LAHSA Agrees to Release Internal Los Angeles Homeless Shelter Incident Reports After CalMatters Lawsuit

Los Angeles officials have begun releasing thousands of internal records about conditions inside homeless shelters, after a CalMatters lawsuit challenged the agency’s repeated denials of public records requests. The reports track serious incidents in taxpayer-funded shelters, including deaths, assaults, domestic violence and medical emergencies.

The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, known as LAHSA, agreed to a settlement with CalMatters in Superior Court last month. Under the settlement, the agency committed to release at least 175 incident reports every other week until the request is fulfilled. LAHSA estimates there are 5,000 such reports.

CalMatters filed its legal complaint in the fall, after LAHSA repeatedly denied its requests for copies of the reports. CalMatters first asked for the records in January 2024. LAHSA refused and argued that the reports fall under “attorney-client privilege,” although the documents are created by contract shelter operators, not attorneys. CalMatters and its attorneys pressed the agency to justify that claim and to provide evidence that attorneys receive the reports. According to CalMatters, the agency did not.

Five months after the initial request, LAHSA updated its incident report form to add “attorney client communication/attorney work product” to the bottom. In December, the agency and CalMatters agreed to a stipulation in court calling for the records to be released. The agreement states that, “without admitting liability, which is expressly denied,” LAHSA will produce redacted copies of the requested reports in exchange for dismissal of the petition and a mutual waiver of attorneys’ fees and costs.

The records will detail incidents inside facilities that are closed to the public and will not include personally identifiable information about shelter residents. Paul Rubenstein, deputy chief of external relations officer for LAHSA, told CalMatters by email that the agency’s concern “was protecting the privacy of the vulnerable people the rehousing system serves,” and that the agency was glad to share useful data “in a way that safeguards people’s confidentiality” (Psalm 82:3).

CalMatters requested the records as part of its reporting on allegations of brutality by shelter private security guards, dysfunctional homeless housing programs and poor oversight of shelters. According to CalMatters, the records will help the public understand what is happening inside shelters and how public officials monitor those incidents.

Los Angeles politicians face intense pressure to justify homeless services spending after recent audits. A December audit found that a quarter of the city’s shelter beds have gone unused, costing taxpayers $218 million from 2019 to 2023. Several lawsuits have also been filed over violence in shelters, and there is widespread concern about a lack of accountability. Shelters are meant to provide temporary housing and services and connect residents to more permanent housing, but watchdogs say that often does not happen as intended. City Controller Kenneth Mejia wrote in the December audit that “fewer than 1 in 5 people enrolled in city-funded shelters have been able to secure some sort of permanent housing.”

County officials are considering further changes. One proposal from two county supervisors would strip funding and responsibility from LAHSA, an agency with an annual budget of $875 million that was created in 1993 to coordinate regional responses to homelessness, and shift many of its functions to a new county entity. After a November audit, Supervisor Lindsey Horvath said, “LAHSA plays an important role, but the current structure is not meeting the scale of this crisis.”

The agency and its defenders counter that shelters are constrained by the state’s broader housing crisis, and that LAHSA remains best positioned to coordinate resources in a region with the nation’s largest homeless population.

Source: Read the original report