The council has approved terms for housing referrals and data access. Binding agreements must spell out how those responsibilities will change hands.
Los Angeles has backed a plan to give the city more say over who is referred to city-funded housing and better access to homelessness records. But the city and county still need binding agreements that spell out how the work will change hands.
Mayor Karen Bass announced the tentative agreement October 27, joined by Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson and Councilmembers Imelda Padilla and Tim McOsker. The City Council had approved the terms four days earlier.
For someone waiting for a home, the important questions are straightforward: Who handles the referral? Who can check its progress? And who is responsible if it stalls?
The announcement sets out a direction. It doesn’t establish that housing referrals or service contracts have already moved to a new agency.
What would change for housing referrals
The agreement focuses on two systems that help agencies connect people with housing.
The Homeless Management Information System, or HMIS, holds records about people receiving homelessness services. The Coordinated Entry System, or CES, helps match people with housing.
Under the proposed city-county terms, the city would gain access to records about people with documented connections to Los Angeles and take on matching for city-funded resources through a county contract. Regional rules and county monitoring would still apply.
The terms also call for recommendations on giving eligible people experiencing homelessness in the city priority for resources within city boundaries. That policy has not been put into effect by this announcement.
“People waiting for housing should not get lost between agencies,” Councilmember Ysabel Jurado said in the mayor’s release.
Her October 23 amendment directed staff to draft binding agreements and report to the council within 60 days of the regional membership vote on those systems. The deadline is for a report on the agreements. It isn’t a deadline to finish transferring services.
A new lead agency doesn’t replace every service provider
The deal is part of a broader change in regional oversight. The Los Angeles Continuum of Care’s selection process covers four jobs: preparing federal funding applications, managing homelessness data, coordinating housing referrals and running the point-in-time homelessness count.
In an earlier statement, Supervisor Lindsey Horvath said the county had committed to preserving Los Angeles’ existing access to the homelessness database and housing-referral system while working with cities to improve both.
Selecting an agency to lead those functions is different from changing the organization that runs a shelter or provides outreach.
LAHSA, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, addressed that distinction in its September statement. It said it would keep performing its regional duties until they transferred, and that its city agreements covered extensive programs and contracts through June 30, 2027.
That statement doesn’t guarantee that every provider contract will stay the same. It does explain why a change in regional leadership should not be read as an immediate end to LAHSA’s work.
There’s another distinction worth keeping clear. Bass’s announcement emphasizes gaining control over placements in city-funded housing. The county, in its earlier explanation of existing authority, said the city already decides placements into city-funded beds, while regional policies govern coordinated-entry matching.
The rules depend on the housing and its funding. Treating all beds and apartments as one placement system obscures who already has authority and what the agreement would add. Parriva’s earlier reporting on the governance dispute explains those overlapping responsibilities.
Reader guide: Getting help while the agencies work out the handoff
If you need housing assistance, LAHSA’s help page links to coordinated-entry access centers, outreach requests and housing-crisis assistance through 211 LA. Contacting a program does not guarantee an available bed or apartment.
If you’re already working with a provider, ask whether your contact, referral or next appointment will change, and request any new instructions in writing.
To follow the agreement, start with Council File 26-1485. Look for signed agreements, dates when duties transfer and notices explaining what providers and participants need to do.
Those are milestones residents can check. So are completed move-ins. As Parriva’s coverage of housing vacancies explains, matching someone with a unit and getting them into a home are separate steps.
The agreement gives the city a path to a larger role. For people waiting for housing, its value will depend on whether referrals lead to move-ins, support continues and someone takes responsibility when a case gets stuck.
