here’s how

LA Times  

On Tuesday, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced that $1.3 billion of her $13 billion proposed budget will go to address homelessness. According to documents released by the Los Angeles city Mayor’s office, the money is distributed across 31 departments and funds that address homelessness and housing, including funding for police department homeless services and the Los Angeles Homeless Services …

Editorial: Mayor Bass goes big on homelessness spending proposal
1 year, 8 months ago

Editorial: Mayor Bass goes big on homelessness spending proposal

LA Times  

It should be no surprise that in her first city budget proposal, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass went big on homelessness. As a candidate last year and now as mayor, Bass has been almost exclusively focused on helping ease the crisis and her $13-billion proposed spending plan reflects that by allocating $1.3 billion for existing and new homelessness programs — …

LA mayor wants $1.3B for homeless crisis, hotels for housing
1 year, 8 months ago

LA mayor wants $1.3B for homeless crisis, hotels for housing

Associated Press  

LOS ANGELES — Democratic Mayor Karen Bass, who was elected in November after promising to take on the city’s out-of-control homeless crisis, announced Monday she would recommend spending what she called a record $1.3 billion next year to get unhoused people into shelter and treatment programs. Bass’ challenge is in plain sight in just about any neighborhood: homeless people living …

Mayor Karen Bass’ first budget: more cops, more hotel rooms for L.A.’s homeless population
1 year, 8 months ago

Mayor Karen Bass’ first budget: more cops, more hotel rooms for L.A.’s homeless population

LA Times  

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, surrounded by her deputy mayors, presented her first proposed budget at City Hall on Tuesday. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass released the first budget proposal of her administration on Tuesday, calling for more police and greater spending on homelessness, anti-gang programs and the city’s struggling animal shelters. The mayor, speaking to reporters, said those retirees …

Mayor Bass seeks $250-million expansion of homelessness program in first State of the City speech
1 year, 8 months ago

Mayor Bass seeks $250-million expansion of homelessness program in first State of the City speech

LA Times  

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass delivers her State of the City address at Los Angeles City Hall on Monday. In her first State of the City speech, Mayor Karen Bass announced a dramatic expansion of her signature program to move homeless people indoors, while also pledging to create “a new L.A.” Bass said she intends to propose $250 million for …

Editorial: Mayor Bass didn’t end homelessness in her first 100 days. But she made a good start
1 year, 9 months ago

Editorial: Mayor Bass didn’t end homelessness in her first 100 days. But she made a good start

LA Times  

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass chats with Jawonna Smith in February, before Smith was moved from her sidewalk tent to a motel under the Inside Safe program. She declared an emergency her first day on the job, ordered city agencies to fast-track reviews of affordable housing projects and launched Inside Safe, an ambitious initiative to move people from encampments into …

Mayor Karen Bass says the city will house 4,000 homeless people during her first 100 days
1 year, 9 months ago

Mayor Karen Bass says the city will house 4,000 homeless people during her first 100 days

LA Times  

Mayor Karen Bass, left, chats with Jawonna Smith, 33, who had been living in a tent on a sidewalk behind the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said Wednesday that she expects the city will have housed more than 4,000 homeless Angelenos by the time she reaches her 100th day in office. Bass said the Inside …

Mayor Bass orders list of vacant city properties where homeless housing could be built
1 year, 11 months ago

Mayor Bass orders list of vacant city properties where homeless housing could be built

LA Times  

Mayor Karen Bass walks with Kevin Murray, center, president and chief executive of the Weingart Center Assn., and Jeff Olivet, executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, as they tour the Hilda L. Solis Care First Village. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass ordered city officials on Friday to prepare a list of the city’s surplus and unused properties …

Editorial: Yes, it really will take billions of dollars a year to solve homelessness in California
1 year, 11 months ago

Editorial: Yes, it really will take billions of dollars a year to solve homelessness in California

LA Times  

Gavin Newsom has said that addressing homelessness is his top priority. The Corporation for Supportive Housing put out a report last month estimating that the state needed to invest $8.1 billion a year over 12 years to solve homelessness in California. The League of California Cities last month wrote a letter to the governor asking for “a permanent funding stream …

L.A. voters approved more money to fight homelessness. Now they want to see results
2 years, 1 month ago

L.A. voters approved more money to fight homelessness. Now they want to see results

LA Times  

A generous but demanding electorate put Karen Bass in the mayor’s office with the tools they believe she needs to reduce homelessness. But more than 60% said they would support a recall if the new mayor “fails to effectively address homelessness within their first two years in office.” “What we’re hearing from Angelenos is we’re supporting the next leadership to …

Bass and Caruso have talked big on homelessness. Now they’re offering some details
2 years, 4 months ago

Bass and Caruso have talked big on homelessness. Now they’re offering some details

LA Times  

The Los Angeles mayor’s race has been defined by candidates’ sweeping promises to get homeless people off the streets — with the most ambitious talk coming from the top two finishers in the June primary. Rep. Karen Bass, who leads developer Rick Caruso in polls, said she would place 15,000 people in tiny homes, motels, hotels, apartments and other forms …

Homeless people wait as Los Angeles lets thousands of federal housing vouchers go unused
2 years, 5 months ago

Homeless people wait as Los Angeles lets thousands of federal housing vouchers go unused

LA Times  

Yolanda Robins’ dream was finally coming true. Doug Guthrie, the city housing authority’s president, blames HACLA’s low success rate housing people via vouchers on a range of factors, from L.A.’s “challenging” rental market to staffing issues within his agency. “I think we got off to a slow start.” VanNatter said HACLA is working through hundreds of outstanding requests for tenancy …

If elected mayor, Rep. Karen Bass wants to house 15,000 homeless people in first year
2 years, 11 months ago

