City Council

(14) 24-0536-S1 HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS COMMITTEE REPORT relative to a report on an administrative workout plan to effectuate timely processing of homelessness services provider invoices. Recommendations for Council action, as initiated by Motion (Raman - Soto-Martinez): 1. INSTRUCT the Los Angeles Housing Department (LAHD), with assistance of the City Administrative Officer (CAO), Controller, and other departments as necessary, and request the City Attorney and the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), to (1) align on all contract elements that are not dependent upon the City’s budget process (e.g., key performance indicators, insurance requirements) by May 1st every year; (2) finalize contract elements that are dependent upon the City’s budget process (e.g., funding level) immediately upon Mayoral signature of the budget in early June and work to execute all funding agreements between the City and the LAHSA by July 1st every year. 2. INSTRUCT the CAO to negotiate with the County to release Measure A Local Solutions Funding to the City at the beginning of every quarter, of the fiscal year instead of the current reimbursement model, to ensure that the City can provide funding to service providers in a timely manner for work as it is done, rather than several months later and align with the practice the Los Angeles County Affordable Housing Solutions Agency uses for Measure A disbursements to eligible jurisdictions. 3. INSTRUCT LAHD to direct the Chief Management Analyst for Contracting, once hired within the Bureau of Homelessness Oversight, to serve as the lead cross-department coordination on the review and payment of invoices; the review, approval, and execution of contracts; and the review, approval and execution of contract amendments. 4. INSTRUCT LAHD to publicly post monthly reports and provide a quarterly update to Council on the status of invoices from LAHSA, by contract, including the number of days that an invoice has been pending and an explanation of delay for any invoice pending longer than 30 days; the status of funding agreements between LAHD and LAHSA, as well as direct contracts between the LAHD and providers, including the number of days that a contract has been pending since Mayoral concurrence with a Council directive and an explanation of delay for any contract pending for longer than 30 days; and the status of contract amendments, including the number of days that a contract has been pending since Mayoral concurrence with a Council directive and an explanation of delay for any contract amendment pending longer than 30 days. 5. INSTRUCT LAHD to work with the CAO to amend all contracts between the City and LAHSA, for Fiscal Year 2026-27, to include a mandate that LAHSA contract with a qualified, independent accounting firm to manage the distribution, reconciliation, and tracking of City funding. LAHD and the CAO should work with LAHSA to understand the implications of this change on LAHSA’s requested administrative funding for Fiscal Year 2026-27 and report back to Council on any needed changes to LAHSA’s administrative funding during the Fiscal Year 2026-27 budget process. 6. INSTRUCT LAHD to include in every funding agreement with LAHSA or direct contract (1) a mandate that all sub-agreements must be executed within 30 days of the prime contract execution; (2) a requirement for monthly reports on the execution status of all sub-agreements, including an explanation of the causes of delay for any agreement pending for more than 30 days; and (3) a requirement for monthly reports on the number of sub-contractor invoices received and the number paid, including amount disbursed, the number of days that invoices were pending, and an explanation of the cause of delay for any invoice pending for more than 30 days. 7. INSTRUCT the CAO to identify funding to create a data system that will support coordination across City departments and include real-time information on the status of every homelessness contract and funding agreement managed by LAHD, including processing stage and time pending since Mayoral concurrence with Council action; the status of every contract amendment, including processing stage and time pending since Mayoral concurrence; the status of every invoice submitted to LAHD, including processing stage and time pending since receipt; and the current approved annual funding amount for each contract or funding agreement and the amount spent to date. 8. INSTRUCT LAHD to adopt a new policy in which advanced funds are not returned to the City until the annual reconciliation process at the end of the fiscal year. 9. INSTRUCT the CLA, CAO, and LAHD to report to Council within 30 days on additional changes to the advance payment model that will be adopted in Fiscal Year 2026-27 to ensure sufficient cashflow to compensate service providers for their work and establish firm deadlines for LAHSA’s submission of proof of expenditures and completion of the reconciliation process at the close of each fiscal year. Fiscal Impact Statement: Neither the CAO nor the Chief Legislative Analyst has completed a financial analysis of this report.