What We Kept: Building on What Survived
Breaking down silos. Building bridges. Illustration by delux multimedia
Letters to the Housed by Paul Asplund
Part 6 of 6 from the series on LA County's Department of Homeless Services and Housing
Last week I wrote about what we lost—the prototypes that didn't survive the budget process, the programs zeroed out when funding collapsed. It was important to document those losses, to honor the work that went into designing them.
But that's not the whole story.
The FY 2026-27 budget, approved February 3rd, preserves more than it cuts. And some of what we designed in that room actually made it through. This week, I want to acknowledge what survived, what it means, and why it gives me reason to continue.
The Foundation Held
Let's start with the big picture. Despite a $200 million shortfall, the core housing infrastructure remains largely intact:
Interim Housing: 6,185 beds funded to bring people off the streets. The number is slightly down from last year, but the beds remain. Families, youth, and survivors of domestic violence kept all their dedicated interim housing.
Permanent Supportive Housing: 24,250 people will receive wraparound case management services through ICMS to help them stay housed. This is the program that keeps people from cycling back to the streets.
Time-Limited Subsidies: 3,671 slots providing short-to-medium term rental assistance for people transitioning out of homelessness.
Rental Subsidies: 3,675 locally-funded subsidies supporting people in permanent housing who don't have access to federal vouchers.
Outreach: 65 teams deploying countywide, plus 28 Multi-Disciplinary Teams serving people with complex medical and behavioral health needs. Reduced from before, but still present.
These aren't transformational victories—they're the county choosing to maintain what exists rather than let it collapse. But in a year when federal policy abandoned Housing First and state funding disappeared, maintaining the foundation matters.
What Made It From the Co-Design
Four elements from our September sessions found their way into the approved spending plan:
Community Liaisons Program ($300,000)
This was a big win for our co-design work. The budget describes it as "community liaisons made up of providers and people with lived experience focused on subpopulations experiencing homelessness with leadership from all regions across the County."
It's not the equal voting power we proposed. But it's funded. People with lived experience will be compensated for their participation. HSH will contract with intermediaries to support their capacity to engage. The door is open.
Client Portal ($143,000)
Like our Universal Data System prototype—the idea that people should be able to access their own information. The budget funds "development and implementation of a new online portal for homeless services providers and clients to access their HMIS data."
It's modest. But it's the beginning of data ownership, of treating people as partners in their journey rather than passive recipients.
Faith-Based Regional Coordinators ($600,000)
I was personally very happy to see this program continue. I submitted testimony on behalf of them stating this is the most direct path the County has to engaging faith communities around the county. There are approximately 2,200 Christian churches, 200 Jewish congregations, 145 Buddhist temples, 100 mosques, 14 Sikh gurdwaras, and dozens of smaller faith communities operating in LA County. These organizations serve over 4 million Angelenos, enough to end homelessness on their own if they worked together. The eight coordinators are funded to "provide leadership and drive partnerships between faith-based organizations and the homeless services system."
This reflects our Collaborative Partnerships prototype—breaking down silos, building bridges between grassroots organizations and official systems.
Department Structure Responsive to Co-Design
The budget states that "HSH will have staff organized by region, population, and mainstream system, which is responsive to co-designs from stakeholder sessions."
Words in a budget document aren't the same as implementation. But the acknowledgment matters. The co-design process shaped how they're thinking about organizing the department.
New Investments Worth Noting
Youth Homelessness Prevention Program ($3.3 million)
This is new—500 youth served through "direct housing assistance for General Relief recipients who are system-impacted youth at higher risk of long-term homelessness." It targets young people before chronic homelessness takes hold.
Homelessness Prevention Unit ($6.1 million)
Using predictive analytics to identify 750 households at highest risk of homelessness and intervene before they lose housing. Data-driven prevention that reaches people before they hit the streets.
Accountability Infrastructure ($16 million)
Measure A mandates investment in oversight, transparency, and equity tracking. This includes the Homeless Count, HMIS improvements, the client portal, regional data integration, and evaluation. The bones of accountability are being built.
