LAist · on Judge Carter's Oct. 27 hearing on LAHSA's successor
At a Wednesday hearing, U.S. District Judge David O. Carter scheduled an Oct. 27 hearing he called "our decision-making day on so many matters" on who will administer roughly $240 million a year in federal homeless funding after LAHSA relinquishes the role, and said he wants funds transferred to L.A. County by January if the county is chosen. Carter said "The watchdog wasn't watching, and the money got distributed without accountability." City staff estimated a city homeless services department would take up to two years to build; prosecutors have so far charged six people connected to L.A. homeless service providers.
The LA CoC Board voted Sept. 23 to advance a proposal designating the county as collaborative applicant for HUD funds, subject to approval by the CoC general membership; the county moved roughly $300 million of its annual homelessness funding to its new in-house department in July.
Willamette Week · on the three Multnomah County chair candidates on Sunstone Way contract oversight
In WW endorsement interviews, chair candidates Shannon Singleton, Sharon Meieran and Julia Brim-Edwards each answered what oversight should have caught Sunstone Way, the homeless services nonprofit the county said in June had billed $3.6 million in unallowable expenses since 2024 and which has since shut down. Singleton said county fiscal monitoring is done “more as a spot check” and that underperforming contractors should lose funding; Meieran said focusing on individual contracts “will just continue to manage decline” and called for contracting that ties spending to results; Brim-Edwards said her budget note requires outcomes to be entered in the county’s contract management system, with a review of all county contracts possible in January. WW noted the county has spent some $150 million a year in Supportive Housing Services tax dollars since 2021.
The county’s letter alleging $3.6 million in unallowable Sunstone Way billing went out in June 2026; the November 3 chair election is the county’s first using ranked-choice voting.
The San Francisco Standard · on new SF homelessness department director Mike Levine's contracting plans
Mike Levine, who took charge of San Francisco's Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing and its $700 million annual budget in June after nearly a decade at MassHealth, said in an interview that more people are entering the city's homelessness system than exiting it and that the city underspends on prevention. Levine said he wants to tie nonprofit contracts to long-term housing outcomes, such as tenancy preservation at three, six and 12 months, rather than paying out invoices, and has invited providers that do not currently serve San Francisco to weigh in on the contract rebid.
Roughly 8,000 San Franciscans remain unhoused despite a drop in street homelessness in the city's most recent count.
WESA · on ex-Home Forward CEO Ivory Mathews hired on a 7-0 board vote
The Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh board voted 7-0 Thursday to appoint Ivory N. Mathews as executive director, with a first day of October 1. Mathews led Home Forward from 2022 until April 2026 and remains the subject of an Oregon Government Ethics Commission investigation opened last month over her taxpayer-funded travel spending. HACP has a $255 million budget for 2027 and houses roughly 18,000 Pittsburghers.
Willamette Week reported the expected pick a day before the vote; outgoing director Caster Binion departs at the end of September.
The Los Angeles Continuum of Care Board voted Wednesday to advance Los Angeles County as the region's 2026 collaborative applicant for the $239 million in federal homelessness funds from which HUD suspended LAHSA; six entities expressed initial interest, two advanced to discussions, and only the county completed the process. Board chair Benjamin Kay said HUD reopened the L.A. CoC's funding notice to September 30 and later extended it to October 14. The CoC general membership must still vote, and the replacement is contingent on LAHSA remaining suspended.
LAHSA has received more than $1 billion in federal funds since 2021, including $220 million in 2024, according to MyNewsLA.
Los Angeles County officials announced Tuesday the county will apply to HUD to take over four federal functions LAHSA relinquished — the annual point-in-time count, the annual federal funding application, the Homeless Management Information System, and the Coordinated Entry System — while the city of Los Angeles is seeking only the HMIS and CES functions. The move follows LAHSA's September 16 vote not to continue as lead agency for the Los Angeles Continuum of Care, which covers 85 cities plus unincorporated county. County counsel said any departure from the LAHSA joint-powers authority would require 180 days' notice; about $241 million already earmarked for the region by Congress is at stake.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week overruled U.S. District Judge David Carter's partial preliminary injunction that had allowed LAHSA access to federal homelessness funding for fiscal year 2026.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Sen. Angelique Ashby's Senate Bill 802, requiring Sacramento County and the cities of Sacramento, Elk Grove, Rancho Cordova, Citrus Heights and Folsom to create a regional board on housing and homelessness by January 1, 2028. The board of elected officials would take over functions including the region's point-in-time count and coordinate shelter and housing programs. Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty, who opposed an earlier version, said he expects a more formal regional body to begin meeting later this year.
Sacramento County's most recent point-in-time count, released May 2026, estimated about 7,500 people experiencing homelessness in the county.
San Francisco's Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing held three community-listening sessions across the city in the past week on its plan to rebid homelessness services contracts, and the deadline for its request for information was extended from September 21 to mid-October. The chair of the Homeless Emergency Services Provider Association, which represents around 35 providers, said the feedback questions are nuanced and answering them has taken significant effort, and providers said outcomes-based payment could penalize organizations serving higher-acuity clients.
