Dr. Va Lecia Adams Kellum’s First Year as CEO: The First Steps Toward a New LAHSA

Note: This is the first of a four-part series on LAHSA’s accomplishments and changes during Dr. Va Lecia Adams Kellum’s first year as LAHSA CEO.

It’s been one year since CEO Dr. Va Lecia Adams Kellum took the helm of LAHSA. During that time, she laid out a strategy based on lessons learned while reimagining LA’s rehousing system to bring more people home faster. LAHSA’s new hands-on approach has resulted in tangible results. Below are some highlights of Dr. Adams Kellum’s strategies in her first year:

• Encampment Resolution: Dr. Adams Kellum was one of the architects behind LA’s most powerful initiatives: LA County’s Pathway Home and LA City’s Inside Safe. LAHSA’s CEO has the know-how to amplify encampment resolution across the county.
• Master Leasing: Through this program, LAHSA becomes the landlord of entire apartment buildings, reducing the barriers and time required to fill a building from 4 months to under a week.
• Batch Matching: Uses the Universal Housing Application to allow multiple qualified applicants to apply for a unit. The units are filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Those not selected will automatically apply for the next available units in their area.
• Housing Location: LAHSA is piloting a platform that tracks available permanent homes and landlords willing to rent to our unhoused neighbors in real time to improve access to much-needed housing.
• Reimagining Systems: LAHSA has removed roadblocks to speed up the housing process for people who are high priority, document-ready, in contact with the rehousing system, and live near an available unit.
• Emergency Response Program: LAHSA’s experience with the Augmented Winter Shelter Program has led to a new Emergency Response Program that provides shelter to unhoused individuals during storms, floods, and other emergencies.

Starting this year, LAHSA will use key performance indicators (KPIs), which will help Dr. Adams Kellum and the LAHSA Commission achieve these set goals:

• 20% more people moving from interim to permanent housing.
• 20% more people moving from the streets to interim housing.

While Dr. Adams Kellum guides LAHSA through a road of new strategies, many milestones have already been achieved:

• Locking arms has paid off. LAHSA, Inside Safe, and Pathway Home have brought 3,133 people inside this year.
• LAHSA completed 80% of its contracts on time. A win for LAHSA and its providers.
• Master Leasing housed 251 people. The pilot evolved into a standard program, and now, 479 homes are in the pipeline.
• The Welcome Navigation Center, a pilot project that combines interim housing with wrap-around services under one roof, is evolving into a stepping stone to permanent housing.
• LAHSA is using data to practice Active System Management, which allows the agency to monitor the efficiency of its rehousing system and make necessary adjustments to alleviate roadblocks in the housing process.

Dr. Adams Kellum understands that the road to reducing homelessness is long. Working collaboratively with the City and County has already reaped benefits. She knows the accomplishments achieved in the past year will guide the next steps into the future. Most important, she will continue to “roll up her sleeves”, test new pilots, and reshape rehousing in LA in a way that builds trust and transparency among its constituents and partners.

Note: This is the first of a four-part series on LAHSA’s accomplishments and changes during Dr. Va Lecia Adams Kellum’s first year as LAHSA CEO. See our other posts for more information on how Dr. Adams Kellum is changing the rehousing system to reduce homelessness:

• Addressing the Street Homelessness Emergency
• Housing More People Faster and Paying Providers Quicker
• Using Data to Improve Accountability and Reduce Homelessness