Center for Community Engagement

In LA County, service providers rely on government funding to assist youth experiencing homelessness. Existing literature acknowledges the unique problems that the youth subpopulation confronts. Moreover, research notes that the most effective services for youth are youth-focused, and the availability of services is directly correlated with the supply of funding. We question whether youth funding allocations in LA County meet the reality of the youth homeless crisis. To perform an analysis, this research pursues a community engaged analysis of funding allocations from three sources—HEAP, HHAP round 1, and Measure H funded contracts—to form a representative view of the LA funding ecosystem. Further analysis occurs at the LA City Council District, County Supervisorial District, and County Service Planning Area scales. We find trends that implicate inequitable funding allocations and a concerning lack of accessible and accurate data.