Simi Valley City Council member Elaine Litster, left, hands Richard McMurtry snacks and socks after interviewing him at an encampment during Ventura County's annual homeless count on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. Volunteers surveyed areas along the Arroyo Simi.
Los Angeles, California – The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has approved a sweeping $908 million funding package for homeless services, marking a major shift in how the region tackles its homelessness crisis. The vote, which passed unanimously on Tuesday, also included the first allocations under the newly approved Measure A sales tax.
A significant portion of the budget—$656 million—comes from Measure A funds, with an additional $209 million from unspent Measure H revenue and $42.6 million from state homelessness assistance grants. Measure A, which replaces the former quarter-cent Measure H sales tax with a half-cent levy, is expected to generate over $1 billion annually to address homelessness. However, 36% of those funds will be directed to the new L.A. County Affordable Housing Solutions Agency rather than the county’s homeless services budget.
“Measure A is a major shift in our strategy for taking on homelessness,” Supervisor Janice Hahn said. “Instead of the county deciding where and how every dollar gets spent, our cities will get their own allocations for shelter, outreach, services, and affordable housing.”
The funding plan introduces a new formula for distributing Measure A dollars among L.A. County’s 88 cities, taking into account the annual homeless count and data on low-income families. This change aims to ensure that funds are allocated where they are most needed.
The approved budget comes with significant cuts, totaling $62 million, to several existing homeless services programs, including:
- LA: RISE job training program: Funding slashed from $8.4 million to $1.8 million, potentially eliminating 600 job opportunities.
- Public Defender’s mobile legal clinics: Losing $1.5 million in funding, reducing outreach staff by one-third.
- Mobile showers program: Completely eliminated, affecting services at six sites.
- Landlord partnership program: Losing $5 million in funding, limiting efforts to secure housing for unhoused residents.
Supervisor Lindsey Horvath criticized cuts to key services, particularly those affecting young adults who have aged out of the foster care system. “Cutting funds for our transition-age youth is both cruel and irresponsible,” she said. “And sacrificing our prevention services cuts our most cost-effective way to keep people housed and risks increasing flow into homelessness.”
Despite these reductions, the budget introduces several new initiatives aimed at tackling homelessness more effectively:
- Local Solutions Fund: $96.4 million allocated to cities and unincorporated areas for local homelessness solutions.
- General Relief housing assistance: $5 million to provide direct housing support for older adults, helping around 700 people annually.
- Emergency Centralized Response Center: $2.8 million dedicated to coordinating outreach and encampment resolution.
- Homelessness Solutions Innovations Fund: $10.6 million for new projects, including $6.3 million for a predictive analytics-based Homeless Prevention Unit within the Department of Health Services.
- A Pathway Home encampment clearing program: Nearly $160 million allocated for fiscal year 2025-26.
One of the biggest looming decisions is whether to overhaul homeless spending oversight. Next week, the Board of Supervisors is set to vote on a proposal that would shift control of hundreds of millions of dollars away from the L.A. Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) and consolidate services under a single county department.
“This budget underscores the urgent need to consolidate homelessness services into one department, allowing us to better track investments and outcomes, and standardize services to maximize every dollar spent,” Horvath emphasized.
