A homeless service provider in the Inside Safe motel shelter program in Los Angeles is under investigation for fraud after authorities concluded that the service provider failed to provide nutritious meals to residents despite being paid a daily fee of $110 per person for these and other services.

While some vendors claim to offer freshly made sandwiches, soups and roasted vegetables, the city treasurer’s office said in a July 26 press release that the unnamed local vendor’s “food supply consists almost exclusively of instant ramen noodles.”

“The small remaining portion of other food inventory consisted only of instant oatmeal, canned soup, canned corn and refried beans. The food selection did not appear to meet daily nutritional needs,” said the press release from the office of City Controller Kenneth Mejia.

“The contractor did not provide fresh food to residents,” the statement continued. “Fresh food was available in the common area, but was donated to the facility by others.”

An investigation by the supervisory authority into whether the contractor is guilty of fraud is still ongoing.

“Tax dollars go to homeless services in our city on a large scale,” Mejia said in the press release, citing the current homeless services budget of nearly $1 billion.

“Los Angeles residents should have a reasonable expectation that their investment will result in our homeless neighbors being provided with decent meals – not instant ramen for almost every meal.”

What service providers are paid for

Service providers receive $110 per day from city funds for each person they serve at Inside Safe Motels as part of Mayor Karen Bass’s homeless initiative. In return, service providers receive are required to provide a range of services, including three meals a day.

These meals are required meet Nutritional standards of the U.S. Food and Drug Administrationaccording to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), which manages the contracts on behalf of the city.

However, LAHSA representatives believe that the provider examined by the regulator did not comply with these requirements and thus violated the contract.

“Inadequate shelter and services prevent homeless people from accepting or staying in housing. LA cannot significantly reduce our homeless population if the city does not provide adequate shelter and services,” Mejia said in his press release.

Who is the provider?

Mejia’s office declined to name the service provider, citing the ongoing investigation. LAHSA officials also did not respond to multiple requests for the provider’s name.

Last week, LAist contacted all nine leading Inside Safe service providers listed in a recent report to the City Council.

All nine said it wasn’t them.

LAist asked LAHSA officials for the full list of the program’s service providers last Monday and asked for it repeatedly in the days that followed.

The list was only presented on Wednesday. It included a provider that was not on the list presented to the council. That provider did not respond to a telephone query on Wednesday afternoon about whether it was the group mentioned in the controller’s press release.

The follow-up measures

After investigating the tip, Mejia’s office reported the incident to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, a joint city-county agency that pays the Inside Safe service providers with city tax dollars, both agencies said.

According to the controller’s statement, LAHSA now requires service providers to serve three nutritious meals per day.

“We are encouraged that LAHSA acted quickly to correct the immediate situation,” Mejia said in the release. “We will continue our investigation into the allegations of contractor fraud, including determining their contractual obligations and how they used taxpayer funds.”

LAHSA representatives said in a statement that the provider was serving “unacceptable meals” and was therefore violating the contract.

“As the Controller noted, LAHSA quickly took remedial action to ensure that people at this location receive the required three nutritious meals daily,” LAHSA officials wrote. They said the agency will visit the motel frequently to “provide additional support, training and monitoring to ensure compliance with the contract.”

The LAHSA statement added that the agency has long had “inadequate” systems for monitoring contractor performance, which the agency said are currently being overhauled. The agency is also working to send surveys to program participants so they can anonymously report problems at their transitional housing facilities, including Inside Safe.

Mayor’s office: “This must never happen”

A spokesman for Bass, who founded and oversees Inside Safe, said in a statement that the food issue was unacceptable.

“This should never happen,” Zach Seidl, the mayor’s spokesman, said in a statement.

“We must ensure that service providers have the support and resources they need to provide three meals a day, as well as the health care and other support necessary to keep homeless Los Angeles residents in their homes. The mayor has long said these standards are essential,” he added.

The mayor’s office has made improving service quality at Inside Safe one of its top priorities, Seidl wrote.

LAHSA Executive Director Va Lecia Adams Kellum did not respond to a spokesperson’s requests for an interview.

Tensions over the controller’s audit powers

According to court testimony from Mejia, the city controller’s office has wanted to audit the Inside Safe program since the program’s first weeks a year and a half ago.

At a hearing in June before Federal Judge David O. CarterMejia testified that he was prevented by the office of City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto from reviewing the performance of contractors under the program.

Assistant City Attorney Jessica Mariani testified that under the city constitution, the controller does not have the authority to review the implementation of programs run by other elected officials, such as Inside Safe.

Carter said that worried him.

“I’m concerned that the city, whether intentionally or inadvertently, is able to put a program under the auspices of an elected official, the mayor or whoever, without having the accountability of having anyone oversee it and review it,” he said. said at the hearing.

Following an earlier hearing on the issue before Carter, Mejia announced in March that he would launch an audit of Inside Safe.

Feldstein Soto spokesman Ivor Pine did not respond to messages in recent days asking whether the city attorney still believes the auditor does not have the authority to conduct the audit, which is separate from a broader audit Carter is currently overseeing at the city’s homeless services.

However, the recently announced investigation into the meals was initiated after a tip to the Controller’s Fraud, Waste and Abuse Hotline, according to the Controller’s Office. This is a separate process from the ongoing Inside Safe audit.

What do other service providers do?

Many service providers told LAist that they offer residents freshly prepared hot meals every day.

Rowan Vansleve, president of Hope the Mission, said about 75% of the meals served to Inside Safe participants are prepared fresh and consist of whole foods and whole proteins. This includes a fried chicken, potato and salad sandwich that Vansleve called the most popular meal the group has ever served.

“Their bodies have experienced incredible trauma. Life on the streets is devastating,” he said in an interview with LAist.

“Providing whole foods, nutritious foods and a variety of different foods is critical to the healing process. We have made a great effort to ensure this,” Vansleve said, adding that a private donor helped Hope the Mission build a kitchen where the meals are prepared.

He said the meals offered include:

• Stews and soups with oven-baked vegetables
• Chicken or turkey strips with carrots and potatoes
• Freshly baked muesli
• Po’ Boy sandwiches with chicken or fish
• Chicken salad wraps
• Breakfast roll with frittata egg, vegetables, bacon, on home-baked English muffins
• Sliced ​​fruits

Rev. Richard Reed, director of the nonprofit First to Serve, said the menu for recent Inside Safe participants included:

• Pancakes, rösti, turkey sausage and orange juice or coffee for breakfast
• Korean beef bulgogi, white rice and green beans for lunch
• Black pepper chicken, garlic potatoes, roasted broccoli and dessert for dinner

The menu changes weekly, he said.