With the 2026 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count about three months away, unionized employees of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority are wondering if they will have jobs next year under the transition to the new LA County Department of Homeless Services and Housing.<\/p>\n
In April, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a motion to establish the county\u2019s first-ever department on homelessness to coordinate regional homeless services, effectively defunding the Homeless Services Authority, a joint agency between the county and the City of Los Angeles that has long overseen such programs but has been plagued by problems in recent years including financial mismanagement, according to an independent audit commissioned by a federal judge.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Department of Homeless Services and Housing is expected to be in place by Jan. 1. By July 1, the county is projected to complete the integration of specified county-funded programs and services currently administered by the Homeless Services Authority into the new department.<\/p>\n
But the transition from the Homeless Services Authority to the Department of Homeless Services and Housing isn\u2019t as smooth as some employees, who are represented by Service Employees International Union 721, anticipated.<\/p>\n
Heather Varden, SEIU 721 Steward and Regional Council Member, said in a statement that staff are being told they must reapply for their own jobs through so-called \u201cemergency appointments.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFrontline workers were led to believe their dedication and performance would carry them forward into the new department, yet they are now facing uncertainty and potential displacement,\u201d Varden said. \u201cThe people doing this work have already proven their effectiveness, as the 2025 Homeless Count showed a real decrease in homelessness, and that progress is because of the staff who show up every day. We are asking for honesty, transparency, and a real transition that values the people behind the progress.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s clear that the County has made a monumental anti-labor decision by choosing not to prioritize LAHSA employees in the hiring process for the new Department of Homeless Services and Housing,\u201d Katie Shang, another SEIU 721 steward representing LAHSA staff, said in a statement. \u201cThis decision could impact hundreds of dedicated LAHSA employees who have spent their careers serving people experiencing homelessness. The County has now put many of them in a position where they may face the very crisis they\u2019ve worked tirelessly to prevent.\u201d<\/p>\n
SEIU 721 steward Maqueda Hooks said in statement that the \u201crecent trend of replacing long-term employees with untested newcomers is a troubling sign of poor decision-making.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cInstitutional knowledge, cultivated over years of dedication and experience, is an irreplaceable asset,\u201d she said. \u201cLosing it can lead to operational setbacks, a decline in quality, and a weakened organizational culture. We must recognize the value of our seasoned employees and ensure that their expertise is preserved and leveraged. It\u2019s time to rethink these decisions and prioritize the retention of our institutional knowledge for the long-term success of our mission both to the unhoused population and within the public perception.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rachel Kassenbrock, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeless Services and Housing, wrote in an email that as part of Phase 1 of the transition, the county is recruiting for management-level positions to build the department\u2019s leadership team.<\/p>\n
\u201cLooking ahead to Phase II, the County\u2019s Chief Executive Office, Department of Human Resources, and (Homeless Services and Housing) will consult with SEIU 721 to plan the transition of represented LAHSA employees into the new department, as directed by the Board of Supervisors\u2019 April 1 motion,\u201d she wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At this stage, Homeless Services and Housing has not yet begun hiring for rank-and-file positions that will be represented by SEIU 721, she added.<\/p>\n
\u201cFunding for both existing and future programs \u2014 as well as the staff who support them \u2014 will be finalized through the Fiscal Year 2026\u201327 Spending Plan, which is currently being developed,\u201d she wrote. \u201cThe region is facing a $303 million funding shortfall, which will impact program capacity and require difficult but necessary decisions about how to best allocate limited resources.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kassenbrock acknowledged the anxiety SEIU workers feel.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe recognize that this transition represents a major change, and we understand it may bring uncertainty,\u201d she wrote. \u201c(Homeless Services and Housing) remains committed to transparency, collaboration, and open communication throughout this process. We will continue to work closely with all partners to ensure the department\u2019s launch strengthens our collective ability to address homelessness across Los Angeles County.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With the 2026 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count about three months away, unionized employees of the Los Angeles…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":30093,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[387,383,1493,48,52,51,47,50,22227,49,22229,732,22228],"class_list":{"0":"post-30092","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-economy","10":"tag-homelessness","11":"tag-la","12":"tag-la-headlines","13":"tag-la-news","14":"tag-los-angeles","15":"tag-los-angeles-headlines","16":"tag-los-angeles-homeless-services-authority","17":"tag-los-angeles-news","18":"tag-organizational-behavior","19":"tag-social-issues","20":"tag-social-psychology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30092"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30092\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}