Los Angeles County took a significant step toward even greater accountability in its homeless response system today, as the County’s Department of Homeless Services and Housing assumed direct administration of all programmatic County funding that was previously administered by at least three different entities: the Chief Executive Office – Homeless Initiative, the Department of Health Services – Housing for Health division, and the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA).
Effective July 1, 2026, HSH now directly manages hundreds of work orders with LA County service providers. These contracts provide critical housing and supportive services for tens of thousands of LA County’s most vulnerable residents, including:
- More than 6,500 interim housing beds to bring people off the streets and safely indoors as quickly as possible;
- More than 2,800 Time Limited and Shallow Subsidies to quickly provide housing support to people who have recently fallen into homelessness; and
- Intensive Case Management Services to more than 30,000 people living in permanent supportive housing to support them in remaining stably housed.
“Building this new department has given us an opportunity to work differently – more strategically, more collaboratively, and more effectively,” said Sarah Mahin, Director of HSH. “By consolidating funding and services that were previously spread across multiple entities, we are making the County’s response clearer, faster, and more accountable to the people and communities we serve.”
This milestone marks a pivotal shift toward a more centralized and accountable homeless response system and addresses systemwide challenges through three core commitments:
- Uncompromising Accountability and Transparency: As HSH implements a significant portion of Measure A funding, LA County residents deserve full transparency into where their investments are going and the results they are driving. By bringing all programmatic County funding under direct County oversight, HSH is eliminating past fragmentation and implementing clear reporting and management structures. This makes it easier to track the contracts being funded, the services being delivered, and the direct impact on communities.
- Timely Payments and Support for Service Providers: HSH’s contracting model includes established best practices to ensure providers are reliably paid on time so they can continue to carry out the lifesaving work they do every day.
- Strengthened Regional Collaboration: By directly administering and overseeing all County-funded work orders, HSH serves as a hub connecting key partners, such as local jurisdictions, other County departments, and community-based organizations, to implement to homelessness and effectively reach more people in need.
Our priority throughout this transition has been to center the people we serve and ensure they experience no gaps or delays in vital services. To accomplish this, HSH engaged in months of careful planning and close coordination with LAHSA and service provider organizations to review each contract individually and preemptively address potential challenges.
While LAHSA’s role in the region’s homeless response system is still evolving due to the shifting federal landscape, HSH is committed to working collaboratively with all its partners, including LAHSA, to build a more coordinated, accountable, and effective system that better serves the people and communities of Los Angeles County.