L.A. County supervisors approve plan to study homeless services overhaul

“We’re not criminals,” said Keith Aaron Robinson, 44, who has been living in Skid Row for more than five years. “It is time to take the hard but necessary steps to double down on transparency and accountability on homelessness by creating a county department where we have direct oversight.” Supervisor Holly Mitchell abstained, saying she does not think creating a new entity would resolve the problems that auditors and service providers have found with the system. While voting for the study, Supervisor Janice Hahn expressed her own reservations and pressed the county’s chief executive to provide pros and cons in the report and not treat it like a “done deal.” “For me, I’m going to want to know how this department is going to fix what is broken,” Hahn said. I think that was hugely important to get the cash out to the providers to help the people on the street.” LAHSA Chief Executive Va Lecia Adams Kellum took a neutral stance on the motion but read a lengthy statement reviewing her efforts to address the issues in the audit — problems that she said she knew well as the head of the St. Joseph Center when she took the job in 2023. “These have been long-standing issues.” The motion approved Tuesday requires the county chief executive to provide three reports: a feasibility report in 60 days, an analysis of which county and LAHSA programs would be absorbed by the new department in 90 days and a fiscal and staffing plan in 120 days.