HSH Staffing and Administration

The county homeless department's own staff and office costs.

What it is

The Los Angeles County Department of Homeless Services and Housing, called HSH, is the county office that spends most of the county's homelessness money. It does not run shelters itself. It signs contracts with nonprofits that run shelters, motel rooms, outreach teams and caseworkers, pays their bills and checks their work.

On a normal Tuesday, HSH staff approve invoices from shelter operators, process contract changes, track who is in which bed, send clinical staff to sites, prepare reports for the Board of Supervisors and keep the data systems running. Since July 1, 2026, HSH directly manages county contracts covering more than 6,500 interim housing beds, more than 2,800 rent subsidies and case management for more than 30,000 people in permanent supportive housing.

The line on our diagram is the money HSH spends on itself: pay for its own employees and the cost of running the department. In the budget year that runs July 2026 to June 2027, the line is $98,128,000. About $60.4 million pays program staff who run outreach, interim housing, housing, clinical, partnership and data work. About $37.8 million pays administration: budget, contracts, purchasing, hiring, IT, compliance, supplies and general office costs.

The county's own table estimates that this money supports about 264 program positions and 103 administration positions in FY 2026-27, or 367 in all. It also says about 40% of HSH administrative costs will be covered by funding other than Measure A.

We ask the county to move $3 million to $5 million a year of this line into interim beds for people sleeping outside in Santa Monica. That is 3.1% to 5.1% of the line. HSH would run with fewer positions or spend less on supplies, and that money would pay for beds.

How it started

Before 2026 the county's homelessness money was run by three different offices. The Chief Executive Office's Homeless Initiative, created to manage Measure H after voters approved that quarter-cent sales tax on March 7, 2017, set the plan. The Department of Health Services' Housing for Health division ran many housing contracts. LAHSA, the joint city and county agency, ran most shelter and outreach contracts. Voters approved Measure A, a half-cent sales tax with no end date, on November 5, 2024. It replaced Measure H on April 1, 2025. On April 1, 2025, the Board of Supervisors voted 4-0, with Supervisor Mitchell abstaining, to create a county department and pull county money out of LAHSA (secondhand, LAist). Sarah Mahin, formerly LAHSA's policy director, was appointed director on July 8, 2025 (secondhand). HSH launched January 1, 2026. Its first spending plan was adopted February 3, 2026 (fact). On July 1, 2026, HSH took over all county-funded contracts from the Homeless Initiative, Housing for Health and LAHSA (fact, HSH). LAHSA laid off 284 workers effective June 30, 2026, cutting its staff from about 600 to 320 (secondhand, SMDP). The same staffing and administration work cost $101,714,000 across the three old offices in FY 2025-26 and $98,128,000 in HSH's first full-year plan (fact).

What we take and when

In the FY 2027-28 Measure A plan, starting July 1, 2027, the Staffing and Administration line drops by $3.0 million to $5.0 million a year, from $98.1 million to about $93.1 million to $95.1 million if it stays at this year's level (inference). That money pays for part of 150 non-congregate interim beds for Santa Monica referrals, every year. It is the largest ongoing piece of the county stack.

The numbers today

HSH Staffing and Administration line$98,128,000FY 2026-27 fact
Programmatic staffing (outreach, interim housing, housing, clinical, partnerships, Medi-Cal operations, data)$60,375,000FY 2026-27 fact
Administration (budget, contracts, HR, IT, supplies, general costs)$37,753,000FY 2026-27 fact
Estimated positions: 264 program (sum of eight rows: 28, 28, 74, 40, 26, 27, 4, 37) plus 103 administration367 FTEFY 2026-27 fact
Average cost per estimated position, line divided by 367about $267,000FY 2026-27 inference
Same work across CEO Homeless Initiative, DHS Housing for Health and LAHSA the year before$101,714,000FY 2025-26 fact
Share of HSH administrative costs expected to be covered by other funding streamsabout 40%FY 2026-27 fact
Whole HSH spending plan$843,345,000FY 2026-27 fact
Contracts HSH manages since July 1, 20266,500+ interim beds, 2,800+ subsidies, 30,000+ people in case management2026 fact
Positions $3M to $5M equals on the FY 2026-27 countabout 11 to 19FY 2026-27 inference
Positions the $3M to $5M equals (about $267,000 each, from 367 FTE)11 to 19FY 2026-27 inference

What we give up

About 11 to 19 HSH positions on the county's FY 2026-27 estimates, or the same dollars of supplies and office costs. HSH took over hundreds of contracts from three offices on July 1, 2026. Fewer staff can mean slower contract approvals, later payments to shelter operators and thinner monitoring of whether providers deliver. Those are real costs in a department created to fix weak oversight.

