Aligned with the coroner’s homeless death rate, three persons experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles died this past Sunday. According to preliminary numbers from the county coroner, deaths of homeless people in Los Angeles County are on a record-setting pace to top 1,000, and on average, nearly three homeless people are dying daily in the county, nearly double the rate of deaths by homicide. Illness, addiction, accidents, suicide and the ravages of being unsheltered are among the primary causes of death. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-09-04/homeless-deaths-los-angeles-coroner-record
The system is not working in Los Angeles. Why is the system failing persons experiencing homelessness when purported to be more effective than ever in helping people exit homelessness? LAHSA coordinates and manages over $300 million annually in federal, state, county, and city funds for programs that provide shelter, housing, and services to people experiencing homelessness, including outreach. A recent audit found that, despite having more than doubled its staff of outreach workers in the last two years, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority missed seven of nine goals during the 2017-18 fiscal year and five of eight last fiscal year, goals including the percentage of placements into permanent housing and shelters. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-08-27/homeless-audit-lahsa-outreach-performance
As a common response by leadership of agencies whose performance does not meet expectations, LAHSA called the measures ill-suited to determining the effectiveness of homeless outreach. LAHSA pointed to the untimely measures as an inaccurate picture of the current system in a statement issued in response to the audit and controller’s report. The contract audited by the Controller took place in fiscal year 2018-19, following a three-year expansion when local funding increased by 342% and staff increased by 240%. In that year, new resources made a tremendous difference in the capacity of the homeless services system and made great strides in helping people exit homelessness and move into housing. https://www.lahsa.org/news?article=575-statement-on-los-angeles-controller-s-report-on-homeless-outreach
While people are suffering and dying on the streets of Los Angeles at a devasting and record setting rate, the Homeless Information Management System (HMIS), administered by LAHSA, should provide timely information on system performance and where deficiencies exists in coordination of services. Data driven reporting and decision-making must override reactive and defensive talking points. At the end of this month LAHSA will post System Performance Measures from HMIS as a requirement of its annual Continuum of Care grant application to HUD. Again, the data presented in the application and report will tell the story of how effective and efficient LA’s homeless system is performing.
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