Federal Judge Questions Reliability of Los Angeles Homeless Services Data

A federal judge expressed skepticism Thursday about the accuracy of data provided by Los Angeles homeless service organizations and raised serious concerns about the oversight of related programs. According to the report by mynewsla.com, U.S. District Judge David Carter made the remarks during a hearing in downtown Los Angeles, prompted by a year-long investigation into three city initiatives aimed at supporting the unhoused population.

The review, conducted by independent consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal, examined $2.3 billion in funding tied to programs including Mayor Karen Bass’s Inside Safe initiative. Carter, who ordered the audit, highlighted a recurring issue that has frustrated city officials for nearly two decades: a lack of accountability. He traced the history of audits since 2007, noting that multiple reports have consistently flagged inadequate supervision, unreliable financial records, and vague performance measures. Two prior studies specifically criticized the Los Angeles Homeless Service Authority (LAHSA), a joint city-county agency, as a key contributor to these shortcomings.

The Alvarez & Marsal report, released earlier this month, echoed these findings, describing a fragmented system plagued by poor management. Auditors struggled to follow the trail of significant funds allocated to homeless services, encountering resistance and incomplete records. “There was a lot of stonewalling,” Carter remarked, suggesting that providers should admit when documentation is unavailable rather than obscure the issue.

Carter proposed that consolidating efforts under a single, well-monitored framework could address the inefficiencies of the current multi-agency approach. “What we have now isn’t functioning,” he said, advocating for a cohesive strategy to tackle homelessness.

Mayor Bass, who arrived late to the hearing after Carter reprimanded her assistant for her initial absence, acknowledged longstanding flaws in the system. She endorsed many of the report’s conclusions but emphasized her conviction that preventable deaths on the streets could be halted. Carter had urged Bass, City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson, City Controller Kenneth Mejia, and County Board of Supervisors Chair Lindsey Horvath to attend, though he did not mandate their presence. He was particularly displeased by the absence of LAHSA CEO Va Lecia Adams Kellum, who was in Boston. “That’s unacceptable,” Carter said, stressing the hearing’s priority.

The $2.8 million Alvarez & Marsal investigation identified major hurdles, including inconsistent data systems across LAHSA, the city, and the county, as well as missing or incomplete financial records. These gaps prevented auditors from fully tracking expenditures or verifying outcomes like the number of beds provided. The report noted that disjointed reporting and a lack of real-time oversight heightened the risk of misspending and obscured the effectiveness of homeless assistance efforts.

Court documents filed by the county underscored the disarray, stating that LAHSA cannot account for its payments, nor can the city clarify its own spending. The result, they argued, is a bureaucratic tangle with little financial discipline. Auditors faced further challenges when the city and LAHSA failed to supply all requested data, requiring repeated attempts to piece together the financial picture.

The audit stemmed from a 2020 lawsuit by the L.A. Alliance for Human Rights, a coalition of downtown business owners pressing the city and county to address the homelessness crisis swiftly, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The group sought urgent housing solutions, support services, and public space regulations. Carter, who has long voiced frustration over the handling of public funds—citing $600 million in past allocations with scant documentation—scheduled a follow-up hearing for next month.

Paul Webster, executive director of the L.A. Alliance, said the report substantiated their claims of systemic failure. “We’ve argued for years that this setup is broken and mismanaged,” he said. “The auditors’ struggle to obtain basic information just shows how deep the problems run.” He called for a comprehensive restructuring of the city’s homelessness response, pointing to the audit as evidence of the need for change.