The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved the appointment of Sarah Mahin as the first director of the new Department of Homeless Services and Housing, the county's consolidated department focused on homelessness solutions.
Mahin, currently director of Housing for Health, will lead the county's efforts to consolidate and enhance homelessness service delivery by overseeing the transition of services from multiple county departments into a central agency.
"We need bold, effective leadership to tackle the homelessness crisis and I believe Sarah Mahin is the right choice to lead our County's new Department of Homeless Services and Housing," said Supervisor Kathryn Barger, chair of the Board of Supervisors.
Supervisor Hilda L. Solis, chair pro tem, praised Mahin's work on key initiatives including the Skid Row Action Plan, the Skid Row Care Campus and the Every Woman Housed initiative.
"Her leadership as the former Director of the County's Housing for Health Division has already transformed how we serve our most vulnerable residents and has served as the blueprint for the new department she will now oversee," Solis said.
Mahin currently serves as director of Housing for Health in the LA County Department of Health Services, overseeing a $875 million budget, more than 600 staff and contracts with hundreds of community-based organizations. She has worked in homeless services for two decades, including at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority.
At LAHSA, she served as director of policy and systems, coordinating services across hundreds of organizations and multiple county and city departments.
"I am honored to serve as the inaugural director of the Department of Homeless Services and Housing," Mahin said. "For me, this work has always been rooted in innovation, collaboration, and accountability to the people and communities that we serve."
Mahin earned a Master of Public Affairs from the University of Texas at Austin and a Bachelor of Arts in Government from Georgetown University.
The Board of Supervisors approved a motion to establish the county's first-ever department focused on homelessness solutions on April 1, 2025, and approved the department name on July 1, 2025. The Department of Homeless Services and Housing will be officially established by Jan. 1, 2026.
Community meetings will be announced soon. The public may submit questions or comments about the new department here. For more information, visit ceo.lacounty.gov/dh.
Edited by SMDP Staff