Receivership of L.A. Homeless Services Pitched to Federal Judge

The city of Los Angeles is not properly tracking the number of shelter beds available to homeless residents—as is demanded by a 2022 settlement, a former city employee testified Tuesday, kicking off a weeks-long evidentiary hearing that could travel to the center of the city’s homelessness crisis, Skid Row.

Judge David Carter will decide whether the city breached its settlement agreement to address encampments by 2027 and provide shelter beds for 60% of its homeless residents, which is equivalent to around 12,000 beds. He said the evidentiary hearing could last as long as three weeks.

Lawyers for the city argued in opening statements that a motion demanding compliance with the agreement is premature and receivership is too drastic a step. Lawyers for the organization that sued over the city’s homeless policy said L.A. hasn’t met its goals for bed creation so far and is unable to comply with the settlement.

Part of it could play out in the heart of L.A.'s homelessness crisis in Skid Row. Carter said he might ask to preside over a hearing there, after he heard testimony Tuesday on the impact of city policy from a Skid Row resident.

“People are languishing, dying on the streets of Skid Row,” said Don Garza, a former US Marine. Garza was asked about the audit’s finding that significant funding couldn’t be traced to results.

“They didn’t have to die,” Garza said. “There was enough money for housing. There was enough money for shelters.”

Carter disclosed he knows Garza from his work in advocacy for homeless veterans, and thanked him for it.

Several high-profile lawsuits over homelessness have landed in Carter’s courtroom. He’s known for taking parties and media on walking tours of sites at the center of his cases. Carter thanked attorneys with Gibson Dunn, who represent the city, after they said they visited the area Monday night while preparing for the hearing.

“I’ve dealt with so many counsel who literally haven’t bothered to go take a look,” Carter said.

Lawyers for the city peppered Carter with objections Tuesday, seeking to narrow the evidence and arguing the L.A. Alliance for Human Rights was improperly using witnesses to provide expert testimony.

A court-ordered audit found in March the city failed to provide financial records to validate the total number of beds it said it created.

The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority uses excel spreadsheets that are prone to human error to analyze homelessness data, including on shelter options and the city’s homeless population, testified Emily Vaughn Henry, a former employee of the LA Homeless Services Authority. Agency workers lack necessary training to verify bed counts, she said.

“We were told by the new leadership that we need to do whatever we can to make the mayor look good,” Henry said.

Henry testified that top LAHSA official Va Lecia Adams Kellum asked her to delete emails from LA Mayor Karen Bass’s personal email address, she said. Henry objected, saying she couldn’t obstruct the data.

After raising concerns, Henry said she said she was fired from her role as Chief Information Officer at LAHSA.

The case is LA Alliance for Human Rights v. City of Los Angeles, C.D. Cal., No. 2:20-cv-02291, 5/27/25.