The New Department Itself
Perhaps the most significant survival is the department itself.
For the first time, LA County has a single entity focused entirely on homelessness—combining functions previously scattered across the Homeless Initiative, Housing for Health, and LAHSA. One department. One director. One point of accountability.
Director Sarah Mahin inherited a difficult situation: launch a new department while absorbing massive budget cuts, federal policy reversals, and the transition of hundreds of staff and contracts. As she told supervisors, "We are having to make extremely difficult decisions given our fiscal realities." The spending plan she described "tries to preserve as much interim and permanent housing as possible."
The structure creates possibilities that didn't exist before. Streamlined contracting. Integrated data. Clearer authority. When funding returns—and it will, eventually—the infrastructure will be ready.
Honoring the Process
Finally, I want to acknowledge the people who showed up.
Across eight Service Planning Areas, hundreds of community members gave their time to the co-design process. Service providers who could barely spare the hours. People with lived experience who shared their stories again—stories that cost something to tell. Faith leaders, advocates, county staff who believed this could be different.
The ChangeWell Project facilitated with skill and genuine commitment to community voice. They created space for real conversation.
Not everything we designed made it through. But the process, the documentation, and the partnerships forged there will ensure that these ideas don't die for lack of attention. We've stated what our expectations are, and now we can hold those in power accountable.
We're prepared for the next budget cycle.
What Radical Hope Looks Like
I've written before about Radical Hope—the practice of witnessing destruction while nurturing emergence. This is what it looks like in practice.
We lost the decision-making matrix with equal community voting power. We kept community liaisons who will inform decisions.
We lost the full cultural care unit. We kept priority population language and specialized programs for families, youth, and survivors.
We lost large-scale Homes Events. We kept faith-based coordinators building bridges to community.
We lost standalone prevention and navigation programs. We kept the predictive analytics unit catching people before they fall.
The gap between what we designed and what survived is huge. I'm not pretending otherwise. But the gap between what survived and what could have been lost entirely gives me hope. We've got a balanced set of tools available for now.
Supervisor Janice Hahn said something that stuck with me:
"We need to recognize how unique and important it is that LA County voters care so deeply about addressing the homelessness crisis that they have agreed to tax themselves to get people the help they need."
She's right. Measure A exists because voters chose it. The new department exists because the Board created it. The co-design process happened because someone decided community voice mattered.
A system is being built giving equity to more people, more stakeholders. That in itself is something to celebrate.
What Comes Next
The first budget cycle under impossible constraints doesn't define what's possible forever.
Federal policies are already facing legal challenges. State funding may return. The economy will shift. New opportunities will emerge. And, after last week's Super Bowl halftime show, I think it's fair to say 'woke' is back.
This series began with a question: Could the new Department of Homeless Services and Housing be different? Could community voice actually shape how it operates?
The honest answer is: partially. Not enough. But more than nothing.
And that's where Radical Hope lives—in the space between what we imagined and what we got, choosing to stay engaged anyway. Not because we're guaranteed success, but because showing up is how change happens.
Thank you for reading this series. Thank you for caring about what happens to our unhoused neighbors. Thank you for believing, despite everything, that it doesn't have to be this way.
The work continues.
In love and service,
Paul
Paul Asplund is the founder of Second Grace LA and author of Letters to the Housed.
Coming next week: More on the effects continued ICE assaults are having on the community and the costs we're all forced to bear.
Resources
Sources
FY 2026-27 HSH Measure A Spending Plan (Board Letter and Attachments)
LA County Aims to Keep People Sheltered and Housed by Focusing on Proven Programs - LA County HSH, February 3, 2026
LA County approves homeless spending plan that reflects nearly $200M in program cuts - LAist, February 3, 2026
LA County's new homeless services department facing 25% funding cuts - Daily News, January 16, 2026
ChangeWell Project community co-design sessions (September-November 2025)