Los Angeles County launched its new homelessness department Tuesday, marking a significant milestone in efforts to shift millions of dollars from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority following audits that found deficiencies with oversight of taxpayer money and performance outcomes.
County Supervisors Lindsey Horvath and Kathryn Barger said the new Homeless Services and Housing Department will be the touch point for all efforts to address the homelessness crisis in the region.
They added that the Emergency Centralized Response Center, established in 2023 and located in the County Hall of Records downtown, will serve as a centralized site to dispatch dedicated outreach teams, which over time will help unsheltered individuals get off the streets and into temporary or permanent housing.
Horvath said the new department needed to be formed because the status quo failed and doing nothing was not an acceptable option.
“Supervisor Barger and I took a hard look at the system,” Horvath said. “We audited it. We asked tough questions, and we confronted a single truth: The public was paying billions of dollars without clear accountability on the results. That ends now.”
Horvath said the new entity represents a structural change in how the county delivers homeless services, with one line of responsibility, clear outcomes and clear oversight.
She said the department has already delivered $45 million in efficiencies from consolidating work done by 14 different departments into one, as well as implementing lessons learned from audits conducted last year regarding the county’s homelessness response.
The supervisors announced the new department ahead of the first night of 2026’s Homeless Count. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development mandates an annual homeless count to guide the allocation of federal dollars to states and cities.
“Anyone experiencing homelessness or (who) is concerned about homelessness in their community can reach out to us online,” said Sarah Mahin, director of the new department. “Like ECRC, the L.A. County new Department of Homeless Services and Housing is built on the idea of bringing everyone together under one roof, by consolidating funding services and staff that were previously spread across different departments and entities.”
County officials acknowledged the department is facing uncertainty due to changes in federal policies, a funding shortfall due to losses in one-time federal and state funding, a reduction in sales tax revenue and rising costs.
“Cuts are painful for everyone, but we are making thoughtful and responsible decisions. We are prioritizing the most vulnerable people and the programs that we know work, and we’re actively working with our partners to secure other funding and solutions to fill gaps,” Mahin added.
The department will be funded by Measure A, the 2024 half-cent sales tax to fund homelessness and housing efforts.
In 2025, the county Board of Supervisors voted to establish a new department of homelessness, funded by Measure A. Approximately $350 million from the revenue that would have gone to LAHSA was moved to support the new department.
LAHSA received criticism over what has been described as a lack of transparency, in addition to spending millions and not alleviating the homelessness crisis. Such criticisms intensified in the aftermath of scathing audits.
A court-ordered audit found that the agency made it impossible to accurately track spending or the performance outcomes of its vendors. The agency made a commitment to improve data tracking, and has released tools on its website to meet those goals.
County officials described the relationship with LAHSA as collaborative and said work was ongoing to finalize the transition and have the department fully operational by the summer.
Horvath said county staff members have been placed inside LAHSA to untangle the funding and understand how to get it back.
“That has caused some tension because people have been asking questions for a long time that deserve answers, and we’re trying to answer them as a county,” Horvath added.
Barger explained that LAHSA’s role is important, in particular the management of the point-in-time count. Barger said the new department will oversee contracts and conduct oversight. She recognized that there will be individuals who seek to defraud, but that doesn’t mean the county or residents have to accept it.
“You look at what’s going on and you have accountability in place. You do audits. You verify that in fact, the dollars being used to work toward homelessness, are being used,” Barger said.