The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday picked a director for its new homelessness company, turning to an govt that officers praised for her twenty years of expertise in serving to individuals get off the streets.
In a unanimous vote, supervisors authorized Sarah Mahin and a $375,000 annual wage for her to guide the Division of Homeless Companies and Housing, which formally launches Jan. 1.
Supervisors voted to create the new division earlier this yr, stating they needed extra accountability over homelessness spending that right now flows via a a lot criticized joint city-county authority, the Los Angeles Homeless Companies Authority.
Mahin presently works for the county and since 2020 has been director of the Division of Well being Companies’ Housing for Well being program, which officers see as a mannequin for what comes subsequent.
This system, launched in 2012, focuses on housing and serving to individuals with complicated medical wants. It employs greater than 600 individuals on an $875-million annual funds.
Among the many providers provided are outreach, rental subsidies, interim housing beds and a variety of medical care.
Previous to serving as Housing for Well being director, Mahin was director of coverage and programs at LAHSA and in addition labored on the Division of Veterans Affairs and the Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless, in response to her LinkedIn bio.
“For me, this work has at all times been rooted in innovation, collaboration, and accountability to the individuals and communities that we serve,” Mahin mentioned an announcement. “I’m dedicated to main with these values on the forefront. “
As director of the brand new county homelessness company, Mahin will likely be tasked with overseeing a broad reorganization in how the county tackles homelessness.
In April, the Board of Supervisors voted to maneuver a whole lot of tens of millions of county {dollars} out of the Los Angeles Homeless Companies Authority, or LAHSA, and put it into the brand new company.
The transfer adopted two audits that, echoing years of criticism, discovered LAHSA lacked adequate oversight of its contracts and packages, leaving them weak to waste and fraud.
By Jan.1, greater than 700 county staff will likely be transferred to the brand new Division of Homeless Companies and Housing, with a whole lot extra from LAHSA becoming a member of six months later.
The brand new company is anticipated to largely take up packages for Housing for Well being, which Mahin has been main and can stop to exist as a separate division.
In an announcement, Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, who helped lead the push for the brand new division, mentioned Mahin’s expertise at each LAHSA and the county is an asset because the county transitions from the outdated system.
“She’s precisely who we want, able to hit the bottom operating with the urgency this second calls for,” Horvath mentioned.
