FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Huáscar Robles, hrobles@lahsa.org
Los Angeles – Today, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) announced significant performance improvements in the rehousing system’s outreach and interim housing interventions. LAHSA’s latest Key Performance Indicator (KPI) data shows that in FY23-24:
- 45% more people moved from the street to permanent housing
- 32% more people moved from the street to interim housing and
- 29% more people moved from interim housing to permanent housing
“This data shows that our changes to LAHSA and the rehousing system are working. We are getting more people off the street and into a permanent home,” said Dr. Va Lecia Adams Kellum, CEO of LAHSA. “Today’s announcement starkly contrasts the recent stories that focused on previous years before the current changes in our system had taken place.”
This data release provides additional context regarding the Los Angeles area’s decline in homelessness compared with a nationwide increase of 18%, as detailed in the U.S. Housing and Urban Development's 2024 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report. LAHSA is seeing powerful progress following the implementation of impactful new initiatives. Since March of 2023, LAHSA has implemented several new programs that are moving more people through the system and into permanent housing, including:
- Encampment Resolution Efforts: Dr. Adams Kellum worked with Mayor Bass to create Inside Safe. LAHSA provides support and coordination to Inside Safe and the County’s Pathway Home, which have both brought thousands of LA County residents inside.
- Active System Management Strike Team: LAHSA created a team whose job is to prevent bottlenecks in the rehousing system, allowing more people to move forward on their journey to a safe and affordable home.
- Batch Matching: LAHSA now identifies multiple people for every supportive housing unit through one universal housing application. Once someone moves in, the others are eligible for the next building openings in that service planning area. This means fewer homes stay empty and more people come inside faster.
- Master Leasing: LAHSA leases entire apartment buildings, which cuts through red tape and allows it to house people in every unit in just a few weeks instead of the average of four months.
In addition to improving the rehousing system’s performance, LAHSA recently launched or has upcoming initiatives that will advance the system even more in the months to come, including:
- Bed Occupancy Tracking System: In December, LAHSA announced a new system that will provide detailed, real-time data on bed availability across most interim housing sites for providers and elected officials. This new system will fill open beds faster. While it is already operating for Inside Safe and Pathway Home interim housing sites, the system will fully roll out to the entire interim housing system in January.
- Provider Payment Model: LAHSA worked with providers and the Board of Supervisors to change how the County reimbursed providers for their work in the field. Now, providers can receive more of their funding up front so they can stay focused on ending unsheltered homelessness. A similar payment model will roll out for the City of Los Angeles in the new year.
- Data Dashboards: Launched in October, LAHSA’s new data dashboards provide the public with unprecedented access to track the work being done to address homelessness in Los Angeles.
- LAHSA’s Small Agency and Faith-Based Organization Capacity Building Fund Pilot: To make strides in increasing racial equity in the rehousing system LAHSA awarded 50 small and faith-based organizations in South LA $10,000 to build infrastructure that will help them pursue larger funding opportunities from LAHSA and other government agencies dedicated to addressing homelessness. This funding can help these providers deliver culturally specific services to people of color experiencing homelessness which will make it easier to build the rapport and trust necessary to come inside.
“The new LAHSA is about change, better data, faster payments, and creating the innovations and partnerships that get results,” continued Dr. Adams Kellum. “We are on the right path to improving the system and bringing more people home in LA County. We need to continue moving forward with a unified approach to this humanitarian crisis.”
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