The Lincoln Safe Sleep Village in South L.A. opened in 2022 and is one of only a handful of similar encampments around the state where unhoused people can legally set up tents and access meals, bathrooms and other services.

Public records show it was contracted to provide space for up to 88 residents last fiscal year.

But two observers, one of them a Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority commissioner, who made separate visits to the location during that time found the site was operating at half capacity.

Still, LAHSA paid a nonprofit organization $2.3 million to operate the site — with 88 spots.