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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - The City Council Friday approved a motion to develop an evaluation framework of existing and future homeless programs to ensure data is being relayed to the city.
In a 12-0 vote, council members instructed the Housing Department and related city staff to create the evaluation framework that would be imposed on contracts and programs run by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. The frame work will also look to examine program expenditures, underspending, key performance indicators, program benchmarks and reporting schedules.
Council members Paul Krekorian, Katy Yaroslavsky and Traci Park were absent during the vote, as part of a delegation trip to Paris before the city hosts the Olympic and Paralympic games this summer.
In response to the motion being approved, LAHSA CEO Va Lecia Adams Kellus said when she started a year ago, she made "accountability and transparency" key pillars to create a better LAHSA.
"LAHSA strives to deliver accurate information to inform and empower policymakers in their important work to bring more people home," Adams Kellum said in a statement. "I welcome the passage of the motion ... and look forward to working with the city on developing a framework that provides greater insight into program performance."
Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez, who introduced the motion in October 2023, said the evaluation framework is necessary because "so many of (LAHSA's) reports are clear as mud."
"It's particularly important because as everyone continues to try and galvanize toward advancing additional resources from taxpayers -- for all of these other grandiose initiatives -- they fall far short of actually producing the results that residents are demanding," Rodriguez said prior to the vote.
She added that taxpayers continue to be tasked with funding certain homeless programs, and yet "we are getting shortchanged in the actual resources."
"While we continue to step up on this issue each and every time -- it should be without question that we get the data, the metrics and the outcomes that are associated with the amount of money that's been invested in this effort," Rodriguez said.
She noted that it should be expected to receive some results and outcomes associated with homelessness efforts. Rodriguez called it "unfortunate" that the Council had to pursue transparency through legislative means.
"We can't get clear answers, and I know they're all gearing up to ask us for more money," Rodriguez said. "Until they produce results that show measurable outcomes associated with the work that's being invested in."
For months, City Council members expressed frustration with the Los Angeles Housing Services Authority for its lack of forthcoming information on homeless efforts and outcomes. LAHSA is the regional planning body that coordinates housing and services for unhoused people across the county and city of Los Angeles.
Half of its governing commission is appointed by Mayor Karen Bass and confirmed by the City Council.
Rodriguez has been the most critical of LAHSA, and recently her colleagues are starting to show they've also reached their limits as well.
Councilman Bob Blumenfield supported Rodriguez's motion, saying that he "wants us to get off that merry-go-round from hell."
"I agree 100 percent. We have all known that LAHSA can be opaque at times and frankly downright deceptive in terms of how they secure funding from this city," Blumenfield said.
Most recently, he added, LAHSA hired a data architect with funding from the city to reconcile Homeless Management Information System data and county data, and yet, the city still can't get data from LAHSA.
The councilman wants the Housing Department to step up, or some other department to manage and monitor LAHSA's contract.
"We also need to get our administrative house in order, and we need to get our budget in order," Blumenfield said. "There's some major cliffs that we're going to need to tighten our belts, and we need to set a plan that is inclusive of this Council."
The two council members also criticized LAHSA for a leaked report on the city's anti-camping law, known as 41.18. Council members in 2023 requested an analysis on how effective the policy was in addressing homelessness, but the report has been long delayed.
Some critics have accused city officials of intentionally hiding the report.
LAHSA's analysis found the anti-camping law failed to keep areas clear of encampments as many returned. Additionally, the report found that the city's policy did not significantly impact the number of unhoused Angelenos entering housing.
Following the leaked report, Krekorian issued a scathing statement. He had also noted LAHSA's analysis was meant to be part of a broader report to the Council.
The Council president also criticized LAHSA for not responding to questions from the City Legislative Analyst, which LAHSA officials have disputed. LAHSA officials have attempted to defend their findings.
Paul Rubenstein, LAHSA's deputy chief of external relations, told LAist, the first to report on the leaked report, that "LASHA offered impartial analysis based on the available data."
Rodriguez called the report "short on details and actual facts and data to back it up." Blumenfield called it a "fiasco," adding, "where staff leaked incomplete data to make a political point."
On Friday, the Council also approved two related but separate motions instructing quarterly reports on all ongoing litigation related to homelessness and the LA Alliance case.
Rodriguez explained the motions were about "demanding greater accountability" regarding expenditures and investments into the city's homelessness efforts.
"Tragically, we continue to see a lack of information being forthcoming provided to this Council," Rodriguez said prior to the vote. "We continue to demand the same information."