The Los Angeles City Council has postponed its plan to analyze shifting funds away from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), a move that has significant implications for the city’s approach to homelessness. This delay comes amidst ongoing scrutiny of LAHSA’s management and performance.

The city council’s homelessness committee had initially recommended a July 1 deadline to begin this analysis, but this timeline has now been extended to December 2027. The delay has raised questions about the city’s commitment to addressing the challenges within LAHSA and the future of homeless services funding.

Background of the Delay

The decision to delay the analysis follows a series of audits and reviews that highlighted serious oversight failures within LAHSA. In April, the City Council’s homelessness committee recommended hiring a consultant to explore transitioning homelessness spending oversight away from LAHSA to either the county, the city, or another entity. This recommendation came after the L.A. County Board of Supervisors decided to pull county funds from LAHSA in the wake of scathing audits in 2026 and.

The full City Council has not yet approved the analysis or budgeted the expected $450,000 to hire a consultant for this task. The delay has been attributed to the need to finalize the process for hiring a consultant, according to a spokesperson for Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky, who chairs the budget committee.

Stakeholders’ Reactions

Councilmember Nithya Raman, who chairs the homelessness committee and is running for mayor against Karen Bass, has expressed her intention to fast-track the process. “We will be working to push up the timeline,” Raman told LAist in a statement. “Preparing for the next step is urgent given the circumstances.”

Despite the delay, the city budget approved in May includes $358 million for LAHSA over the next 12 months, a 5% increase from the prior fiscal year’s $339 million. Raman defended her budget vote, stating that the city does not yet have an alternative system in place to manage its own contracts directly.

Mayor’s Stance

Mayor Karen Bass has cautioned against shifting funds too quickly from LAHSA without a plan and capacity. In a statement issued in March, she warned that such a move could harm unhoused people. “What we need is a serious, thoughtful transition plan — the last thing we need is a new department and more bureaucracy,” she said. However, her office reacted differently last month when the Trump Administration suspended all federal funding to LAHSA, indicating support for moving away from the agency in the long term.

Historical Context

The current delay is not the first time the city council has grappled with the challenges of managing homeless services. Three years ago, Councilmember John Lee expressed frustration at the lack of accurate and complete performance data from LAHSA, stating that the council had failed to examine alternatives for managing the funding. “We have to have something in place,” Lee said at the time. “Otherwise, every year, we’re going to be coming here … having the same exact conversations.”

Councilmember Monica Rodriguez introduced a motion in to study what it would take for the city to build capacity to take control of managing city-funded homeless services. This report was discussed by the homelessness committee in March of this year, leading to the recommendation for an analysis of shifting city funds with the July 1 due date. Rodriguez criticized the delay, stating that the council had been wasting precious time and needed to be decisive.

The city has been working on building its oversight capacity through creating a Bureau of Homelessness Oversight within the city’s housing department, which the City Council voted to establish in May last year. However, the city’s notoriously long hiring process has resulted in only three of the bureau’s 10 positions being filled as of last month.