LOS ANGELES – Mayor Karen Bass, Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez and Supervisor Hilda Solis announced the newest Inside Safe operation concluded yesterday in Westlake. This is the 30th Inside Safe operation, an initiative that was launched to house Angelenos living in encampments and to prevent encampments from returning. More than 60 Angelenos were brought inside through yesterday’s operation. This citywide, voluntary approach leads with housing and services and is one feature in a comprehensive strategy to confront the homelessness crisis.
“We continue to dispel the myth that people do not want to come inside. With every new Inside Safe operation, Angelenos are saying yes to housing and services,” said Mayor Karen Bass. “I want to thank Councilmember Hernandez, Supervisor Solis, LAHSA and our County partners for working with us to bring people inside from street encampments in Westlake.”
“We have been working for months to connect our unhoused constituents in these encampments with housing and services,” said Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez. “I am grateful for the collaboration of Mayor Bass and all our City, County and nonprofit partners who worked together to bring dozens of unhoused residents inside today. We will continue to prioritize a Care-First approach to our housing and homelessness crises that meets people where they are with the care and services they need and deserve.”
“I thank Mayor Bass and Councilwoman Hernandez for prioritizing an Inside Safe operation in the Westlake community,” said Supervisor Solis. “As the cold weather nears, it is critical that we get as many Angelenos off the streets and into safe indoor spaces so that we, our County departments, can provide them with support services to thrive. I look forward to our continued partnership on advancing permanent housing solutions for our most vulnerable.”
This is the 30th Inside Safe encampment operation in Los Angeles. The initiative is responsible for bringing more than 1,800 Angelenos inside. Mayor Bass is moving Los Angeles forward with an urgent and strategic approach to confronting the homelessness crisis, which includes declaring a state of emergency, taking action to dramatically accelerate and lowering the cost of building affordable and temporary housing, moving to maximize the use of City-owned property for temporary and permanent housing and cutting through red tape to move people into permanent housing. Earlier this week, Mayor Bass celebrated the grand opening of The Wilcox, a new permanent supportive housing project for formerly unhoused older adults that was accelerated thanks to the Mayor’s efforts to cut red tape with Executive Directive 1.
Inside Safe supports the following five goals:
Reduce the loss of life on our streets
Increase access to mental health and substance abuse treatment for those living in encampments
Eliminate street encampments
Promote long-term housing stability for people experiencing homelessness
Enhance the safety and hygiene of neighborhoods for all residents, businesses, and neighbors
Read the Inside Safe Executive Directive here.
Inside Safe is one feature in a comprehensive strategy to confront the homelessness crisis.
In total, more than 17,000 Angelenos have been housed under the Bass administration through many different strategies including Inside Safe, which has now happened in 30 encampments around the city. The administration is focused on housing more people and also building housing faster – with more than 8,000 units of affordable housing expedited in the City of Los Angeles.