Why this works

Staff and supplies do not put anyone indoors tonight. The same $3 million to $5 million pays for about 39 to 88 non-congregate bed-years at $57,000 to $76,400 each (inference). Beds are what move the number of people sleeping outside. Culver City paired its 2023 camping ban with a safe sleeping site and 73 Homekey units, and its unsheltered count went from 139 in 2023 to 115 in 2024, then from 51 in 2025 to 38 in 2026 (fact/secondhand, Wave and Culver City Crossroads). New York, which must offer shelter to everyone, had about 3.5% of its homeless population unsheltered in 2025, against 66% in Los Angeles County (fact, NYC DSS and LAHSA). Clearing camps without places moves people instead of housing them: in Venice, Hollywood and Skid Row, RAND found about three vehicles or rough sleepers added for every four tents removed (fact, RAND). Houston's unsheltered count rose 15.8% in 2025 after its shelter capacity fell (fact, Coalition for the Homeless). Santa Monica moved 72 people from the street into interim housing in FY 2025-26 (secondhand, SMDP).

The strongest case against

HSH is a new department that absorbed hundreds of contracts from three offices this summer while LAHSA laid off 284 people. Los Angeles has paid dearly for weak administration: the court-ordered Alvarez and Marsal review found the City of Los Angeles could not say what it was paying for, and county auditors found LAHSA contracts lacked standards and outcome measures. Cutting contract, fiscal and data staff now is how invoices go unpaid, beds close and money disappears. The line already fell $3.6 million this year. The people we would cut are the ones who would contract, pay for and monitor the 150 new beds. And if Santa Monica gets a carve-out from county staff money, every one of the 88 cities will ask for the same.

Our answer

The line fell $3.6 million in one year as three offices merged, which shows it can shrink without the system failing. Our take is 3.1% to 5.1% of it. The administration half pays for services, supplies and general costs as well as people, and about 40% of administrative costs are expected to be covered by other funding streams, so Measure A is not the only payer for these jobs. We have no evidence about which positions are least needed. That is HSH's call, and we ask HSH to make it. If the Board decides to keep every position, the same money has to come from another county line, and the year-two gap in the stack gets larger. We say so plainly in our comment letter.

Who decides

Who votes: HSH drafts the FY 2027-28 Measure A Spending Plan. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (Horvath, Solis, Mitchell, Hahn, Barger) adopts it.
Votes needed: 3 of 5 supervisors
When: Draft plan finalized October 2026. Public comment closes November 20, 2026. HSH presents the final plan to the Board January 12, 2027. The Board approves it January 26, 2027 (fact, HSH FY 2027-28 page, read 2026-10-11).
Note: The Staffing and Administration line sits inside Comprehensive Homelessness Services, which the Board allocates by vote. No ordinance floor on staffing was found (inference).

The agenda or process

Questions people ask

Isn't this just moving money around?

Yes, on purpose. The county already collects this money. We ask it to spend $3 million to $5 million a year on beds instead of on its own office, without any new tax.

Why cut HSH staff instead of something else in the county plan?

We looked. The Accountability, Data and Research share is fixed at 1.25% by the Measure A ordinance. The Measure H carryover is fully assigned in FY 2026-27. Innovation money has an ordinance floor that a bed contract would not meet. The staffing line is the largest discretionary line that does not already pay for a bed or a caseworker.

Won't fewer staff mean the county can't even run the new beds?

It could slow things down. Running 150 beds is one contract among hundreds HSH already manages. We ask HSH to choose which positions or supplies to cut so it protects contract and payment staff.

Will people actually use the beds?

The county reported about 5,000 people moved into interim housing from July 2025 to March 2026, so people do take interim beds when offered. The 150 beds we ask for are private rooms reserved for Santa Monica referrals. How many people in Santa Monica will accept is not established, and the petition asks the city to log every offer and acceptance.