The reprocurement policy tying contracts to outcomes was announced in late August, covering roughly $500 million in homelessness services contracts.
The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority's commission voted not to apply to keep the four federal roles it has held for three decades, including coordinating the region's roughly $240 million annual HUD funding application, running the point-in-time count, and operating the HUD-mandated services database. The city of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County are both applying to take over the roles; applicants had to declare intent by September 15 and must submit applications by September 25. LAHSA's commission and leadership said in a joint statement that "competing against our founding partners would only fracture regional collaboration during an already complex time."
HUD suspended LAHSA from its federal duties in June, putting $241 million in anticipated funding in limbo; U.S. District Judge David O. Carter paused the suspension August 13 but ordered the L.A. Continuum of Care Board to solicit replacement applications.
At a September 9 news conference with City Controller Kenneth Mejia, Councilmember Nithya Raman said Mayor Karen Bass had failed to oversee hundreds of millions in homelessness spending and pledged that, if elected, the city would manage its homelessness funding by the end of her first year, with Mejia given greater audit access. Bass's campaign said her departure from the LAHSA Commission does not change who oversees the funding. Raman said unsheltered homelessness fell 49% in her district in the most recent count; the 2026 count estimated 45,194 people homeless citywide, up 3.4%, with unsheltered homelessness up 7.9% to 29,115.
A federal judge in August issued a preliminary injunction halting the Trump administration's June suspension of LAHSA's HUD funding while LAHSA's lawsuit proceeds.
The board of the Los Angeles Continuum of Care published a request for qualifications seeking applicants for the four federally mandated functions that make up LAHSA's core work, including the homelessness database, the annual count, and the annual HUD funding application. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath said the county would apply to take over those functions, and Mayor Karen Bass said the city "intends to apply for some or all the roles"; Bass stepped down from LAHSA's 10-member board Wednesday. Applications are due September 24, with a special meeting scheduled October 7 and the board's report to Judge David O. Carter due October 13.
In August, Judge Carter ordered HUD to accept LAHSA's 2026 application and distribute $241 million under local priorities while requiring a nationwide competition for the 2027 contract.
The Metro Homelessness Planning Council was set to discuss creating a centralized facility where people experiencing homelessness could access services in one place. Metro Councilmember Jacob Kupin said Nashville has no single central intake facility and that many cities have city-owned buildings for homeless services. The council was expected to hear about a Memphis facility as a possible model; location, cost, and funding have not been determined.
Nashville's Office of Homeless Services certified a 2026 point-in-time count of 2,298 people on January 22, 2026, a 5.4 percent increase from 2025.
Mayor Karen Bass announced she will step down from the LAHSA Commission effective Wednesday, September 9, after LAist reported in late August that she missed 13 of 21 commission meetings over a recent year period. Her office did not say whom she plans to appoint to the seat. The announcement came as the city works toward a homelessness system independent of LAHSA.
Bass's three-year term on the LAHSA Commission expired June 30, 2026, and she had remained on the commission past that date.
New York Post · on Bass declining the Sept. 15 House DOGE subcommittee appearance
Mayor Karen Bass's legal counsel, David Michaelson, wrote the House Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency that the mayor "is not available" for its requested September 15 appearance at a hearing on federal homelessness funding routed through LAHSA, and gave no reason. The letter said her office would produce the requested documents — covering LAHSA's internal controls, use of federal homelessness funds, and communications among the mayor's office, LAHSA, the City Council and the county Board of Supervisors — by September 14. A subcommittee spokeswoman said the panel is proceeding with the hearing without her.
The subcommittee's September 3 letter from Chairman Tim Burchett cited more than $1 billion in federal funds to LAHSA since 2021.
The Legislature passed SB 802, Sen. Angelique Ashby's bill requiring elected officials across Sacramento County to create a joint powers authority as the lead entity for housing and homelessness countywide, and it now awaits Gov. Gavin Newsom's signature. The Bee reported it would be the first known time the Legislature has ordered local governments in the state to create a JPA for homelessness, and that the mandate could end up in court. Sacramento County staff and most of its elected leaders oppose the bill, citing cost concerns.
The Senate concurred in Assembly amendments 33-0 on August 27.
The House Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency, chaired by Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), sent Mayor Karen Bass a letter asking her to testify at a Washington hearing on what it describes as waste, fraud and mismanagement at the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, and requested nearly seven years of documents by September 14. Bass's attorney David Michaelson replied that she would not be available, said unsheltered homelessness in L.A. has fallen 11% since 2022, and said city leaders are preparing a plan to make the city the "sole or primary administrator" of its homeless services. LAHSA's suspension by HUD kept it from filing an August 26 application for $240 million in federal funding on behalf of 140 homeless services organizations.
U.S. District Judge David O. Carter issued a preliminary injunction against HUD's suspension of LAHSA in August; HUD has filed papers indicating it will appeal.
