Press Releases

Published July 16, 2021 | Last updated March 30, 2023 | 72,822 total views

See below for a list of LAHSA's Press Releases that we suggest you read to get up to speed on large-scale projects that LAHSA is currently working on. If you are a member of the media and would like an interview with LAHSA staff, please reach out to Chris Yee at cyee@lahsa.org. To make a public records request, please email pra@lahsa.org. Please note: The 10-day period mentioned in the Government Code §6253(c) is not a deadline for producing records. Should the request be voluminous, or require research, or computer programming, LAHSA may need a reasonable amount of time to research, review, and inspect records prior to release; therefore, it may take longer before the records can be made available. Upon receipt of your request, LAHSA will make every effort to keep you apprised of response timeframes.
Story	Summary	Date	Related Content
HUD Awards Over $157 Million to Address Homelessness in Los Angeles	The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded over $157 million for FY 2022 renewal and new projects to the Los Angeles Continuum of Care (LA CoC). This amount represents an increase of $2.49 million over HUD’s allocation to the LA CoC in FY 2021.	3/30/2023	HUD Press Release
LAHSA wraps up the 2023 Greater Los Angeles Unsheltered Count	LAHSA announced it finished the 2023 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count enumeration process. Volunteers and staff from various cities completed 93% of the census tracts in the Los Angeles CoC on the first three nights. Special count teams counted the remaining census tracts in the days following the volunteer counts.	02/13/2023	Homeless Count Website
Los Angeles Rehousing System Awarded $60 Million in Funding to Address Unsheltered Homelessness	The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) granted the LA Continuum of Care (LA CoC) $60 million ($20 million per year over three years) – the maximum amount under this grant - to address unsheltered homelessness throughout the LA region.	02/02/2023
LAHSA Announces Improvements to the 2023 Homeless Count	LAHSA announced an array of updates on how it conducts the annual Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count. For the 2023 Homeless Count, LAHSA is taking lessons learned from last year and the best practices from previous years to improve deployment sites, training, and digital tools.	01/11/2023	Homeless Count Website
Volunteer Registration Now Open For 2023 Homeless Count	LAHSA opened registration for the 2023 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count. In 2023, the Homeless Count will occur during the evening on January 24, 25, and 26. Volunteers can register for the Homeless Count at TheyCountWillYou.org.	11/30/2022	Homeless Count Website
Project Roomkey Ends Homelessness For 4,824 People	LAHSA announced that Project Roomkey led to more than 4,800 permanent housing placements since the program began in 2020. The successful COVID-19 interim housing program provided more than 10,000 COVID-vulnerable people experiencing homelessness with access to private rooms for shelter and safety during the pandemic.	11/18/2022
Reimagined Winter Shelter Program Now Open In LA County	LAHSA announced the opening of its Winter Shelter Program for the 2022-2023 winter season. In addition, LAHSA is debuting an innovative new Augmented Winter Shelter Program (AWSP), which will provide motel vouchers to people experiencing unsheltered homelessness in parts of the County more likely to experience severe weather.	11/01/2022	Winter Shelter Webpage
LAHSA Data Advance Yields New Level of Insight into Homelessness	LAHSA is introducing a new level of transparency and accountability through the establishment and publication of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), a set of metrics that measure the LA Continuum of Care’s unhoused populations progress through the rehousing system.	September 26, 2022
LAHSA Commission Appoints Stephen David Simon as Interim Executive Director	LAHSA's Commission Committee has appointed Stephen David Simon as the new Interim Executive Director while the search continues for a permanent Executive Director.	September 15, 2022
Greater LA Homeless Count Suggests Pandemic Era Policies Prevented Surge in Homelessness	LAHSA released the results of the 2022 Homeless Count, which suggest that homelessness may be rising more slowly than in previous years.	September 8, 2022	2022 Homeless Count Deck 2022 Homeless Count Presentation Rehousing.la
LAHSA Working With HUD to Release 2022 Homeless Count Results This Summer	LAHSA announced the postponement of the release of the 2022 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count results to early September.	July 6, 2022
