2026 Innovation Summit

LAURA Innovation Summit:
Outcomes Based Contracting to End Homelessness in Los Angeles

Day One: Foundations and First Steps

The program kicked off with warm introductions, an overview of homelessness in Los Angeles, and a history of Skid Row, led by Dr. Julie Hudman. Then, Josh Hoffman, MSW, Director of Homeless Services at Little Tokyo Service Center, shared insights into the role of a case manager and guided the Fellows through exercises in active listening and CES (Coordinated Entry System) assessment scenarios. The day ended with site visits to The BIN and The Skid Row Refresh Spot—two essential services offering storage, respite, and care to unhoused individuals.

Day Two: Trauma-Informed Care, Health Services & Legal Issues

Day two began with breakfast at Homegirl Cafe and an introduction to Homeboy Industries, where Fellows learned about employment and rehabilitation support for formerly incarcerated individuals. The group also toured the soon-to-be-opened Care Campus and Wesley Health Clinic in Skid Row.

Back at the Future Communities Institute (FCI), the Fellows heard from Ariana Barlas of the Inner City Law Center on legal services for the unhoused, and the day concluded with an impactful session on de-escalation and trauma-informed care led by Yusef-Andre Wiley of the TimeList Group.

Day Three: Healing, Resilience, and Field Learning

The learning continued Friday with Dr. Steven Hochman of Akido Care sharing information about addiction medicine, harm reduction and Narcan, and the street medicine work happening on Skid Row and across Los Angeles.

Then the Fellows were off to some powerful site visits at Downtown Women's Center and Weingart Center, where they were able to see examples of permanent supportive housing and other services offered to the community. After lunch, Dr. Shelle Welty from the Headington Institute led a session focused on building resilience and self-care—key elements for sustaining long-term work in this space.

Day Four: Harm Reduction, Street Medicine, and Lunch on Skid Row

Monday opened with a reflective session led by Douglas Walker from JWCH Institute about processing trauma, as well as his work in emergency rooms and with harm reduction. Fellows then visited The Midnight Mission, where they joined guests for lunch and then toured the facilities—including a soon-to-open floor for women in recovery. Next was a visit to The Sidewalk Project, which provides drop-in services for unhoused cis and trans women on Skid Row—a powerful visit for our Fellows.

The afternoon concluded with a presentation by Dr. Julie Hudman on the intersection of healthcare and homelessness, followed by a “Day in the Life” session featuring Monica and Hector, two alums of Cohort 1 who now work in street medicine.

Day Five: Jobs, Systems, and Celebrating Community

On the final day, the Fellows explored career pathways in the sector, with discussions about resume support, job descriptions, and mentorship planning—and visits from two potential employers who spoke about hiring practices in their organizations. Josh Hoffman returned for a deep dive into navigating the housing system and developing realistic expectations for impact, followed by a discussion that helped demystify the roles played by the city, county, nonprofits, and LAHSA in Skid Row.

The week wrapped up with a joyful Closing Reception, where Fellows celebrated their journey alongside friends, family, and sector leaders. The LAURA Fellowship continues to serve as a powerful launchpad for those ready to step into careers of service and impact in Los Angeles’ homeless services sector. Congratulations to our Cohort 2 Fellows—we can’t wait to see what you do next!

Outcomes, not outputs.
Results, not process.

The LAURA Innovation Summit on Outcomes-Based Contracting to End Homelessness in Los Angeles brought together leaders, practitioners, policymakers, researchers, funders, and innovators around a simple but potentially transformative question:

What if Los Angeles changed how it pays to address homelessness—and started funding results instead of process?

Held on July 1, 2026 at The California Endowment in Los Angeles, the Summit explored how outcomes-based contracting can help shift the homelessness response from measuring activities to achieving meaningful, measurable improvements in people’s lives. Rather than focusing primarily on outputs—beds provided, services delivered, contacts made, or programs completed—outcomes-based approaches ask a more fundamental question:

Did the intervention actually help someone achieve a better and more stable life?

The second cohort of the Los Angeles Unhoused Response Academy (LAURA) Fellows Program, which is funded by the United Way of Greater Los Angeles, took place in Downtown Los Angeles from April 9-15, 2025. Presented by Future Communities Institute, this program gave 14 Fellows the chance to immerse themselves in the complexities of homelessness in Los Angeles, engage with leaders in the field, and visit frontline organizations that serve the unhoused every day in Skid Row.

This innovative training program includes a mix of classroom time led by experts in the field, and site visits to relevant organizations and resources—all for people who want to start a career in case management and other frontline work with the unhoused.

At its core, the LAURA Innovation Summit reflects a belief that Los Angeles has the talent, resources, experience, and commitment necessary to make meaningful progress on homelessness. Innovation does not necessarily require another new program or another layer of bureaucracy. It can begin by changing the incentives within the system we already have—clearly defining the results we want, giving providers greater flexibility in how they achieve them, measuring what works, and directing resources toward approaches that demonstrably improve people’s lives.

Outcomes, not outputs.
Results, not process.
Together we can do this.

Inspire and Operationalize

The Summit was designed to be more than a conference. The goal was not only to inspire, but to operationalize. The day culminated in the launch of three Pilot Design Work Groups focused on justice-impacted individuals, survivors of domestic violence, and young people transitioning out of foster care. Each group brings together people with subject-matter expertise and practical experience to design an outcomes-based pilot that can be implemented in Los Angeles. The objective is to move from ideas to actual contract and program designs—and ultimately to test whether a different way of purchasing services can produce better results.

The Summit brought national and international experience together with Los Angeles expertise. Speakers and participants from government, nonprofit service providers, philanthropy, finance, research, and community organizations examined the practical building blocks of outcomes-based contracting: defining the right outcomes, using data effectively, structuring contracts and incentives, financing innovation, supporting providers, and creating a culture focused on performance and continuous improvement. Case studies and practitioners from outside Los Angeles offered lessons from programs already putting these principles into practice, while local leaders considered how those lessons could be adapted to the scale and complexity of Los Angeles.