A coalition of non-profit organizations that operate dozens of interim and emergency shelters for people experiencing homelessness have told the city of Los Angeles that 14 shelter locations could be forced to close without an immediate funding increase to cover the full cost of operations.
"We're simply telling them that we can't continue providing shelter at such low rates and keep the facilities open. The nonprofit organizations are losing more money than they can sustain," said Jerry Jones, the executive director of the Greater LA Coalition on Homelessness, which represents more than 50 providers.
Jones said the interim shelters have been underfunded for years, and the organizations that run them often collect money to pay the full costs by soliciting private donations or receiving funds from other agencies.
"The system works because the nonprofit service providers make it work, but they're losing money with every shelter bed or with every outreach worker," Jones said.
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The city council's homelessness committee was expected to consider such an increase Wednesday, following the coalition's pleas last week in private and public, first reported by the LA Times, that more than 1,200 shelter beds across the city would be at risk of closing in the coming months without more money.
"Unprecedented coordination with our service providers and partners led to the first drop in homelessness in many years in Los Angeles and a double-digit decline in street homelessness," emailed Mayor Karen Bass' office in response to questions about the need for additional funding.
"We will continue innovative efforts to drive down costs as we work to urgently house more people and keep people housed permanently," the statement said.
The city currently pays around $60 per night or more, depending on the type of shelter and other criteria, according to a memo from the Chief Administrative Officer, and the shelter providers say they need nearly $90 per night in order to be sustainable.
The council will consider raising the rates to $69 or more in January with another increase promised later in the year.
"There is money for homelessness, and we set aside a huge chunk of money for Inside Safe and for the homelessness fund," City Councilman Bob Blumenfield told NBCLA Tuesday but warned increasing rates for the interim shelter providers could draw down funding elsewhere.
"It has to come out of funds that we have set aside for homelessness, but that involves making choices -- choices about where the money goes, whether it can go to this or that," he said.
Blumenfield, who sits on the council's homelessness committee, said a funding decision was expected this week, as the council has to take action on an increase before the end of November in order to provide the larger fees to the shelter organizations in January.
Last week LA City Controller Kenneth Mejia announced his office had identified more than $500 million in money allocated to homelessness issues that hadn't been spent by the end of the 2023-2024 fiscal year.
Other city officials said nearly all of that money was tied to specific homelessness programs, adding it would be used as intended and blamed a lack of staffing across agencies for the city's inability to spend it quickly enough.