LA’s Rehousing System Ended Homelessness for 21,000 People In 2021	LAHSA released new insight on the latest progress made in LA’s rehousing system at its State of Homelessness event. Despite the current housing shortage, rising rent costs, and stagnant wages, LAHSA’s rehousing system rehoused 21,213 Angelenos in 2021, marking a total of 86,303 people permanently housed over the last four years.	June 28, 2022	2022 State of Homelessness Recording 2022 State of Homelessness Presentation 2022 State of Homelessness Story Map
New LAHSA Strategy to Reduce Unsheltered Homelessness in Three Years	LAHSA announced a new strategy to reduce unsheltered homelessness in Los Angeles County over the next three years. To achieve that goal, LAHSA is working with its partners to accelerate people’s movement from shelter to permanent housing and continuously place unsheltered people experiencing homelessness in the newly available shelter beds.	May 19, 2022	Blog Entry: LAHSA Refocuses to Address Unsheltered Homelessness
Commission Elevates Kristina Dixon And Molly Rysman To Temporarily Lead LAHSA	The LAHSA Commission’s Management Committee held a Special Meeting and elevated Molly Rysman and Kristina Dixon to temporarily co-lead LAHSA for the next few weeks while the Commission names an Interim Executive Director and begins a nationwide search for a permanent Executive Director.	April 29, 2022
HUD Awards $155 million to Address Homelessness in Los Angeles	The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded over $155 million for FY 2021 renewal and new projects to the Los Angeles Continuum of Care (LA CoC). This amount represents an increase of $5 million over HUD’s allocation to the LA CoC in FY 2020.	March 16, 2022	HUD Press Release
Los Angeles County Resumes Annual Homeless Count	Local officials gathered Tuesday virtually to commemorate the start of the 2022 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count. The three-day annual census of people experiencing homelessness begins after a one-year hiatus due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.	February 22, 2022
LAHSA Announces 2022 Point-in-Time Homeless Count Postponement	The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) announced the postponement of the 2022 Greater Los Angeles Point-in-Time (PIT) Homeless Count to February 22-24, 2022.	January 14, 2022	Volunteer for the 2022 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count
Rehousing System Ends Homelessness For Thousands in First Half Of 2021	The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) announced that the homeless rehousing system made 10,373 permanent housing placements in the first half of 2021.	December 1, 2021
LAHSA Opens Winter Shelters	LAHSA announced that the majority of its 2021-2022 winter shelter portfolio had begun operations throughout Los Angeles County.	November 29, 2021	Winter Shelters
LAHSA Receives $15 Million Grant From HUD to Address Youth Homelessnes	The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded LAHSA a $15 million Youth Homelessness Demonstration Project (YHDP) grant to address youth homelessness.	September 27, 2021
Los Angeles Outreach Teams Bring Thousands of People Inside Within Six Months	LAHSA continues to call for a more significant investment in housing to grow the success of its outreach efforts.	August 25, 2021
LAHSA Releases 2021 Housing Inventory Count And Shelter Count Results	LAHSA released the results of its 2021 Housing Inventory Count (HIC) and Shelter Count. The Housing Inventory Count is a census of all interim and permanent housing options in the homeless rehousing system at a given point-in-time. This year, the Housing Inventory Count occurred on January 27.	July 21, 2021	Presentation Video Presentation Data Summaries Key Messages
LAHSA Provides Guidance for Addressing Street Encampments	LAHSA released its Best Practices for Addressing Street Encampments, which provides guidance for service providers and community partners on the most effective ways to conduct location-specific outreach to bring those living in encampments inside to shelter and housing.	June 29, 2021	Best Practices for Addressing Street Encampments Presentation
Universal Housing Application Provides Faster Access to Housing	LAHSA, the Los Angeles County Development Authority (LACDA), and the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) announced the launch of a new Universal Housing Application (UHA) that will modernize the housing application process for people experiencing homelessness, removing barriers from the path towards permanent housing.	May 7, 2021	Presentation
Rehousing System Houses Over 64,000 People Over the Last Three Years	LAHSA released data about the homeless rehousing system’s performance in 2020 during its first State of Homelessness Town Hall – an online event attended by over 1300 people.	March 22, 2021	Event Video Presentation