How was the 11 to 19 positions number worked out?

HSH's FY 2026-27 budget is about $98.1 million for about 367 positions, or about $267,000 per position. $3 million to $5 million divided by $267,000 is 11 to 19 positions, which is 3% to 5% of HSH's headcount. An earlier version of this page said 8 to 14 because it used an older count of 275 positions.

Sources

HSH Draft FY 2026-27 Measure A Spending PlanStaffing and Administration $98,128,000; $60,375,000 program staff with row FTE estimates; $37,753,000 administration, 103 FTE; 172 FTE printed in the FY 2025-26 column
Board letter adopting the FY 2026-27 Spending Plan, 2026-02-03$843,345,000 total; $101,714,000 prior-year staffing across three offices; about 40% of administrative costs from other streams; Board created HSH 2025-04-01
HSH FY 2027-28 Measure A Spending Plan pageComment closes 2026-11-20; Board approval 2027-01-26
HSH: contract transition completeJuly 1, 2026 takeover from CEO-HI, DHS-HFH and LAHSA; 6,500+ beds, 2,800+ subsidies, 30,000+ ICMS
LAist on HSH and LAHSABoard vote 4-0 with Mitchell abstaining; Mahin appointment (secondhand)
SMDP: LAHSA to lay off 284 workersLAHSA layoffs effective 2026-06-30 (secondhand)
LA County Measure A pageMeasure A half-cent, effective April 1, 2025, replaced Measure H
Ballotpedia: Measure H (March 2017)Measure H approved March 7, 2017, quarter cent for ten years
Culver City touts progress in reducing homeless numbers (Wave)Culver City unsheltered 139 in 2023 to 115 in 2024
Homeless counts raw data (Culver City Crossroads, 2026-08-03)Culver City unsheltered 51 in 2025 to 38 in 2026
NYC DSS press release, 2025About 3.5% of New York's homeless population unsheltered
LAHSA finalized 2025 countLos Angeles County about 66% unsheltered
RAND RR-A4903-1, LA LEADSAbout three vehicles or rough sleepers added for every four tents removed
Coalition for the Homeless, 2025 PIT resultsHouston unsheltered up 15.8% in 2025 (1,107 to 1,282)
SMDP: Santa Monica realignment plan first year72 people street to interim housing in FY 2025-26
HSH statement on the 2026 homeless countAbout 5,000 people into interim housing, July 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026
Westside Current on Judge Carter and the Alvarez and Marsal reviewCity of Los Angeles could not track about $2.3 billion to $2.4 billion (secondhand)
California City News on the April 2026 LAHSA auditLAHSA provider contracts lacked standards and outcome measures (secondhand)

Words on this page

bed-year: One bed paid for 365 nights. Two beds for six months is also one bed-year.
Board of Supervisors: The five elected officials who govern Los Angeles County. Three votes pass a motion or a spending plan.
Comprehensive Homelessness Services: The 60% share of Measure A money that the county itself spends through HSH, after set-asides for cities and innovation.
FTE: Full-time equivalent. One full-time position, or two half-time positions.
FY: Fiscal year. County and city budget years run July 1 to June 30. FY 2027-28 runs July 1, 2027 to June 30, 2028.
HSH: Los Angeles County Department of Homeless Services and Housing. The county department that has run the county's homelessness contracts since July 1, 2026.
interim housing: A temporary place to sleep indoors (shelter, motel room, tiny home) while a person works toward a permanent home.
LAHSA: Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. A joint city and county agency that ran most county homeless contracts until June 30, 2026. It still runs some City of Los Angeles contracts.
Measure A: A half-cent county sales tax for homelessness and affordable housing, approved by voters November 5, 2024, collected from April 1, 2025, with no end date.
Measure H: The quarter-cent county sales tax for homeless services approved March 7, 2017 for ten years. Measure A repealed and replaced it on April 1, 2025.
non-congregate: Interim housing where each person or couple has a private room or unit, such as a motel room or tiny home, instead of a shared dormitory.
Spending Plan: The yearly document that lists every program HSH will fund with Measure A, Measure H carryover and state HHAP money, and how much each gets. The Board of Supervisors adopts it.