Introduction to Homeless Shelters
In early August, data from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority showed only two out of 88 beds at an East Hollywood homeless shelter were occupied, a shockingly low rate in a county where some 47,000 sleep on the streets. There’s just one big problem, according to the nonprofit PATH, which operates the shelter. The data were dead wrong. Path’s internal data showed 84 beds were filled.
The Issue with Data Accuracy
For years, LAHSA has worked on a system to provide “real-time” information on availability at interim housing sites, promising it would wipe away an arcane “matching” process and fill more beds and fill them quicker. But since the system rolled out, nonprofits that operate interim housing for LAHSA said it can be difficult to work with and the data it produces are frequently inaccurate, providing the public with a skewed view of reality and potentially making it harder — not easier — to get people off the streets.
The Importance of Accurate Data
“You have to know which interim housing sites can take” people, PATH Chief Executive Jennifer Hark Dietz said. “If it’s not accurate, you are actually sending people to a place that doesn’t have availability for them.” LAHSA, a joint city-county agency established in 1993, has long faced criticism for not adequately tracking its programs and funds, potentially leaving them open to waste and fraud.
The Old System vs. The New System
According to LAHSA, the process of placing people into shelter beds in L.A. County was cumbersome and time consuming and relied on spreadsheets, phone calls and daily emails to track inventory and get people shelter. While LAHSA directly placed people into many beds, nonprofits handled the process at many other shelters, each doing it somewhat differently. The lack of coordination, LAHSA said, made it difficult to move fast and ensure the people with the most needs occupied beds.
The New System’s Goals
To fix such issues, LAHSA sought to build an inventory tracking module and take over shelter placement for the beds it didn’t control, looking not only to ensure beds are filled, but also to prioritize people most in need. In a December news release, then-LAHSA CEO Va Lecia Adams Kellum called the effort “a major step forward” and part of a “new LAHSA” that was “a change agent.” The agency in its release said it had started working on the effort in 2023 and promised that by July the new system would “significantly reduce the time it takes to match people to open beds.”
Challenges with the New System
But several nonprofits said that, since July, it is taking longer to fill beds; they pointed to data inaccuracies as one possible reason. “There is lots of email threads [with LAHSA] around what is actually available,” Hark Dietz said. Across all providers, the August data included 46 sites that had 0% occupancy — and 1,079 available beds — and nonprofits said at least some of those were for shelters that no longer existed.
Examples of Inaccurate Data
There were other issues as well. LAHSA data showed that a Union Station Homeless Services shelter in El Monte was 85% occupied and had six available beds, but nonprofit executives said only one spot was available. The difference was mostly because the site had recently switched from serving only youth to serving adults as well, but that change hadn’t been marked in LAHSA’s new occupancy system, Union Station executives Sarah Hoppmeyer and Jessica Salazar said.
Efforts to Improve the System
LAHSA did not respond to questions about occupancy data at specific sites, but said it has rolled out the new system in phases. It started working with providers to enter data in January. On July 1, the agency took over the process of assigning homeless people to roughly 5,000 of those beds, adding to 5,000 it already had controlled. LAHSA said it uses the new occupancy data to find underperforming shelters and has used the data to match people to housing since July 1.
Addressing Concerns
When that data is inaccurate, LAHSA deputy chief external relations officer Paul Rubenstein said, the agency relies on “manual provider reports” of inventory to fill beds. In mid-August, LAHSA also launched a computerized tool that pulls data from its inventory tracking system to automatically match people to beds. But LAHSA interim CEO Gita O’Neill said the “software behaved in unexpected ways” and that LAHSA workers must follow up on the tool’s matches by calling shelter operators to make sure beds are available — the sort of time-consuming step the system was meant to eliminate.
Conclusion
The issue of inaccurate data in homeless shelters is a significant concern, as it can lead to a skewed view of reality and potentially make it harder to get people off the streets. LAHSA’s efforts to improve the system are ongoing, but it is crucial that the agency addresses the concerns of nonprofits and ensures that the data is accurate. The public’s perception of the effectiveness of homeless services is heavily influenced by the data, and inaccurate data can lead to a negative perception of the services.
FAQs
Q: What is the current state of homeless shelters in Los Angeles?
A: The current state of homeless shelters in Los Angeles is that there are many shelters with available beds, but the data on availability is often inaccurate.
Q: Why is it important to have accurate data on homeless shelter availability?
A: Accurate data is crucial to ensure that people in need are directed to shelters with available beds, and to prevent the public from having a skewed view of the effectiveness of homeless services.
Q: What is LAHSA doing to address the issue of inaccurate data?
A: LAHSA is working to improve the system, including launching a computerized tool to automatically match people to beds, and relying on manual provider reports of inventory to fill beds when the data is inaccurate.
Q: What can be done to improve the system further?
A: Nonprofits and LAHSA can work together to ensure that the data is accurate, and that the system is user-friendly and efficient. Additionally, the public can support efforts to improve the system by advocating for accurate data and effective homeless services.
