A court-ordered assessment of the City of Los Angeles’ $2.3 billion in recent homelessness spending has found officials often paid bills without verifying services were provided.
This means in many instances, taxpayer money was spent without any results. That could explain some of the contradiction about rising homelessness despite rising homelessness spending.
The City of Los Angeles is home to 45,252 homeless individuals, while Los Angeles County is home to 75,518 homeless individuals, according to the latest point-in-time homelessness count from early 2024.
“LAHSA did not contemporaneously verify that the service provider invoices reflected actual services provided at the given location before approving payment,” wrote staff at Alvarez & Marsal Public Sector Services, who completed a court-ordered assessment of the City of Los Angeles’s homelessness spending. “Instead, it appears that LAHSA approved service provider invoices based solely on a high-level review of supporting financial documents, which did not include receipts or clear indications of the specific services delivered, allowing for potential misalignment between the services being reimbursed and those outlined in the service providers’ contracts.”
A&M also said it could not actually assess much of the spending because ”insufficient financial accountability led to an inability to trace substantial funds allocated to the City Programs.”
With regards to actual services delivered compared to what is paid for and obligated by contracts, A&M continued to find shortcomings from city officials.
“Invoice reviews by the City and LAHSA typically centered on reconciling aggregate amounts in financial reports, rather than verifying the quality, legitimacy, or reasonableness of expenses,” wrote A&M.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsay Horvath, who has motioned to shut down the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority that is a joint project of the City and County of Los Angeles, said this is more evidence that LAHSA must be replaced.
“We need accountability and results right now, which is why I’m proceeding with the creation of a consolidated County department that will end this nightmare,” said Horvath.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who is currently facing a recall effort, said these failures are something she has faced since taking office and has been trying to change.
“This audit validates our work to change what’s festered for decades,” said Bass, who has been in office since 2022. “The city, the county and LAHSA are working together to change and improve the system, and we are committed to continuing to do that.”