LAist · on the removal of LAHSA audit committee chair Justin Szlasa
The LAHSA Commission approved new committee assignments last week that removed Commissioner Justin Szlasa as chair of the three-member audit committee; commission chair Stephanie Graves, a Bass appointee, recommended the change and told LAist it was her "prerogative" without explaining her reasoning. Szlasa, an appointee of county Supervisor Kathryn Barger, had pressed LAHSA to finish a years-long audit of its failure to spend $7 million in federal grants; his replacement as audit chair is Charles Stringer, a Bass appointee.
U.S. District Judge David O. Carter earlier called the camping-site capacity payments Szlasa identified "obvious fraud."
King County Regional Homelessness Authority · on the transfer of about $150 million in contracts back to Seattle and King County
KCRHA said the transition announced in July by King County Executive Girmay Zahilay and Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson has moved from planning into implementation, with administration of approximately $150 million in locally funded annual homelessness service contracts moving back to Seattle and King County. The authority said it has begun reducing and restructuring staffing, is concluding interlocal agreements with seven cities including Bellevue and Redmond, and will retain federal Continuum of Care responsibilities including HMIS, Coordinated Entry, and the Point-in-Time count.
The authority said it has reached the 90-day milestone in the Corrective Action Plan adopted after this year's financial reviews; its layoffs began in late August.
San Francisco will seek new contracts for all of its homelessness services over the next several years, the Chronicle reported. The mayor's office described the rebid as a bid to boost accountability and results for the hundreds of millions of dollars the city spends on homelessness annually.
Mayor Daniel Lurie rejected several recommendations of a June civil grand jury report on the city's oversight of homelessness contracts on August 24.
Federal and county prosecutors charged Alex Soofer, leader of the now-defunct nonprofit Abundant Blessings, with fraud, alleging he pocketed at least $10 million in homelessness funds that flowed through LAHSA to his nonprofit and his for-profit company. LAist reported that LAHSA's top two compliance officials declared Abundant Blessings "High-Risk" in a May 2024 delinquency notice while the agency continued awarding it new contracts, paying $5 million to the nonprofit through direct contracts starting in 2023. Soofer and the nonprofit agreed last November to pay LAHSA $1.25 million in a settlement; he has pleaded not guilty.
The King County Regional Homelessness Authority made its first round of layoffs August 25: a spokesperson confirmed 10 people were laid off, one resigned beforehand, and six vacant positions will stay vacant, with laid-off staff receiving no severance and one month of paid administrative leave. The same day, the agency's two top executives told a King County Council committee that an outside consultant is still tracing $8 million in unreconciled funds identified by this year's forensic audit, a figure COO William Towey said could be higher.
CEO Kelly Kinnison told staff not to expect additional layoffs until after October 5.
Mayor Daniel Lurie's office issued its formal response Monday to the June civil grand jury report on oversight of the nearly $500 million San Francisco spends annually on nonprofit homelessness contracts, disagreeing fully or partially with all but one of the jury's findings. The mayor rejected recommendations to publish critical-incident data on a public dashboard and to route contract renewals through the Homelessness Oversight Commission, with his office writing that renewals are administrative matters under the city charter; it said it will implement some recommendations, including evaluating nonprofit housing operators on resident safety outcomes.
The grand jury report cited 2024 data showing 26% of San Francisco overdose deaths occurred at permanent supportive housing sites, an increase from prior years.
Public records obtained by the Mercury showed Portland Solutions staff spent months coordinating with Riff City Strategies, Urban Alchemy's public relations firm — sharing draft responses to reporters' questions, alerting the firm to publication dates, and connecting it with Mayor Keith Wilson's top staff. Complaints against the nonprofit, which holds a $90.4 million five-year city contract through 2028, have reached at least 156 since it came to Portland in 2023; a June email from the mayor's deputy chief of staff named Councilors Green, Kanal, and Avalos as the contract's "most outspoken skeptics."
Councilors Avalos and Kanal issued a memo on May 8 requesting more city oversight of Urban Alchemy's contract.
LAist reported that Mayor Karen Bass, the first Los Angeles mayor to appoint herself to the LAHSA Commission, missed 13 of 21 commission meetings between mid-August 2025 and now, and has been absent for 25 of 47 meetings since joining in late 2023. LAHSA's bylaws state that commissioners absent four times within a year may be subject to removal; Bass's office said she remained informed of agency business through her other appointees.
The LAHSA Commission oversees roughly $500 million in annual homelessness funding for the joint city-county authority.
City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson is expected to announce this week that Nithya Raman, chair of the Housing and Homelessness Committee since 2023 and a challenger to Mayor Karen Bass in November, will lose the post as the committee is split in two, with Ysabel Jurado expected to lead a homelessness panel and Imelda Padilla a housing panel. The Post reported that a $62.6 million housing initiative Raman championed had housed three households by June 25 against a goal of roughly 2,000; Raman said in a video that Bass "may be trying to punish me for challenging her."
The 2026 count estimated 45,194 homeless people in the city of Los Angeles, up 3.4% from the prior year.