If elected mayor, Rep. Karen Bass wants to house 15,000 homeless people in first year

LA Times  

L.A. mayoral candidate Rep. Karen Bass calls for 15,000 homeless people to be housed in her first year in office. Bass unveiled a plan Friday calling for 15,000 people to be housed in her first year in office — though she didn’t specify exactly what proportion of those people would go into permanent housing, as opposed to interim housing such …

California will spend a record amount on homelessness. Here’s where it’s going
3 years, 5 months ago

California will spend a record amount on homelessness. Here’s where it’s going

LA Times  

A homeless encampment encroaches on the sidewalk at Wilshire Boulevard and Alvarado Street in MacArthur Park in Los Angeles. In a deal reached last month, Newsom and lawmakers agreed to expand last year’s program to convert former hotels into permanent housing with federal coronavirus relief dollars and provide an additional $2 billion over two years to local governments. “We are …

L.A. plans nearly $1 billion in spending to address homelessness under Garcetti plan
3 years, 8 months ago

L.A. plans nearly $1 billion in spending to address homelessness under Garcetti plan

LA Times  

David Barker, 56, visited a friend last year who was living in a tent on skid row in Los Angeles. The spending plan represents a nearly sevenfold increase from the mayor’s budget five years ago, when he and other city leaders began acknowledging that much more money would be needed to address the crisis. California Mayor Garcetti’s $24-million anti-poverty program …

Opinion: A billion dollars to help homeless people should get them into housing
3 years, 8 months ago

Opinion: A billion dollars to help homeless people should get them into housing

LA Times  

The city of Los Angeles may spend $1 billion trying to make a dent in homelessness next year. Because as we all know, the 8,000 or so units that will eventually get completed with $1.2 billion in HHH bond money will not fill the need for housing for the city’s estimated 41,000 homeless people. The city has also set aside …

$130,000 for an 8-foot-by-8-foot shed? That’s what L.A. is paying in a bid to house the homeless
4 years ago

$130,000 for an 8-foot-by-8-foot shed? That’s what L.A. is paying in a bid to house the homeless

LA Times  

Karen Morea, 62, hugs her dog, Jack-Jack, inside her “tiny home” in a parking lot in Riverside. Mayor Eric Garcetti announced the program in March, signaling that the concept of sheltering people in tiny homes, long neglected in Los Angeles, had emerged as a leading strategy in the city’s response to a federal lawsuit alleging it has done too little …

What happened to L.A.'s $1 billion for homeless housing?
4 years, 11 months ago

What happened to L.A.'s $1 billion for homeless housing?

LA Times  

After three years of blown deadlines, L.A. opens its first homeless housing project About this story This project was reported and produced by Sandhya Kambhampati, Swetha Kannan, Iris Lee and Andrea Roberson. The Times compiled data from the Los Angeles Housing and Community Investment Department, which oversees Proposition HHH projects. According to HHH rules, the majority of the funds should …

Gov. Gavin Newsom calls for $1.4 billion in new help for homeless
5 years ago

Gov. Gavin Newsom calls for $1.4 billion in new help for homeless

LA Times  

Citing the need to act quickly to get homeless Californians off the streets, Gov. How fast efforts in Los Angeles and other cities receive the money depends on how quickly legislators consider the governor’s plan, though funds allocated during the annual budget process are generally available on July 1. Californians are demanding that all levels of government — federal, state …

$500 million from Newsom could keep L.A.’s most vulnerable from becoming homeless
5 years ago

$500 million from Newsom could keep L.A.’s most vulnerable from becoming homeless

LA Times  

Sam Blake in the kitchen of the Blake Home, a board and care home that he runs with his mother and sister in Sylmar. A recent survey by the California Community Care Licensing Division found that 39 board and care homes closed in Los Angeles County over a three-year period, leaving only 159 in operation. Doing so would put threatened …

L.A. is getting millions in state money for homelessness. Now L.A. politicians want more
5 years, 6 months ago

L.A. is getting millions in state money for homelessness. Now L.A. politicians want more

LA Times  

California lawmakers agreed this month to hand over $650 million to big cities, counties and regional agencies to help fight homelessness. At a news conference Wednesday, City Councilman Mitch O’Farrell urged the state to match the $1.2-billion bond measure that L.A. voters approved in 2016 to build homeless housing, contending that the additional money could be pulled from the state’s …

Column: Homelessness in L.A. is a catastrophe in motion, and our leaders are largely to blame
5 years, 7 months ago

Column: Homelessness in L.A. is a catastrophe in motion, and our leaders are largely to blame

LA Times  

A homeless man sits at the corner of East 6th and Wall streets in downtown Los Angeles on May 30. RELATED: Rats at the police station, filth on L.A. streets — scenes from the collapse of a city that’s lost control What we’re looking at now is what happens when city and county officials focus on a festering problem too …

Even if California spends millions more on homelessness, here’s why few will notice
5 years, 7 months ago

Even if California spends millions more on homelessness, here’s why few will notice

LA Times  

Pablo Rivera Gomez walks outside his tent last year. The state’s 11 largest cities received $150 million of that and their mayors — with L.A.’s Mayor Eric Garcetti front and center — were the ones lobbying the Legislature for it. A coalition of big-city mayors issued a report in March that found 53% of the funds had been committed to …

L.A. spent $619 million on homelessness last year. Has it made a difference?
5 years, 8 months ago

L.A. spent $619 million on homelessness last year. Has it made a difference?

LA Times  

Los Angeles officials are bracing for the release of a report that’s likely to show little or no progress in reining in homelessness, despite the $619 million they spent last year to grapple with the crisis. Peter Lynn, executive director of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, told the L.A. County Board of Supervisors that the region is unlikely to …

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