New data shows interim-to-permanent housing placements dropped 36% over past year.
The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) released the numbers for its Greater Los Angeles 2026 Homeless Count on Friday, July 24. After two years of encouraging numbers, which overall showed a decrease in homelessness, the number of unsheltered people in the city and county of Los Angeles has risen.
Normally, the results are released by June, but LAHSA said that the release was delayed by
There was a 1.2% increase to an estimated 73,040 people living without homes in Los Angeles County and a 3.4% increase to 45,194 unhoused people in the City of Los Angeles. LAHSA said in its statement, which accompanied the data, “Neither change is considered statistically significant.”
LAHSA has stated that the reason for the increase in the count is the pause on new enrollments and permanent placements in the Time Limited Subsidies (TLS) program. A city report from September 17, 2025 says, “Time Limited Subsidy Program – Significant Funding Reductions. Given reductions in federal, state, and County funding for the time-limited subsidy program, around 3,040 households who were housed through the program at the end of June 2025 will no longer be supported through the program at the end of June 2026. A City, LAHSA, and County working group is investigating other housing options for these impacted households so they do not fall back into homelessness.”
LAHSA stated, “Time Limited Subsidies (TLS). Funding reductions forced the pause on TLS enrollments; as a result, the number of people newly housed using TLS dropped from 10,308 in 2024 to 6,590 in 2025. This substantially contributed to the number of people the rehousing
system permanently housed in 2025, which dropped to 23,532. That is an approximately 5,100-person decrease from the record high of 28,625 people permanently housed in 2024.”
“The reduction in available rental assistance slowed down the rehousing system’s efficiency. Without access to TLS, in 2025:
- The movement of people from interim to permanent housing decreased by 36% (12,120 to 7,770)
- The movement from the street to interim housing decreased by 8% (16,724 to 15,380)
- Movement from interim housing back to the street increased by 24% (4,708 to 5,842).”
Los Angeles County’s move to divest itself from LAHSA and withdraw $300 million from the agency in 2025 to form the Department of Homeless Services and Housing. HUD cut off LAHSA’s funding on June 11, 2026.
LAHSA responded with a lawsuit filed against HUD on June 29, 2026.
