Embattled L.A. homeless services agency to lay off 284 workers

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The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority said Monday that it plans to lay off 284 employees, primarily citing a decision by the county to pull funds and set up its own homeless services department.LAHSA, a joint city-county agency established in 1993, receives money from the city of L.A., the county, the state and the federal government to administer homeless services, including shelters and outreach, across the county.But last year, following years of criticism that LAHSA lacked proper oversight and financial control, the county Board of Supervisors voted to pull funds and programs from the authority and move them into an internal department.That transition takes effect July 1, the start of the coming fiscal year and the day LAHSA said the 284 layoffs will take effect.In an open letter Monday, LAHSA employees urged local officials to save jobs and warned that the coming layoffs, coupled with other cuts to homeless services, “will mean more encampments, more preventable deaths in the streets, and more individuals and families with no other option but to live in unsafe and unacceptable conditions.”Workers to be laid off as of now include 216 represented by SEIU Local 721 and 68 non-union staff.How many will ultimately become unemployed is unclear.Because LAHSA is a joint city-county agency, it currently has employees funded by the city and those funded by the county.Jesus Ruiz, a spokesman for the county Chief Executive Office, said the county remains committed to finding jobs for departing, county-funded LAHSA workers and is currently working with LAHSA to identify how many of the 284 employees fit that definition.As of now, however, the soon-to-be laid off LAHSA employees represented by SEIU Local 721 “are not currently scheduled to transition into county employment,” Mike Long, a spokesman for the local, said in an email.The city of Los Angeles is also debating movin...