The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority is giving up several of its longstanding responsibilities, including the annual point-in-time count of homeless people and two systems used to track homeless individuals, services and referrals, the LAHSA Commission decided this week.
The move comes as the agency faces a federal investigation into alleged mismanagement and mounting criticism over its finances and oversight practices. Critics have pointed to poor financial management, missing records, a lack of transparency, weak spending controls and alleged conflicts of interest at the agency, which is responsible for coordinating federally funded homelessness programs across Los Angeles.
LAHSA’s headquarters sit in the AON Tower in downtown Los Angeles, a building that includes a helipad, car service and a cold plunge among its amenities.
Homelessness numbers still climbing
Despite billions of dollars directed toward homelessness programs each year, the crisis has continued to grow. According to LAHSA’s own count, the number of homeless people in the city of Los Angeles rose 3.4% over the past year, while the countywide figure increased 1.2%. Skid Row, in downtown Los Angeles, remains a roughly 50-square-block area of encampments.
County and city pull back funding
Los Angeles County voted in 2025 to withdraw more than $300 million in funding from LAHSA and take over some of the agency’s functions itself. The city of Los Angeles has also reduced its funding to LAHSA, though City Hall has not yet completed a long-promised study examining alternatives to the agency.
Mayor Karen Bass announced on Sept. 8 that she would step down from the LAHSA Commission. Her announcement came one day after a newspaper editorial noted that she had appointed herself and others to the panel and held oversight responsibility over the agency.
The Trump administration has also moved to impose additional accountability measures on LAHSA as scrutiny of the agency intensifies.
