Over 14,500 formerly homeless households in Los Angeles County are now at risk of losing their homes. Due to federal and state funding cuts, these individuals and families could be forced back into shelters or onto the streets within the next year. After years of effort to reduce homelessness, LA is facing the very real threat of reversing hard-won progress.

Many of the affected households are in permanent housing, supported by federal programs that are now being gutted or redirected. The expiration of pandemic-era housing vouchers and cuts to the Continuum of Care program are putting stable lives in jeopardy. The new federal policy shifts funding toward transitional housing that often requires participation in services like job training or mental health treatment. But permanent housing cannot simply be converted into transitional housing overnight. That means thousands may have to lose their housing first just to qualify again.

This is not just a policy issue. It is a looming human disaster.

Measure A, passed by LA County voters in 2023, increased the sales tax to fund homelessness solutions. While much of the money is directed toward affordable housing construction, the measure also allows a portion to be used for prevention efforts. Local officials, including Councilmember Nithya Raman, are now calling for creative action. That includes using Measure A funds to keep people housed.

We are calling on the Los Angeles County Affordable Housing Solutions Agency (LACAHSA) to immediately allocate emergency Measure A funds to prevent the displacement of these 14,500 households. Every person kept in housing is a life stabilized and a crisis averted.

Voters approved Measure A to address homelessness. Let’s make sure that money is used not just to build for the future, but to protect the progress we have already made. The time to act is now — before thousands are pushed back into homelessness.