LOS ANGELES — The women living at an undisclosed two-story building in Los Angeles mark their comings and goings on a sign-in sheet using numbers instead of names, just one of the many measures to ensure the 12 families living here are not found by those who might harm them.

The domestic violence center run by Jewish Family Service LA is a safe haven — as long as it can afford to operate.

More than half its budget is paid for with a $300,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Community Development. But as a battle wages between the Trump administration and the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, the regional agency tasked with doling out federal homelessness dollars, the future of this shelter and others are under threat.

In an interview, LAHSA said the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has paused executing contracts and that 12 organizations, all of which use federal money to house people, are stuck in bureaucratic limbo, spending promised money without signed agreements in a volatile political landscape.

These grants represent about $10 million in funding, according to a manager with LAHSA, who asked not to be named because the agency is part of an ongoing lawsuit. But at stake is a much larger pool of money — roughly $240 million — if a HUD investigation finds LAHSA is unfit to manage federal dollars.

The Times spoke with the heads of four of these nonprofits, all who said they feel like they're flying blind and are contemplating cuts to services.

"There's people at the bottom of this whole food chain that are desperately in need of services. No provision was made to make sure they're still going to get services," said Eli Veitzer, president and chief executive of Jewish Family Service LA. He said he's still waiting on a contract for the $300,000 grant for a funding cycle that began April 1 — meaning, the organization has been fronting costs for four months, uncertain if they'll get paid. "To me, there's a certain cruelty in that."

HUD did not answer requests for comment.

In a typical year, nonprofits in L.A. County vie for roughly $200 million in federal grants to address homelessness.

Nonprofits apply for the grants through LAHSA, which oversees the process. The grants run on an annual basis, and once a contract is in place, organizations can begin submitting invoices to be reimbursed for services such as rental assistance and emergency shelter.

But on June 11, HUD temporarily suspended LAHSA from receiving, coordinating and managing federal funds, pending an investigation into alleged mismanagement and conflicts of interest that, it said, posed a threat to the public.

In response, LAHSA sued the federal housing agency to halt the suspension. On Aug. 6, a judge is scheduled to hear arguments in the case.

A manager with LAHSA said HUD is not moving forward with any grant agreements that were unsigned prior to June 11, when the local agency was suspended.

All this comes as the agency released data last week showing that the number of people living on the streets rose 3.4% last year, a reversal of a two-year trend of falling numbers across the city and much of the county. The number of people who ended up homeless because of domestic violence shot up 43% from the year before, according to LAHSA's numbers.

In the middle of this fight are the nonprofits, some of which have been approved for federal funds but are operating without executed contracts and any confidence they'll be reimbursed.

"I'm spending $200,000 a month and I do not know when or if it will be contracted," said Amy Turk, chief executive of the Downtown Women's Center, which provides housing for women who have faced homelessness and violence. "That's unnerving."

Turk said her organization is waiting on federal contracts for grants totaling $4.2 million.

Nonprofit managers said it hasn't been unusual over the past couple of years for contracts from HUD to be delayed. But now with the suspension of the agency managing these dollars, realizing a contract feels even more elusive.

In written testimony submitted to the court, a programs officer with HUD said that fully-executed contracts and the committed funds would not be jeopardized by LAHSA's suspension. The federal employee also stated that he did not know what action the department would take with grants that were awarded but still lacked fully-executed agreements.

In its original complaint, LAHSA identified a dozen organizations, including the People Concern and the Downtown Women's Center, that are in this position.

John Maceri, the chief executive of the People Concern, which helps house people, is still waiting on two signed agreements for funding which was set to begin July 1, totaling $727,000.

Maceri said a delayed contract is not unusual. But typically, he said, there is a set process for getting contracts completed that gives him assurance that it will ultimately happen. This federal suspension and resulting lawsuit has rocked his confidence.

"That leaves providers in this space of providing services and accruing and accumulating debt without any idea of when those contracts are going to be executed and when contracts will be paid," Maceri said.

He said if he has to start ending services, he will start with interim housing, where people who have been living on the street get temporary housing with meals and showers.

"We're not going to be able to keep providing these services indefinitely," Maceri said.

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