The LA homeless housing support program is facing significant setbacks due to various on-site issues, including facility flooding, elevator breakdowns, and copper wire thefts.
The Los Angeles Times reported on the 1st that a court-ordered investigation report pointed out poor management at homeless housing facilities and a lack of information sharing among administrative agencies.
According to the report prepared by investigative firm Nardello & Co., dozens of temporary and permanent homeless housing facilities were directly inspected.
The report revealed that one housing facility had 83 vacant units out of a total of 225, meaning roughly one in three units was empty.
At this facility, outsiders repeatedly broke in to steal copper wires. Recently, a guest of a resident attempted to steal copper wires from the plumbing system, causing damage to more than 20 units and common areas. New move-ins were suspended while restoration work took place.
Another LA County-operated facility had only 102 actual residents out of 169 beds. Facility managers cited flooding, elevator failures, and copper wire thefts as the main causes.
Administrative systems among homeless support agencies also came under fire.
The report noted that LA city and county agencies use separate databases and Google spreadsheets, relying on manual data transfers or self-reported figures.
Notably, Mayor Karen Bass’s signature homeless initiative, ‘Inside Safe,’ tracks occupancy status via an internal Google spreadsheet but lacks access to the countywide integrated database that tracks homeless outreach and housing placement information.
In response, the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) stated it would work with city government to improve information sharing and operational coordination. Mayor Karen Bass’s office did not respond to requests for comment.
Previously, LA city agreed in 2022 to secure thousands of shelters and housing units while clearing about 10,000 homeless encampments. This investigation was conducted to assess compliance with that agreement. However, investigators noted they could not verify the accuracy of the city’s reported metrics due to privacy regulations restricting access to underlying data.
