Chief of L.A. Homeless Agency Will Step Down Next Month

The head of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority announced his resignation Friday, capping months of speculation that he would leave the agency, which has been criticized for what some consider lackluster efforts at dealing with the problem of homelessness.

Mitchell Netburn said he was leaving the joint city-county agency effective May 19 to work for a private nonprofit agency in New York City that helps disadvantaged people.

The Los Angeles homeless agency was created in the 1990s as a response to a series of legal wranglings over who was responsible for helping the region’s indigent. It distributes $45 million to $60 million in public money a year for homeless services, most of it from federal funds.

But how those funds are distributed has been a source of controversy for the organization, which has been plagued by questions surrounding its financial management. It recently hired a new chief financial officer.

In his State of the City address this week, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said that he and other officials were “reforming” the homeless agency as part of their renewed attention to the estimated 88,000 people living on the county’s streets.