New Orleans is not regularly inspecting its homeless shelters to ensure minimum health and safety standards, according to a review from the Louisiana Legislative Auditor.
Family access to shelters is also not always reliable, according to the audit report that was published and sent to legislative leaders last week.
“Providers we surveyed indicated that the City and Unity need to improve communication, including better availability and responsiveness to providers, clarity regarding policies and procedures, and more timely reimbursements,” Legislative Auditor Mike Waguespack wrote in the report. “In addition, information about available resources is difficult to find and may be out of date.”
The audit period stretched from January 2019 to June 2024. Over that stretch, the city and Unity of Greater New Orleans, a nonprofit organization that coordinates homeless initiatives, spent $216.3 million on homelessness initiatives. Most of the money came from federal funds, and over half of it went to permanent housing programs for people with disabilities.
During the review period, 275 people in homeless encampments were provided housing, the audit said. From January 2019 to January 2024, the number of unhoused individuals in New Orleans increased 22.4% from 1,188 to 1,454. However, unsheltered homeless decreased 18.5% from 594 to 484 during the same timespan.
The audit report included 19 recommendations total for the Louisiana Housing Corp., Unity and the city agencies that address homelessness in New Orleans. The respective entities agreed with nearly all of them.
The New Orleans Office of Homeless and Services disagreed with the auditor’s suggestion that it develop official policies for removing homeless encampments. In October, city officials took issue with Gov. Jeff Landry’s directive to have Louisiana State Police clear out a large tent community near downtown ahead of Taylor Swift’s concerts at the Superdome.
Waguespack wrote that several factors drive homelessness in New Orleans, including a lack of affordable housing and a need for employment opportunities that provide a living wage.