By Nick Gerda and David Wagner for LAist
Originally published April 4, 2025
After a bruising week that saw the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority agency lose a large chunk of its funding, the agency’s head announced Friday she will be stepping down.
Va Lecia Adams Kellum, who joined as the agency’s CEO two years ago from L.A. Mayor Karen Bass’ administration, had been fighting to preserve funding from L.A. County.
But earlier this week, county leaders voted to strip the agency’s funding in favor of channeling resources through a new county department they said would provide more oversight and accountability.
The county currently the agency’s largest funder, providing nearly $350 million a year. LAHSA’s next largest funder is the city of L.A. at 35% of all revenue and the city is also exploring an exit from funding the agency.
In recent months, multiple audits have found serious accounting and oversight issues at the agency. The most recent audit, released in March in connection with a lawsuit brought against the city and county of L.A., prompted U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter to describe officials’ failure to track billions of dollars in spending as “a slow train wreck.”
Why now
In a resignation letter submitted Friday, and first reported by the L.A. Times, Adams Kellum wrote that she was proud of her efforts to make the agency more effective. She noted that unsheltered homelessness in the region decreased last year in the count her agency oversaw, and was expected to decrease again this year based on partial results released earlier than usual.
Still, Adams Kellum said, now was the right time to step down.
“Ensuring a seamless handover is a top priority, and I am committed to a 120-day transition period, or longer if needed,” she wrote.
The exit comes after LAist revealed in February that as LAHSA’s CEO, Adams Kellum signed a taxpayer deal to pay $2.1 million to a nonprofit that employs her husband in a senior leadership role. Adams Kellum had previously told LAist she followed rules barring her from any matters that involve the group. Public documents LAist reviewed showed otherwise.
Adams Kellum joined the agency as CEO in January 2023.
Prior to stepping into local government, she was the CEO of St. Joseph Center, a homeless services provider based in Venice.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
Read her resignation letter
Obtained by Megan Garvey (Southern California Public Radio)Download
How LAist is reporting on this
Reporters Nick Gerda and David Wagner are working on this developing story.
In all cases, we strive to bring you the most accurate information in real time and will update this story as new information becomes available.
More LAHSA reporting from LAist
- LA County to strip hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars from homelessness agency
- Judge blasts LA homeless spending as a ‘train wreck’ and threatens to seize control
- LA County supervisors to vote on pulling over $300 million out of LAHSA
- LA’s top homelessness official signed $2.1 million contract with husband’s employer
This report is reprinted with permission from Southern California Public Radio. © 2024 Southern California Public Radio. All rights reserved.