The Los Angeles Continuum of Care Board Wednesday advanced a proposal to designate the county as the region’s collaborative applicant amid a looming deadline to apply for millions of dollars in federal funding to address homelessness.
While the board approved the proposal, it must be finalized by the L.A. CoC’s general membership, which consists of people and organizations working to address homelessness in the county, with the exception of Glendale, Long Beach and Pasadena.
Under the CoC’s governance charter, the general membership designates the collaborative applicant, which applies for federal funding awarded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The L.A. CoC evaluates local projects, ranks applications based on HUD and community priorities, and submits a consolidated application for funding.
For decades, the lead agency and collaborative applicant has been the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority — until this summer when the Trump administration suspended the joint city-county agency from $239 million in federal funding.
“Our role as a board is to propose. We don’t approve. The CoC general membership is the one that actually votes to approve. Our role would be to propose that, given those conditions, if needed, if LAHSA remains suspended, this entity (LA County Homeless Services & Housing and LA County Development Authority) would serve in this capacity, and that we would bring that to the general membership,” L.A. CoC Board Chair Benjamin Kay said.
Kay added that a time will be scheduled for the CoC general membership to vote, but no specific date was announced. He emphasized the decision to replace the collaborative applicant for 2026 will be contingent on whether LAHSA remains suspended.
In June, HUD abruptly suspended federal funding to LAHSA until officials could show that adequate safeguards are in place to protect taxpayer dollars. HUD is investigating LAHSA’s use of federal funds amid allegations of fraud and widespread mismanagement. LAHSA has received more than $1 billion in federal funds since 2021, including $220 million in 2024.
But last month, a Los Angeles federal judge blocked the suspension decision, finding that the sudden loss of cash would jeopardize housing and services for more than 11,000 people across the region. HUD is now challenging that outcome in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
When HUD announced its suspension, the L.A. CoC asked HUD for permission to replace LAHSA as the collaborative applicant, but that request is only now being acknowledged.
Kay said HUD re-opened the L.A. CoC’s notice of funding availability until Sept. 30, and later extended it to Oct. 14.
“Given the emergency timeline, this was an entirely opt-in process. Entities indicated interest in serving as a collaborative applicant for 2026 on their RFQ (request for qualifications) intent to apply form,” Kay said. “We have a parallel RFQ open process that’s currently going on for 2027, that’s in response to the court order, and in that RFQ questionnaire or intent to apply, entities could express and check if they were interested in serving also for 2026.”
He did not name any of the interested parties as they are in the middle of the RFQ process.
On Sept. 15, LAHSA announced it would not continue as the region’s lead agency on homelessness services amid an ongoing legal battle with HUD. As the lead agency, LAHSA served as the collaborative applicant, oversaw the Homeless Management Information System, conducted the annual point-in-time homeless count, and handled the coordinated entry system.
LAHSA’s decision came amid mounting criticism from the Trump administration and city and county officials, who have accused the agency of mismanaging taxpayer dollars and failing to provide transparency, among other shortcomings.
The agency previously stated its action will not impact its work leading the CoC and supporting the city through the end of fiscal year 2026-27.
“While we remain confident in our team’s unmatched expertise and technical readiness to continue managing these systems, our priority is the people our missions calls to us to serve and the stability of the regional response to homelessness — not maintaining the agency’s position,” LAHSA said in a statement.
Both the city and county of Los Angeles have made it known they are interested in taking over. The city is seeking two of those roles while the county is seeking all four.
Kay said that entities that did not pass a threshold review did not move forward, which consisted of requirements such as having an operating budget of $5 million a year, and expressing interest in serving as collaborative applicant for 2026. There were six applicants that had checked that box, but only two of them advanced to discussions with board leadership about taking on the role midstream for 2026.
He also noted the 2026 request for qualifications process was entirely separate from the 2027 process, and did not impact one another.
Ultimately, one entity — L.A. County — moved through the entire process and advanced as the potential collaborative applicant for 2026, filling the role for LAHSA in an emergency capacity. The process to select a new collaborative applicant and fill three other roles held by LAHSA for 2027 is ongoing.
The L.A. CoC Board’s action comes one day after a panel of 9th Circuit judges conducted a hearing in San Francisco with the aim of determining an appeal of a preliminary injunction issued in August by U.S. District Judge David O. Carter, who halted the LAHSA suspension.
The hearing focused mainly on deadlines for the process for local service providers to apply for federal funding, according to Courthouse News Service. The panel of judges questioned whether HUD gave the L.A. CoC enough time and opportunity to find a replacement collaborative applicant.
HUD previously encouraged homeless service providers to apply for federal funding directly with them, but attorneys for LAHSA argued it would be extremely impractical as nonprofits and other organizations for years have received their funding through the regional agency.
Meanwhile, members of the Los Angeles City Council talked about the importance of taking on some of the responsibilities as lead agency of the L.A. CoC.
The City Council directed high-level staff Tuesday to ensure they apply for the L.A. CoC’s 2027 request for qualifications, citing how the county has taken its $300 million in funding and left the city holding what remains of LAHSA.
“…The city continues to see disproportionate returns on its sales tax contributions to Measure A funding. It’s like we give $1, but we only get 20 cents back,” said Councilwoman Ysabel Jurado, who chairs the council’s Homelessness and Health Committee. “Submitting our own application to the CoC means ensuring that we have more control and accountability of our investment into supportive housing, our data and matching systems and our response as a whole.”
Council members Bob Blumenfield and Monica Rodriguez criticized L.A. County Department of Mental Health for not providing enough beds and other services to assist homelessness people in the city. Councilwoman Eunisses Hernandez worried about how the city could take on such a task while struggling with its budget and ensuring basic services.
“I’m ready for something different and a change. We authorize our application, but let’s be realistic and ultimately let’s try to figure something out, either collaboratively through a process or confrontationally through a lawsuit,” Blumenfield said. “But something has to change. Whether we like it or not, in terms of decisions that being made for us.”
Meg Barclay, who represents the city on the L.A. CoC, said she was confident in putting together a very strong application to be able to administer these services effectively on behalf of the region. She emphasized the city, as a municipality, is uniquely positioned to understand the needs of the other 85 municipalities in the continuum.