Dean Fioresi is a web producer for CBS Los Angeles. He covers breaking news throughout Southern California. When he's not writing about local events, he enjoys focusing on sports and entertainment.
The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority announced that it will lay off 284 employees in the next 10 days, citing funding cuts by the county's board of supervisors.
"I want to profoundly thank our staff for their unwavering dedication and hard work serving people experiencing homelessness across Los Angeles County," said a statement from Gita O'Neill, the interim CEO of LAHSA. "Our staff has been the driving force behind the historic reduction in street homelessness we've seen over the past two years. Though our agency's structure is changing, the monumental impact of their work -- housing nearly 80,000 people over three years -- speaks for itself."
LAHSA shared the announcement in a news release, noting that 216 of the employees being laid off were union-represented staff and 68 were non-represented. They said that the final day of employment for impacted employees would be June 30, 2026, coinciding with the end of the county's fiscal year.
However, some employees could be retained "to continue their critical work after June 30," depending on the final details of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass' proposed $14.98 billion budget for the 2026-27, which was revealed on Monday. Of that total, approximately $788 million was estimated to be allocated for homelessness spending, a sharp drop from the $953.3 million allocated in the current fiscal year budget.
Officials also noted that the restructuring would eliminate 414 total positions, 140 of which are currently vacant. In all, the agency's staff will be reduced from 600 to 320. The layoffs were announced on Monday to comply with the contract between LAHSA and the union representing the largest portion of their workers, Service Employees International Union Local 721, which requires 60 days' notice. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and Bass were informed of the decision.
Bass' budget shows that city spending on LAHSA was expected to continue for the annual point-in-time homeless count, the care administration services, shelter and housing intervention, along with strategies aimed at addressing street homelessness.
Last year, the Board of Supervisors approved the transfer of some employees and nearly $300 million in funding from LAHSA to the county's first homelessness department, the Department of Homeless Services and Housing, which formally launched in January. The decision came after the joint city-county agency faced audits that criticized the handling of taxpayers' money.
In the days following the decision by the board of supervisors, then-CEO Va Lecia Adams Kellum announced that she would be resigning from her role.
"I am incredibly proud of LAHSA's talented and dedicated staff and deeply grateful for their tireless work. I thank them and the Commission for the opportunity to serve as CEO and for our partnership in reducing homelessness in our region," Adams Kellum wrote in her resignation letter.
Despite the layoffs, LAHSA officials shared a series of statistics touting their work on homelessness. They said that LAHSA has helped reduce street homelessness by 14% and 18%, countywide and citywide, respectively. They also said that they made more than 77,800 permanent housing placements from 2022 to 2024.
"The historic milestones we have achieved are a direct result of the relentless dedication of LAHSA's workforce, but the changing funding landscape requires us to right-size and calibrate our agency for the future," said Amber Sheikh, Chair of the LAHSA Commission.
LAHSA officials said that the transition will mark a "necessary evolution" for the agency, including the shifting of the contracting and program oversight role to focus primarily on the city.
"By narrowing our focus to macro-level governance, data management, and securing federal funding, we are stepping into our true role as a strategic architect of the region's homelessness response system. This shift allows us to operate with greater precision and deliver stronger, more measurable system-wide performance," O'Neill said. "Our work with KMPG and the restructuring we've already put in place for contracting will help us be a strong partner to the City as well."