Los Angeles, United States - February 26, 2024 The latest audit carried out by the comptroller's office of this city in the Golden State revealed unexpected data on the situation of some homeless people, which alerted local authorities. The document shares information such as the occupancy rates of temporary beds in housing/shelters and the inadequate management of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) program. The recent study found that an average of one in four beds in shelters funded for homeless people were not used, costing Los Angeles taxpayers around $218 million in five years. In turn, less than a fifth of those who entered temporary housing were able to obtain permanent housing, which is “woefully inadequate,” the report suggests. And more than half of the people who left these homes returned to the streets or to unknown destinations. According to the controller’s audit director, Ashley Bennett, this result did not mean that people did not want to use the beds allocated, but that nearly a third of those who expressed interest were unable to secure one. “It is excessively difficult to access a shelter resource and officials need to look for ways to remove some of the barriers that people face,” she said.