\n transcript of the proceedings<\/a>
\n .<\/p>\n
Carter described the city\u2019s actions as potentially \u201ccontemptuous.\u201d<\/p>\n
LAist reached out to Mariani and the City Attorney\u2019s Office, but has not yet received a response.<\/p>\n
Weeks before the special master\u2019s visit to the site, LAHSA Commissioner Justin Szlasa stopped by the South L.A. campground. The 10-member LAHSA Commission makes policy and funding decisions for the regional homelessness agency.<\/p>\n
Szlasa said later that he noticed during his visit that half of the campground was closed down. He said budget documents sent to him for approval described the site as a \u201clow-cost, high-impact\u201d program serving 88 people.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe at LAHSA must ensure that we receive what we are contracting for,\u201d Szlasa wrote in a social media He filed a public records request with LAHSA to obtain the contracts and payment details for the Urban Alchemy campground.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to understand, first and foremost, why this was misrepresented to the Commission,\u201d Szlasa said. \u201cThen I want to understand if Urban Alchemy was actually in compliance with the contracts.\u201d <\/p>\n He continued: \u201cI am concerned this Safe Sleep program \u2014 which I happened to arbitrarily spot-check \u2014 is not an outlier.\u201d<\/p>\n A drone’s view of the South LA site prior to one section closing down in 2024. <\/p>\n (<\/p>\n Jay L. Clendenin<\/p>\n \/<\/p>\n Los Angeles Times via Getty Images<\/p>\n )<\/p>\n LAHSA response<\/p>\n LAist reached out to LAHSA for more information about its contract with Urban Alchemy and about the number of people who lived at the Lincoln Safe Sleep Village during the last fiscal year.<\/p>\n LAHSA authorities said the site had a 41% average \u201cutilization rate\u201d during the budget year that ended in June, based on capacity information Urban Alchemy provided in a database called the Homeless Management Information System. <\/p>\n But the agency\u2019s calculations appear to have been based on outdated capacity data, not on how many spaces were actually available for use. <\/p>\n LAHSA said it was Urban Alchemy\u2019s responsibility to update the information in the database. <\/p>\n “All providers are required to record their data in [the database]; if the data is inaccurate, it would be based on that data entry,\u201d a LAHSA spokesperson said.<\/p>\n LAHSA did not respond to LAist\u2019s questions about when it learned capacity at the site had been reduced. An agency spokesperson said LAHSA has been \u201cengaged with\u201d Urban Alchemy about the site since April 2024, and that the program has been \u201cunder review.\u201d<\/p>\n In April, when the city of L.A. submitted its quarterly But approximately half of those beds had been unavailable for about a year, according to Urban Alchemy. <\/p>\n The city adjusted the count to 46 spots in its July 2025 update.<\/p>\n LAHSA\u2019s troubles\u00a0<\/p>\n LAHSA manages more than $742 million in contracts with 121 service providers. <\/p>\n Over the past year, The South L.A. campground is the only \u201csafe sleep\u201d site of its kind currently in LAHSA\u2019s portfolio, the agency told LAist. LAHSA also administers funding for about a dozen \u201csafe parking\u201d sites, where unhoused people can legally park and live out of vehicles they own. <\/p>\n LAHSA has paid Urban Alchemy more than $12 million to operate the Lincoln Safe Sleep Village since 2021, according to the agency\u2019s records. <\/p>\n The nonprofit told LAist has operated under the terms of its contract, and that it followed direction from the city to close down part of the site, reducing its capacity.<\/p>\n The city of L.A. has not responded to questions from LAist about that claim, including whether it gave the nonprofit that direction.<\/p>\n “We’re focused on providing the highest-level of service for our guests,\u201d Urban Alchemy spokesperson Jess Montejano told LAist. \u201cGiven the resources provided, we’re helping as many guests as we can have a safe place to sleep and get better connected to services and support.”<\/p>\n Urban Alchemy did not clarify why it was told to close part of the campground, but property records show a South L.A. nonprofit called the Coalition for Responsible Community Development purchased the property in 2020. <\/p>\n It has \u201cWhen the site first opened, beds were consistently full,\u201d Angelina Valencia-Dumarot, Price\u2019s communications director, told LAist Thursday. \u201cThat\u2019s why the current occupancy rate is especially concerning.\u201d<\/p>\n She said council offices are too often left out of updates by LAHSA. <\/p>\n \u201cWe can\u2019t address problems quickly if we\u2019re finding out only after numbers fall or from the press,\u201d Valencia-Dumarot said.<\/p>\n A sign at the South LA campground <\/p>\n (<\/p>\n Jay L. Clendenin<\/p>\n \/<\/p>\n Los Angeles Times via Getty Images<\/p>\n )<\/p>\n What should this cost?\u00a0<\/p>\n At full capacity, the monthly operating cost for the South L.A. campground would have been about $2,180 per participant. <\/p>\n Shayla Myers, a senior attorney with the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, said these campground sites are expensive to operate. <\/p>\n \u201cThey are the kinds of programs that shock the conscience of taxpayers,\u201d Myers said, adding that they cost much more than paying rent, while keeping people unsheltered. <\/p>\n LAHSA staff say per-person costs for homeless programs differ based on location, hours and staffing needs.<\/p>\n Examples include:<\/p>\n The region\u2019s safe parking sites, which receive about $1,200 per participant per month to provide a set of similar resources to vehicle dwellers, according to LAHSA contract documents.\u00a0LAHSA programs that provide temporary rental assistance to families and cost about $2,000 per household per month, officials said.\u00a0The city of L.A.\u2019s Inside Safe program, which moves people from encampments to hotel rooms. It costs about $6,900 per person served each month, according to a recent report by the city\u2019s chief administrative officer.<\/p>\n Urban Alchemy has operated temporary campgrounds for unhoused people in the city and county of L.A. since 2021, including one in In 2021, L.A.\u2019s city administrative officer Culver City
\n post<\/a>
\n describing his findings.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\n bed report<\/a>
\n to Carter, it described the South L.A. campground program as having 88 beds. <\/p>\n
\n audits<\/a>
\n and
\n reports<\/a>
\n found the agency had mismanaged hundreds of millions in contracts for homeless services, including a failure to collect accurate data on nonprofit vendors or properly track how they spent taxpayer dollars. <\/p>\n
\n plans<\/a>
\n to convert the property into a 60-unit affordable housing complex. Until that project is ready to start construction, the site is expected to keep operating as a safe sleeping location, according to the office of L.A. City Councilmember Curren Price, who represents the area. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\n Virgil Village<\/a>
\n that has since closed and another in
\n Culver City<\/a>
\n that is still operating. <\/p>\n
\n reported<\/a>
\n the Virgil Village campground cost more than $2,600 per participant per month. <\/p>\n
\n opened its campground<\/a>
\n in 2023, so that the city could legally enforce a ban on camping in public approved that February. The city spent nearly $4.6 million on the campground in 2025, according to
\n budget documents<\/a>
\n .<\/p>\n