We could've told you this without the audits
Image by Wikimedia Commons
An independent auditing agency found it impossible to track the $2.3 billion the County and City of Los Angeles spent (mostly via unaccountable nonprofits) on homeless services last year, according to a report filed with a federal district court on March 6. OpenTheBooks.com explains on RealClearInvestigations.
Key facts: Auditors from Alvarez & Marsal Public Sector Services wrote that the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority’s spending records are littered with “information gaps,” a “lack of accurate and complete data” and “insufficient financial accountability.”
The auditors were unable to figure out what the $2.3 billion had been spent on or if it had any positive impact.
The Homeless Services Authority signs contracts with outside vendors to provide services, but the agency was unable to identify how many contracts had been signed or which were still in effect. The department told auditors that 139 contracts had been signed, but the auditors were eventually able to find 215. The auditing company “never received a definitive list of the relevant service provider contracts.”
For contracts that were tracked, there was little-to-no effort to “verify the quality, legitimacy, or reasonableness of expenses” before paying city money, auditors wrote.
The poor accounting left auditors unable to evaluate the success of Los Angeles’ homelessness services. In theory, the expenditure of taxpayer money should have led to more support for the homeless population, but auditors said it was impossible for them to verify whether that was the case.
Supporting quote: “The broken system the audit identifies is what I've been fighting against since I took office,” Mayor Karen Bass’ office told CBS News in a statement. “This audit validates our work to change what's festered for decades. We still have work to do, but changes we've made helped turn around years of increases in homelessness to a decrease by 10% – the first one in years."
Critical quote: "It's heartbreaking," said Elizabeth Mitchell, an attorney for LA Alliance for Human Rights, which advocated for the audit to be conducted. "It's atrocious. It's immoral. It's unjustified. But, what it is not, is surprising."
Read the whole thing here.
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