The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority Commission voted unanimously Monday to terminate all interim housing contracts for two facilities operated by the service provider Home At Last Community Development Corp.
The next day LAHSA provided HAL with a 30-day notice of termination effective July 22.
HAL notified LAHSA on May 21 “of its abrupt decision” to stop operations at two interim housing sites within four weeks, according to a statement Tuesday from the joint city-county agency. Under the terms of LAHSA’s agreements, a contractor’s failure to perform services is a default and grounds for immediate termination. The contact cancellation also makes HAL ineligible to receive LAHSA funding for five years.
While LAHSA rejected HAL’s notification to cease operations and maintained that the nonprofit’s action was executed without proper authorization, the agency mobilized its Interim Housing Matching Team to quickly move affected participants into alternative interim housing.
Officials said LAHSA offered all affected people a new interim housing placement or a different housing option such as family reunification “within a matter of weeks,” and most of the 181 people living in Home At Last facilities received another place to stay.
“Our absolute priority throughout this transition was the safety, stability, and well-being of the unhoused residents living at these sites,” Gita O’Neill, interim CEO of LAHSA, said in a statement. “I thank and am extremely proud of our matching team for moving with urgency to ensure everyone could stay inside and continue on their path to permanent housing.”
The notice HAL sent LAHSA announcing an end to operations cited late reimbursements as the reason for the cessation, LAHSA officials said. However, the agency’s review of HAL’s financial condition showed the nonprofit received enough advance funding “for the short period required for the reimbursement process.” According to LAHSA:
- “Substantial advances provided: LAHSA issued nearly $2.8 million in contract advances to Home at Last for the current fiscal year alone.
- “Outstanding balances: According to fiscal tracking as of May 15, Home at Last still held over $600,000 in outstanding contract advances for the current fiscal year. Of that amount, $533,082 is tied directly to the contracts supporting the two sites HAL refused to support.
- “Aged invoices: Conversely, of Home at Last’s outstanding accounts payable as of May 15, only $795,695 was aged beyond 31 days.
LAHSA’s financial review shows that Home At Last “received ample funding advances to continue operations until pending invoices were fully reimbursed,” according to the agency.
LAHSA is withholding payment from HAL until the provider fulfills the Authority’s request for documentation of the nonprofit’s expenditures.
“LAHSA is committed to supporting providers offering safe places for people experiencing homelessness to sleep while helping them on their permanent housing journey and expects the provider to honor the commitment it made to Los Angeles’s unhoused community,” O’Neill said. “We provided the necessary funds to support HAL’s efforts to keep these participants safely inside. At the same time, we took efforts to ensure public funds were being spent appropriately. HAL chose not to live up to those expectations.”
LAHSA officials also noted the agency’s receipt of letter from the IRS stating federal tax regulators had seized cash from an address linked to Michael Young, Home at Last’s founder.
“The letter informed LAHSA that it might be entitled to claim the cash, which was subject to criminal forfeiture. In light of this development,” according to the agency’s statement. “LAHSA will continue to meticulously review HAL’s supporting documentation of invoices, as well as its contract compliance based on fiscal and programmatic performance data.”
According to the HAL’s 2024 tax filings, Young worked 40 hours a week for a salary of over $150,000.
Young did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
HAL’s website says the nonprofit launched in 2002, “providing counseling services to youth between the ages of 10-21 years of age living in group homes or identified as ‘at-risk youth’ in their school settings. … In 2010, Home At Last was granted $1.1 million dollars to operate Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-housing services to Transitional Aged Youth between the ages of 18-25 years old.”
HAL’s website names a facility called the Home At Last Community Development Center located at 3425 W. Manchester Blvd. in Inglewood.
Officials said that in an attempt to protect public funds, LAHSA will exercise its contractual right to question and reject invoices received after contracts are terminated “until a final determination of system compliance and any potential damages is reached.”
Since last year, federal authorities have brought several fraud cases involving the misuse of money intended to address homelessness. One such case involves Alexander Soofer, the head of the nonprofit Abundant Blessings, who has been charged with allegedly using public money to buy real estate, lavish vacations and a $125,000 Range Rover.
