Much-Anticipated Audit of LAHSA Released, Finds Billions in Spending Unaccounted For

We know that Newsom can not account for $24 billion in homeless spending.  Los Angeles can not account for billions in homeless spending.  In both cases, the number of homeless goes up and the rich scavengers of NGO’s and government bureaucrats get rich.  It would be better if government stopped spending all money on the homeless.

“The audit revealed:

• Auditors were unable to verify the total amount spent on homelessness services due to inconsistent and incomplete financial records across LAHSA, the city, and the county.
• The report found glaring inconsistencies in how LAHSA tracked shelter beds and services, making it impossible to determine how many beds were available, occupied, or even functional at any given time.
• Auditors noted that LAHSA and the city routinely approved invoices from service providers without verifying whether the billed services were actually provided. Payments were often processed based on high-level summaries, with little scrutiny of receipts or actual service delivery.
• On average, 82 days passed between the start of a contract term and its official execution, meaning many service providers operated without signed agreements for months. Some contracts were signed after services had already been provided, raising concerns about oversight and compliance.”

There is only one way to fix it.  They need to corr4ect all the problems, fire those responsible and determine that if they fail another audit, no money.  Period.  Maybe that would catch their attention.

BREAKING: Much-Anticipated Audit of LAHSA Released, Finds Billions in Spending Unaccounted For

Jamie Paige, Westside Current,  3/6/25  https://www.westsidecurrent.com/news/breaking-much-anticipated-audit-of-lahsa-released-finds-billions-in-spending-unaccounted-for/article_1e800f7c-fad0-11ef-b09c-ef1bb9e703c9.html?utm_source=westsidecurrent.com&utm_campaign=%2Fnews%2Fbreaking-much-anticipated-audit-of-lahsa-released-finds-billions-in-spending-unaccounted-for%2Farticle-1e800f7c-fad0-11ef-b09c-ef1bb9e703c9.html%3Fmode%3Demail%26-dc%3D1741296002&utm_medium=auto%20alert%20email&utm_content=read%20more

LOS ANGELES — The much-anticipated audit of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) was released by the courts Thursday afternoon, revealing significant gaps in financial oversight, data tracking, and accountability in the city’s homelessness programs.

The court-ordered assessment, conducted by Alvarez & Marsal Public Sector Services (A&M) and submitted to U.S. District Judge David O. Carter, examined three key city-funded programs—Inside Safe, the Roadmap Program, and the Alliance Settlement Program—between June 2020 and June 2024.

The report identified approximately $2.3 billion in funding related to these initiatives but found that the total amount spent on services and housing placements could not be fully accounted for due to fragmented data systems, inconsistent financial reporting, and poor coordination between LAHSA, the City of Los Angeles, and the County of Los Angeles.

Audit Uncovers Severe Oversight Failures and Financial Mismanagement

A&M’s audit painted a picture of a fractured and inefficient system that failed to properly manage taxpayer funds or track the effectiveness of homelessness programs.

The audit revealed:

• Auditors were unable to verify the total amount spent on homelessness services due to inconsistent and incomplete financial records across LAHSA, the city, and the county.
• The report found glaring inconsistencies in how LAHSA tracked shelter beds and services, making it impossible to determine how many beds were available, occupied, or even functional at any given time.
• Auditors noted that LAHSA and the city routinely approved invoices from service providers without verifying whether the billed services were actually provided. Payments were often processed based on high-level summaries, with little scrutiny of receipts or actual service delivery.
• On average, 82 days passed between the start of a contract term and its official execution, meaning many service providers operated without signed agreements for months. Some contracts were signed after services had already been provided, raising concerns about oversight and compliance.
• A&M reviewed provider invoices from fiscal year 2023-24 and found extreme differences in costs per bed per day, with personnel costs ranging from $67 to just $7, food costs varying from $18 to $7, and security costs fluctuating between $32 and $2. The audit found no clear explanation for these discrepancies.
• Nearly half (47.8%) of program participants exited back into homelessness, while just 22% found permanent housing, highlighting the lack of measurable outcomes despite billions in spending.

“These findings indicate that LAHSA, the City, and the County failed to properly track spending and outcomes, leaving billions of taxpayer dollars vulnerable to waste, fraud, and abuse,” the report stated.

LA Alliance Calls Report ‘A Damning Confirmation’

The LA Alliance for Human Rights, which sued the city and county over homelessness conditions, issued a statement in response to the audit’s release, calling it “a deeply dysfunctional and mismanaged homelessness response system in Los Angeles.”

“These findings are not just troubling—they are deadly,” said Elizabeth Mitchell, attorney for The LA Alliance for Human Rights. “The failure of financial integrity, programmatic oversight, and total dysfunction of the system has resulted in devastation on the streets, impacting both housed and unhoused. Billions have been squandered on ineffective bureaucracy while lives are lost daily. This is not just mismanagement; it is a moral failure.”

The Alliance said the audit validates the allegations in its landmark lawsuit and further highlights the urgent need for systemic reform. The organization pointed to four critical failures outlined in the audit:

• A fractured, ineffective system plagued by poor oversight, lack of coordination, and negligible results.
• Severe financial mismanagement, leaving billions of taxpayer dollars vulnerable to fraud, waste, and abuse.
• Inaccurate and inconsistent data tracking, rendering housing, services, and funding efforts unreliable.
• A complete absence of accountability from the City, County, and LAHSA, making it impossible to assess the true impact of homelessness programs.

“This crisis is not unsolvable—it is a matter of political will and public accountability,” Mitchell added. “The time for excuses is over. The time for action is now.”

Audit Highlights Contracting and Payment Failures

The report found that LAHSA’s financial controls were weak, allowing service providers to invoice for services without clear documentation of what was actually delivered.

Invoices were reviewed based on lump-sum totals, with little effort to verify whether services were performed.

Payment delays and processing issues created bottlenecks that hurt service providers’ ability to operate efficiently.

Contract terms were vague and lacked clear definitions, leading to confusion over what services were included in agreements.

In one example, the audit found that LAHSA approved invoices for “Residential Supervision” services without defining what the term meant, leading to potential misuse of funds.

The invoicing process between LAHSA and the City—called the “cash request” process—was entirely manual and prone to human error, raising concerns about potential accounting inaccuracies and funding mismanagement.

Lack of Budget Reconciliation and Misallocated Funds

The city allocated $3.6 billion for homelessness services between fiscal years 2020-21 and 2023-24, yet auditors found that LAHSA and the city did not reconcile spending with budgeted amounts.

Inside Safe was the only program with a distinct budget line item; other homelessness programs were lumped together, making it difficult to track how funds were spent.

Overlapping funding sources made it unclear whether funds were spent efficiently or if duplicate payments were made.

The city failed to routinely compare actual spending with budgeted allocations, complicating efforts to determine whether money was spent as intended.

“The city does not routinely reconcile actual spending to the homeless budget, complicating the ability to manage costs and monitor spending,” the report stated.

City and county officials have not yet responded publicly to the audit’s findings.