City Council

(14)\n24-0536-S1\nHOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS COMMITTEE REPORT relative to\na report on an administrative workout plan to effectuate timely\nprocessing of homelessness services provider invoices.\nRecommendations for Council action, as initiated by Motion (Raman -\nSoto-Martinez):\n1. INSTRUCT the Los Angeles Housing Department (LAHD), with\nassistance of the City Administrative Officer (CAO), Controller,\nand other departments as necessary, and request the City\nAttorney and the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority\n(LAHSA), to (1) align on all contract elements that are not\ndependent upon the City’s budget process (e.g., key\nperformance indicators, insurance requirements) by May 1st\nevery year; (2) finalize contract elements that are dependent\nupon the City’s budget process (e.g., funding level) immediately\nupon Mayoral signature of the budget in early June and work to\nexecute all funding agreements between the City and the\nLAHSA by July 1st every year.\n2. INSTRUCT the CAO to negotiate with the County to release\nMeasure A Local Solutions Funding to the City at the beginning\nof every quarter, of the fiscal year instead of the current\nreimbursement model, to ensure that the City can provide\nfunding to service providers in a timely manner for work as it is\ndone, rather than several months later and align with the\npractice the Los Angeles County Affordable Housing Solutions\nAgency uses for Measure A disbursements to eligible\njurisdictions.\n3. INSTRUCT LAHD to direct the Chief Management Analyst for\nContracting, once hired within the Bureau of Homelessness\nOversight, to serve as the lead cross-department coordination\non the review and payment of invoices; the review, approval,\nand execution of contracts; and the review, approval and\nexecution of contract amendments.\n4. INSTRUCT LAHD to publicly post monthly reports and provide a\nquarterly update to Council on the status of invoices from\nLAHSA, by contract, including the number of days that an\ninvoice has been pending and an explanation of delay for any\ninvoice pending longer than 30 days; the status of funding\nagreements between LAHD and LAHSA, as well as direct\ncontracts between the LAHD and providers, including the\nnumber of days that a contract has been pending since Mayoral\nconcurrence with a Council directive and an explanation of\ndelay for any contract pending for longer than 30 days; and the\nstatus of contract amendments, including the number of days\nthat a contract has been pending since Mayoral concurrence\nwith a Council directive and an explanation of delay for any\ncontract amendment pending longer than 30 days.\n5. INSTRUCT LAHD to work with the CAO to amend all contracts\nbetween the City and LAHSA, for Fiscal Year 2026-27, to\ninclude a mandate that LAHSA contract with a qualified,\nindependent accounting firm to manage the distribution,\nreconciliation, and tracking of City funding. LAHD and the CAO\nshould work with LAHSA to understand the implications of this\nchange on LAHSA’s requested administrative funding for Fiscal\nYear 2026-27 and report back to Council on any needed\nchanges to LAHSA’s administrative funding during the Fiscal\nYear 2026-27 budget process.\n6. INSTRUCT LAHD to include in every funding agreement with\nLAHSA or direct contract (1) a mandate that all sub-agreements\nmust be executed within 30 days of the prime contract\nexecution; (2) a requirement for monthly reports on the\nexecution status of all sub-agreements, including an\nexplanation of the causes of delay for any agreement pending\nfor more than 30 days; and (3) a requirement for monthly\nreports on the number of sub-contractor invoices received and\nthe number paid, including amount disbursed, the number of\ndays that invoices were pending, and an explanation of the\ncause of delay for any invoice pending for more than 30 days.\n7. INSTRUCT the CAO to identify funding to create a data system\nthat will support coordination across City departments and\ninclude real-time information on the status of every\nhomelessness contract and funding agreement managed by\nLAHD, including processing stage and time pending since\nMayoral concurrence with Council action; the status of every\ncontract amendment, including processing stage and time\npending since Mayoral concurrence; the status of every invoice\nsubmitted to LAHD, including processing stage and time\npending since receipt; and the current approved annual funding\namount for each contract or funding agreement and the amount\nspent to date.\n8. INSTRUCT LAHD to adopt a new policy in which advanced\nfunds are not returned to the City until the annual reconciliation\nprocess at the end of the fiscal year.\n9. INSTRUCT the CLA, CAO, and LAHD to report to Council within\n30 days on additional changes to the advance payment model\nthat will be adopted in Fiscal Year 2026-27 to ensure sufficient\ncashflow to compensate service providers for their work and\nestablish firm deadlines for LAHSA’s submission of proof of\nexpenditures and completion of the reconciliation process at the\nclose of each fiscal year.\nFiscal Impact Statement: Neither the CAO nor the Chief Legislative\nAnalyst has completed a financial analysis of this report.