Los Angeles County's Blue Ribbon Commission on Homelessness is holding its first meeting Wednesday. The future of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority may be at stake.
The commission has six months to do an in-depth review of LAHSA and recommend changes. The city and county created this joint powers authority nearly 28 years ago to tackle homelessness regionally.
LAHSA manages hundreds of millions of dollars a year in federal, state and local funding for shelter, housing and services for homeless people. But some local leaders, including L.A. City Council President Nury Martinez, have been raising questions about whether LAHSA is the best way to go.
"My hope is that coming out of this we can develop a shared vision of what we need to work towards in addressing homelessness," said Martinez.
LAHSA Executive Director Heidi Marston pointed out the agency and its partners have housed more than 64,000 people in the past three years. But the agency has not been able to keep up with demand. She said the rehousing system alone can't solve the problem.
"Regions that are successful in reducing homelessness have very strong prevention systems that protect people from falling into homelessness. They have adequate or more affordable housing than we have in places like Los Angeles," said Marston.
In the past, Marston said "government partners" will have to make "significant investments" on those two fronts "to truly end homelessness."
County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl voted against creating the blue-ribbon commission saying it'll just "take up a lot of time" and result in recommendations already provided by earlier reports.
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