LAHSA Commission Report Offers Path to Streamline Governance Strength	The LAHSA Commission released the recommendations of its Ad Hoc Committee on Governance. The report lays out a path to a regionally coordinated response to the homelessness and housing crisis that aligns resources and authority and establishes shared goals.	March 5, 2021	LAHSA Report on Governance LAHSA Governance Report Memo
HUD Awards LA $151 Million to Address Homelessness	The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded nearly $151 million for 2020 renewal projects to the Los Angeles Continuum of Care (LA CoC). The amount represents an increase of $17.3 million over HUD’s allocation for renewal projects in 2019.	January 29, 2021	FY 2020 Award Projects Report
HUD Exempts Los Angeles from 2021 Unsheltered Point-In-Time Count	The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has exempted the Los Angeles Continuum of Care from conducting a 2021 Unsheltered Point-In-Time (PIT) Count.	January 28, 2021
LAHSA Celebrates the Opening of the Latest A Bridge Home Shelter	Heidi Marston, Executive Director of the LAHSA, today joined other local officials to celebrate the opening of The Lotus, the 20th shelter of Mayor Eric Garcetti’s A Bridge Home program.	January 20, 2021
Wellness Check App Helps Limit Covid-19 Spread Among Homeless	In an effort to limit the spread of COVID-19 among people experiencing homelessness, LAHSA outreach team members have used a new mobile app to conduct more than 36,000 wellness checks since April.	December 2, 2020	Video
LAHSA Begins Transition from Project Roomkey To COVID-19 Recovery Plan	LAHSA announced that it has begun transitioning clients from Project Roomkey into sustainable housing solutions through the COVID-19 Recovery Plan.	September 22, 2020	Presentation
LAHSA Provides 2020 Update On Youth Homelessness	LAHSA provided an update on the youth homeless system, including the release of its 2020 Greater Los Angeles Youth Homeless Count data.	August 27, 2020	Presentation
LAHSA Statement On HUD Rule Change	LAHSA Executive Director Heidi Marston has released the following statement regarding the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) release of proposed revisions to the Equal Access in Accordance with an Individual’s Gender Identity in Community Planning and Development Programs rule.	August 6, 2020	LAHSA Equal Access Policy LAHSA Public Comment HUD Rule Change Proposal
Revised 2019 Homeless Count Data Summaries	Adjustments to the numbers reported last year in the 2019 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count at the Los Angeles City Council District and County Supervisorial District levels reflect a methodological update provided by LAHSA’s statistical partner, University of Southern California (USC).	July 22, 2020
LAHSA Releases Covid-19 Recovery Plan	LAHSA released its full COVID-19 Recovery Plan for people experiencing homelessness, a report and budget outlining the action steps to implement the framework first presented to the board on May 26.	June 23, 2020	Report Presentation
LAHSA Response To Calls To End Its Relationship With Law Enforcement	LAHSA finds police violence unacceptable against all individuals and especially against vulnerable people experiencing homelessness. We continue our call for immediate and lasting reforms within law enforcement agencies and across the criminal justice system as a whole.	June 18, 2020	Guiding Principles and Practices for Unsheltered Homelessness
2020 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count Results	The 2020 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count Shows 12.7% Rise in homelessness despite sustained increase in number of people rehoused.	June 12, 2020	2020 Homeless Count Presentation Key Messages
Heidi Marston Selected As Executive Director Of LAHSA	The LAHSA Commission unanimously selected Heidi Marston to the position of Executive Director.	June 5,2020
LAHSA Affirms Commitment to Racial Justice	LAHSA condemns the actions by the individuals that led to the death of George Floyd on Monday, May 25, 2020.	June 3, 2020
LAHSA COVID Recovery Plan Aims for Rapid Rehousing	LAHSA presented its plan to emerge from the COVID-19 crisis with thousands of Los Angeles County’s most vulnerable people experiencing homelessness safe in housing.	May 27, 2020	Presentation
Update on LAHSA's COVID-19 Response	LAHSA provided updates on the progress and impact of LA’s efforts to rehouse people experiencing homelessness and protect public health as part of the city and county’s coordinated response to the COVID-19 pandemic.	April 30,2020
LAHSA City County Announce Housing Central Command	Key players in Los Angeles’s homeless crisis response system announced a new initiative to revamp how city, county and federal agencies work together and increase the speed and effectiveness with which the system helps people experiencing homelessness move into housing.	February 18, 2020