The County of Los Angeles (LA County) recognizes the significant public interest and engagement surrounding Friday’s Los Angeles Continuum of Care (LA CoC) General Membership meeting. The meeting was postponed by the CoC Board after attendance exceeded the virtual platform’s capacity, preventing the meeting from proceeding in a manner that would allow full public participation. The LA CoC Board has indicated that the meeting will be rescheduled as quickly as possible.
The County Remains Ready
LA County is the only regional entity that applied for all four functions in the LA CoC. We applied because we have the capacity and expertise to do the job, and we are committed to a collaborative, transparent, accountable, and fully regional homelessness response. LA County would not have applied if we weren’t confident in our ability to transform these regional systems in a way that will benefit the City of Los Angeles, in addition to the other 84 cities and 120 unincorporated areas in the LA CoC.
The CoC Board has overseen a public selection process, and LA County has participated with integrity and taken steps to avoid conflicts of interest, including recusing itself from applicable votes. If the recommendation to designate LA County is ultimately approved through the CoC process, LA County will continue working in partnership with all jurisdictions, including our important partners at the City of Los Angeles, as well as service providers, people with lived experience, and other CoC members across the region to support a coordinated, effective and equitable response to homelessness.
Clarifying The Facts
In recent days, we’ve heard many questions and concerns about this process, this system, and the County’s role in that system. We want to be sure that the public has the facts:
- LA County agrees that the status quo isn’t working for everyone, and we are committed to partnering with every city to reform it – keeping what works and the experts who make it work, and changing what needs to change.
- The Department of Homeless Services and Housing (HSH) was evaluated through the established review process and received the highest score on every application in the CoC’s competition and was subsequently recommended by the CoC Board for all four roles. The final decision remains subject to the CoC’s approval process.
- The 2026 Point-in-Time Count showed 62% of the County’s total homeless population is located in the City of Los Angeles, and the remaining 38% were in the County’s other cities and unincorporated areas. Clearly, homelessness is a regional challenge that requires strong partnerships with every jurisdiction, including, but not limited to, the residents of Los Angeles.
- LA County doesn’t currently decide who is placed into beds funded by the City of Los Angeles. Those decisions are made by the City and would continue to be if HSH were chosen.
- For housing matched through the Coordinated Entry System (CES), the CES Policy Council, where both the City and LA County have seats, sets the policies for matching and provides oversight to matching.
Our priority remains unchanged: protecting continuity of services, strengthening accountability and transparency, and delivering better outcomes. LA County remains confident that we are well positioned to help build and lead the accountable system our residents deserve.