LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced today that more than 30 unhoused Angelenos were brought inside with supportive services through Inside Safe response efforts in South Los Angeles, the San Fernando Valley and Hollywood. The effort comes following a Heat Advisory throughout Los Angeles. Inside Safe response efforts are carried out by a dedicated portion of the Field Intervention Team, building relationships with unhoused Angelenos who come to past Inside Safe operation sites and housing them with supportive services. The Response Team monitors all previous Inside Safe locations.
“We are saving lives with urgency,” said Mayor Karen Bass. “The summer months present a new urgency that demands we accelerate our efforts and expand our capacity for interim housing. Our approach will be to work in partnership with all 88 cities in LA County and collaborate to house people across multiple jurisdictions. We’ve brought thousands of Angelenos inside through sustained efforts to address this crisis and we will continue this work with our partners as we break the cycle of homelessness in L.A.”
This effort was in partnership with the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority and the Crisis and Incident Response through Community-led Engagement (CIRCLE) program. CIRCLE is a 24/7 proven unarmed response program that deploys a team of mental health professionals and individuals with lived experience to address non-violent LAPD calls related to unhoused individuals experiencing crisis.
Last month, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) announced the results of the 2024 Homeless Point-In-Time Count, which showed a decline in homelessness in the City of Los Angeles for the first time in six years and historic reductions in street homelessness. The 2024 count results saw a 17% increase in the number of people moved off the streets.
Since her first day in office when she declared an unprecedented emergency on the homelessness crisis, Mayor Karen Bass has driven change in how we address homelessness with new initiatives to bring people living in encampments inside. She has also worked to prevent people from losing their homes and to lock arms across all levels of government to move people inside and save lives and restore neighborhoods.
Key results from the 2024 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count:
Homelessness in the City of Los Angeles is down for the first time in six years.
Unprecedented drop in street homelessness (10% decrease in the City of Los Angeles – the first double digit decrease in the last at least 9 years).
A decrease in makeshift shelters (38% decrease in the City of Los Angeles).
The number of people who moved into permanent housing is at an all time high.
In 2023, tent encampments came down in every council district, and thousands more Angelenos came inside than in 2022 thanks to action locking arms with the City Council, County and LAHSA. The Mayor has worked to improve services provided for unhoused Angelenos coming inside and has also been vocal about the need to make homelessness programs more cost effective as this urgent work continues.