LAHSA and Its Partners Announce the Universal Housing Application

The public housing application process has been known to be a long and arduous one, with that process alone can take a month or more to complete. As a result, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), Los Angeles County Development Authority, and the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles worked together to create the Universal Housing Application (UHA), which will modernize the housing application process for people experiencing homelessness and remove barriers from the path towards permanent housing and reversing racial disparities in housing access.

The UHA consolidates 15 different paper housing applications into one digital application. By using it, LAHSA, HACLA, and LACDA — through Housing Central Command — can shave up to 30 days off the application process that matches people experiencing homelessness with suitable permanent housing across Los Angeles County.

“Despite housing 65,000 people over the last three years, we aren’t resting on our laurels when it comes to supporting those we serve to get into housing. Right now, it takes too long for people to move from street to home and we must act with urgency to cut red tape and bust systemic barriers,” said Heidi Marston, Executive Director of LAHSA. “The UHA is a groundbreaking step forward. Through innovation, technology and partnership, it speeds up the housing application process and eliminates redundancies, making it easier for our unhoused neighbors to find a place to call home.”

Before the UHA, it would take between 150–200 days on average for a person experiencing homelessness to apply for and move into permanent housing. Case managers spent up to an hour on each application filling them out by hand, and 60% of these applications were sent back for corrections in a back-and-forth that could take over a month.

“This streamlined application process removes many barriers for our clients, saves previous time, and builds trust in the system that is there to support them,” said Milton Toscano, a program manager with People Assisting The Homeless. “Ultimately, the most important benefit is that it helps get people housed sooner.”

“HACLA is excited to join with LAHSA, LACDA, the permanent supportive housing developer community, and other partners in the launch of the Universal Housing Application (UHA),” said Carlos VanNatter, HACLA Section 8 Director. “The ultimate goal of the UHA is to shorten the time it takes to house our homeless neighbors through a single, streamlined, automated process. The data integration of this application with various systems is helping us reach that goal much faster.”

The UHA is tied to existing database systems to autofill up to 60% of the application with information already in these systems and will be able to pull any necessary documentation from these systems.

In addition, instant quality assurance checks ensure mistakes and inconsistencies are addressed immediately, avoiding rejected applications that would force back-and-forth to corrections or reset the entire process completely.

LAHSA is grateful for the cooperation of its partners to bring together separate corners of the rehousing system into a coordinated effort for the benefit of our clients: Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Development Authority, Housing Resource Providers, Property Management Companies, Homeless Service Providers, and HCC Leadership.

“The development of the Universal Housing Application is the result of a collaborative effort between local government and community partners, in an effort to create a more efficient delivery system. It will make a rehousing system that has made striking improvements over the past three years better,” said Emilio Salas, Executive Director of LACDA. “The LACDA was at the forefront of this effort and has worked closely with both HACLA and LAHSA, which we believe will significantly improve the time it takes a homeless individual to go from the streets or shelters and into housing.