A City Council committee Thursday approved a plan to meet obligations under the settlement of a federal lawsuit to have 12,915 beds available to people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles by June 2027.
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The five-member Housing and Homelessness Committee unanimously advanced the plan, which called for creation of more homeless beds using time- limited subsidies, or TLS. The City Council is expected to consider the plan next week.
According to a report from City Administrative Officer Matt Szabo, as of June 30, the city has 7,440 beds with another 3,776 in the process of coming online, totaling 11,216. If any of these beds are discontinued for any reason, replacement units will be needed.
The city must open an additional 2,093 beds.
To meet that gap, Szabo outlined a proposed plan consisting of 130 non- congregate beds, 1,800 time-limited subsidies and 200 recreational vehicle time-limited subsidies for a total of 2,130 beds.
He proposed city officials pursue time-limited subsidies as a way to add beds because of how cost efficient they are, noting that it would cost approximately $24,309 per year compared to millions more used for the construction of Tiny Home Villages, modular residential units, as well as leasing motels and hotels as temporary shelter sites.
"Part of the advantage of the TLS program is there are a number of ways that you can stretch that one subsidy for one year to cover more than one person," Szabo said.
Additionally, the initiative is effective, according to Szabo. Since July 2024, 67% of homeless individuals who received time-limited subsidies to secure a bed or housing exited into permanent housing.
City officials set aside $29.2 million to fund beds as part of the L.A. Alliance Settlement. Szabo reported another $8.021 million in additional funding will be needed for the 2025-26 fiscal year to fund required beds.
Future costs the city will need to contend with are estimated at $53.8 million in the 2026-27 fiscal year and nearly $29.6 million in the 2027-28 fiscal year.
Councilwoman Nithya Raman, chair of the committee, approved the plan, but expressed concerns about making funding recommendations outright without examining the costs per interventions for existing homeless programs to see if they can find savings in their higher-cost programs.
She recommended Szabo, the Housing Department and Mayor Karen Bass' team conduct an analysis in order to determine and identify gaps, and make funding recommendations to meet obligations in the settlement through 2027.
"We believe these amendments will still fulfill the goal of us approving a bed plan for the court while keeping our authority to analyze our funding over the next three years," Raman said.
She also noted that the city's TLS Working Group is trying to better the program by making more information available on progress, educating applicants, and connecting participants with other existing resources such as disability payments.
"People are in the program and at the end, they still don't have greater income. Without continued subsidies, they might end up losing those homes again, and I think we have an opportunity to try and make that better as we move forward," Raman said.
Councilwoman Ysabel Jurado, who backed the plan, expressed concerns about the future once the settlement ends in 2027. She worried the bed plan was "short-sighted," and may lead to an increase in homelessness in later years.
Councilman Bob Blumenfield echoed her concerns, adding that TLS should serve as the base level.
"We need to continue to figure out ways to add resources and other things besides the TLS," Blumenfield said. "TLS without the services is just warehousing. It's got to have the services. It's got to have the county engagement, that's where the money is for the services."
The councilman introduced separate amendments aimed at encouraging affordable housing developers and property managers to accept TLS subsidies, as well as to increase safe parking initiatives for people living in their vehicles.
In June, a federal court judge determined that the city failed to meet its obligations under a settlement agreement with the L.A. Alliance for Human Rights. U.S. District Judge David Carter ordered city officials to provide an updated plan detailing how it will create 12,915 beds for homeless residents within two years.
In court documents, Carter wrote that the city has shown "a consistent lack of cooperation and responsiveness -- an unwillingness to provide documentation unless compelled by court order or media scrutiny."
The judge had previously threatened the city with appointing a receiver to oversee homeless funding and enforce compliance with the settlement, as requested by plaintiffs. Carter ultimately declined to do so, describing such action as a "last resort."
However, Carter did institute a "monitor" to oversee compliance, who would "ask the hard questions on behalf of Angelenos," the judge had written in his order.
The case started in March 2020 when L.A. Alliance -- a coalition of business owners and residents of the city and county -- filed a complaint in Los Angeles federal court against the city and Los Angeles County accusing them of not doing enough to address homelessness.
A judge signed off on a settlement in September 2023 in which the county agreed to supply an additional 3,000 beds for mental and substance abuse treatment by the end of next year and subsidies for 450 new board-and-care beds. The L.A. Alliance filed papers alleging the city was not meeting its obligations.
An independent court-ordered assessment filed in March was unable to verify the number of homeless shelter beds the city claimed to have created.
The City Council is expected to consider a request Friday from City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto to negotiate an outside contract with former City Controller Ron Galperin and data analyst Daniel Garrie to serve as the "monitor" over the L.A. Alliance Settlement.
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