New Data Dashboards Provide Unprecedented Look Into Rehousing System

This week, LAHSA unveiled new data dashboards to provide the public with unprecedented access to track the work being done to address homelessness in Los Angeles.

While these dashboards are an initial iteration, they offer never-before-seen insights into outreach, the interim housing system, and programmatic key performance indicators. With just a few clicks, the public can see how many people the rehousing system has helped in their LA City Council or Board of Supervisor’s district, how many people individual programs have helped, the performance of their local service providers, and more.

This dashboard release represents a major milestone for LAHSA CEO Dr. Va Lecia Adams Kellum, who outlined the need to improve the transparency and accountability of the rehousing system when she took office in March 2023. LAHSA’s data infrastructure required significant improvement before data could be presented via easy-to-understand dashboards like these on a systemwide scale.

The initial planning and development of these dashboards began in June 2023. Their true origins lie in St. Joseph Center’s work, especially on Venice’s Ocean Front Walk in 2021. For that effort, similar dashboards were created to track outcomes for about 270 people who moved from encampments into motels as a first step toward permanent housing. The experience of measuring and visualizing program performance as a service provider helped inform Dr. Adams Kellum’s vision for transformational ways that LAHSA could begin to present the rehousing system’s impact.

The data has been made available for the first time after requests for greater transparency from LA City Councilmembers.

“The data available to us now shows us clearly the gaps in the system and where we need to make progress,” City Councilmember Nitya Raman said. “We will now be better equipped to hold the homelessness services system accountable for dollars spent across the City and the County and be able to ensure that our investments are serving people effectively.”

While the dashboards provide a uniform and comprehensive data experience, LAHSA continues to work with providers to improve data quality. In some instances, it may be clear that data is missing or was not appropriately entered. LAHSA will roll out its data quality plan to providers in November. It will identify policies and processes designed to improve the reliability of all data tracked through HMIS moving forward.

In addition, testing will continue for the next several months to identify bugs and errors as the dashboards are used in a real-world environment. Through this testing period, LAHSA aims to ensure these dashboards are as helpful as possible. If dashboard users encounter a bug or seemingly incomplete results, please notify our Data Management Department via our Dashboard Feedback Form.

We expect the dashboards to exit the testing phase by mid-2025.

Earlier this year, LAHSA also launched the System Key Performance Indicator and Homeless Count dashboards. LAHSA’s commitment to increasing accountability and transparency continues as it develops more data dashboards that will be released in the near future.