Homelessness Briefs: Mayor Appoints Dep. Mayor of Homelessness & Community Health and Motion Addresses Youth, Seniors Experiencing Homelessness and

Mayor Bass Appoints Deputy Mayor of Homelessness & Community Health

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Mayor Bass Feb. 12 announced the appointment of Dr. Etsemaye P. Agonafer, MD, MPH, MS, as the city’s first deputy mayor of homelessness and community health. 

Dr. Agonafer will also focus on improving the coordination, integration and delivery of services including social, health and behavioral health for people experiencing or at risk of becoming homeless living in interim and permanent housing. She will be responsible for building a team and leading a coordinated effort that results in stronger housing and health outcomes for people experiencing homelessness.

Dr. Agonafer began working with the Mayor’s Office in May of 2023, serving as the community health advisor in the mayor’s office of housing and homelessness solutions. While in this role, she supported the Inside Safe program with county services and designed the substance use disorder pilot for Inside Safe and the city’s interim housing participants.  

Dr. Etsemaye P. Agonafer, MD, MPH, MS – brings experience in advancing health equity and justice for vulnerable individuals and populations — including people experiencing homelessness, veterans, and people who are formerly incarcerated – as an internal medicine physician, educator and community-engaged researcher. Dr. Agonafer previously served as an assistant professor in the Department of Health System Science at the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine in Pasadena, CA. In 2021, she was appointed as a White House Fellow in the Biden-Harris Administration and was placed in the Office of the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. In addition to her policy work, Dr. Agonafer provided clinical care for individuals entering and leaving one of the nation’s largest jails, in the Inmate Reception Center at Los Angeles County Twin Towers Correctional Facility. 

Dr. Agonafer was a national clinician scholar at UCLA where she earned Masters of Sciences in Health Policy and Management with an emphasis on Implementation Science. Before completing her internal medicine residency and chief residency at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Dr. Agonafer earned a B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of Southern California, a Masters of Public Health and M.D. from the UCLA/Charles R. Drew University PRIME-LA dual-degree program.

L.A. County Board of Supervisors Focus on Youth and Seniors Experiencing Homelessness

The week of Feb. 5, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to approve a motion that brings heightened attention and focus on transitional age youth and seniors experiencing homelessness in the county.

The motion was passed following Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority’s or LAHSA completion of its annual Youth Count, which took place this year from Jan. 22 to 31. 

Estimates from last year’s homelessness census found that youth homelessness increased by 40% from 2022 to 2023, identifying 3,894 youth living on the streets. There has also been a notable 11% increase in the number of seniors experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles County. 

The motion directs the Department of Children and Family Services, the Department of Aging and Disabilities, among other relevant county departments and agencies, to report back their findings and an action plan within 120 days.