LA homeless agency addresses encampment crisis

New LA Homeless Services CEO addresses encampment concerns

Dr. Va Lecia Adams Kellum is the new CEO of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. On Wednesday she addressed growing concerns over the homelessness crisis in Los Angeles as she takes on the job.

LOS ANGELES - As homelessness remain the top issue haunting Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) held an open forum discussion Wednesday.

From the RV fire in Valley Glen to encampments on our sidewalks, it has become a problem that is impossible to ignore in Southern California.

Va Lecia Adams Kellum, the CEO of LAHSA, admits the system isn't perfect.

"This system has a lot of different players and a lot of different competing, maybe sometimes ideas," Adams Kellum said.

Adams Kellum is the new $430,000 a year heard of LAHSA. The agency was launched by the city and county 30 years ago to coordinate solutions to homelessness in the area.

On Wednesday, Adams Kellum and her team addressed transparency and accountability.

"At times, we've been slowed by the bureaucracy of that system, and it's something we've all struggled with and been really concerned about. The encampment problem is everywhere and that all the cities are feeling it," Adams Kellum said.

She adds the next step for her team is to have the city and county work collectively.

"We're in a humanitarian crisis and we need to address this and tackle it head-on," Adams Kellum said.

"Right, but we've known that for as long as I've been in Los Angeles," responded FOX 11's Phil Shuman.

"I think that's why it's it should feel like a different message, which is we've thrown a lot at it. We need to start step back and determine what's yielded the greatest success," Adam Kellum responded to Shuman.