Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell’s Statement on Abstaining on Vote for County to Remove Funding from LAHSA and Create a New $1 Billion Department for Addressing Homelessness

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell provided the following statement on her abstention on the motion to Implement Recommendations from the Blue Ribbon Commission on Homelessness Report that passed today by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors in a 4-0 vote:

“I abstained from voting on the motion to create a new County Homeless Department, which is expected to cost the County $1 billion in funding and move over 200 positions from LAHSA due to a lack of key details that are critical for distinguishing why this new department will be more effective and not just a reshuffling of resources and people without improved outcomes for our residents experiencing homelessness.

We have a responsibility to continuously evaluate and adjust the strategies we are using to solve the moral and economic crisis that is homelessness. The motion voted on today presented a rushed timeline that didn’t provide clear metrics or deadlines for when the public will be able to track the new department’s progress.

To help address this, I presented an amendment to include defined benchmarks for success such as tracking and sharing the time it takes for people to be sheltered and permanently housed and extending the start date from July 1 of this year to October 1 to allow three additional months for authentic stakeholder engagement to help inform how the new department will be formed by people directly tied to its success. The amendments were not accepted, leaving no way for me to support the motion without a clear plan for how these sweeping changes will create a visible and lasting impact in keeping our fellow residents off the streets and housed with the supportive services that meet their needs.

The authors of the motion, the County’s Chief Executive Officer, along with the leadership of the County’s Homeless Initiative and Housing for Health teams assured the Board and the public today that no service interruption would occur during or post the transition to creating this new department, and that the establishment of the new department would be cost neutral. I will be closely monitoring and expecting public reports on the status of this commitment for the residents of the 2nd District.

We have reached an inflection point with the passage of Measure A. For the first time, thanks to the residents of LA County, we now have a sustainable source of funding for addressing homelessness. We owe it to every person experiencing homelessness and the concerned residents who want to see their neighborhoods restored to their intended use to set clear benchmarks for accountability and transparency on how every cent is used. Rushing to create a new department without a clear plan for how we will define success as a County shows that we can move fast, but it doesn’t mean we are being more effective.”