Contact: Christina Villacorte, Homeless Initiative
cvillacorte@ceo.lacounty.gov (213) 330-6757
Los Angeles County announced that it has reached a groundbreaking settlement with LA Alliance to resolve this long-running litigation with a pledge to commit up to an estimated $850.5 million in additional funding to increase beds, services, outreach, and interim housing for the most vulnerable people experiencing homelessness.
The new resources are in addition to the $293 million in new funding the County committed to during the course of the lawsuit to provide 6,700 beds for people experiencing homelessness near freeways and for unhoused seniors—bringing the County’s total commitment to more than $1 billion.
The new settlement with LA Alliance will provide 1,000 new mental health and substance use disorder beds for the unhoused while making available 450 subsidies to provide individuals at risk of homelessness with enriched residential care in board and care beds throughout the County.
The historic settlement also increases the number of County street outreach teams to cover all Los Angeles City Council Districts, while committing to providing wrap-around medical and social services for the more than 13,000 permanent and interim housing beds the City has committed to build in its separate settlement with LA Alliance.
County leaders hailed the settlement as a historic milestone. Board of Supervisors Chair Janice Hahn said the County looks forward to collaborating with the plaintiffs and the City of Los Angeles to implement the agreement, which represents significant progress towards saving and improving the lives of the unhoused once the lawsuit is dismissed.
“We are locking arms with our partners at LA City and doubling down on our resolve to address this crisis of homelessness together, with the shared aim of saving lives, alleviating suffering and finding truly regional solutions to move us forward,” Supervisor Hahn said.
“I want to thank Mayor Bass for stepping in and urging us to do better,” she added. “This agreement shows we did and I hope Judge Carter agrees and signs off on this settlement. The County is committing to a significant increase in resources and we are happy to put this litigation behind us so we can devote our full attention to helping people and communities that need our assistance.”
Both sides will now ask U.S. District Judge David O. Carter to dismiss the case against the County so the settlement can go into effect.
The County and LA Alliance reached an initial settlement last year but continued to negotiate, which led to an expansion of mental health and substance use disorder beds from 300 to 1,000, as well as 450 new subsidies for enriched residential care for board and care beds.
“This agreement means more beds and services for our unhoused residents, including those living on Skid Row in my district,” said Supervisor Hilda L. Solis, First District. “I look forward to working with the City of Los Angeles as we continue to implement strategies that we know will bring people indoors. I’m thankful to Mayor Karen Bass for her continued leadership in serving our joint constituencies.”
“Accountability and transparency are some of the most important elements that came from the discourse of the LA Alliance settlement proceedings,” said Supervisor Kathryn Barger, Fifth District. “I am pleased that both the County and the City were able to come to agreements on clear roles and deliverables by each party. We both must satisfy our respective responsibility to one another and to our constituents at large. I will continue to drive the County towards more accountable and transparent homeless solutions with all 88 cities, as we partner to bring housing and services to those most in need.”
This settlement comes as the County moves urgently to mobilize additional resources under the local emergency on homelessness declared by the Board of Supervisors in January. These efforts include an intensive focus on encampment resolution, close collaboration with cities, providing additional interim and supportive housing, and expanding mental health and substance use disorder services.
The emergency declaration builds on extensive efforts by the County over the past 5½ years that placed more than 90,000 people in permanent housing, provided nearly 124,000 with temporary shelter, and prevented 22,000 others from falling into homelessness.
Additional details of the settlement are spelled out in the fact sheet below.
The settlement between the County and LA Alliance will provide the following additional resources to fight the homelessness crisis: