Los Angeles spends over $1 billion a year on homelessness. One councilmember thinks the city needs better oversight of how that money is spent.
A motion by Councilmember Nithya Raman aims to create a bureau within the L.A. Housing Department that collects data on the outcomes of the city’s homelessness investments and makes sure every dollar is being spent as effectively as possible.
“The data that comes to City Council is piecemeal, and it's very, very intermittent, so it doesn’t give us a full picture of how our units are getting used or how quickly they’re getting filled,” Raman told KNX News’ Nataly Tavidian.
Raman, who chairs the Housing and Homelessness Committee, said that over the last couple months, they’ve been collecting data on vacancy rates for permanent supportive housing and how quickly new units are being filled. The data shows that nearly 20% of the city’s shelter beds are vacant on any given night.
Raman said the problems are partially a result of the “very fragmented structure” of the L.A. region’s homelessness programs.
“If we know more, we can do more, but to know more requires real diligence and work,” she said.
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The motion asks city departments to report back within 30 days on the staffing and resources they need to create the new team.
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