By Los Angeles County Politics (LACP)
Homelessness increased across the city of Los Angeles and much of the county in this year’s point-in-time count, marking the first uptick after two consecutive years of decline and creating a political headwind for Mayor Karen Bass as she seeks reelection in November.
Citywide homelessness rose 3.4% compared to last year, while the unsheltered population — those living outside or in vehicles — jumped 7.9%, according to figures from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA).
Across the broader continuum of care, which spans 85 of the county’s 88 cities, homelessness rose 1.2%, with unsheltered homelessness up 3.5%. Long Beach, Pasadena and Glendale conduct their own counts and are not included in those figures.
The reversal comes after LAHSA reported a 4% decline in homelessness last year, including a 10% drop in unsheltered homelessness.
Bass blamed the uptick in homelessness on a lack of resources at the federal level and noted it has come on the heels of a decline in homelessness over the last several years.
“For two years straight, we drove down homelessness by historic margins — but as expected, last year our efforts ultimately couldn’t keep up with policies and funding cuts at the federal and state levels that pushed more people onto the streets,” said Bass.
“The Trump Administration has driven up the cost of gas, groceries, and rent — pushing more families to the edge — and slashed critical safety net funding. And, last year’s 50% cut in state HHAP funding from $1 billion to $500 million — resulting in a $70 million hit to L.A. city alone — severely impacted our work to keep people housed and get more Angelenos off the streets,” the mayor added.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath (D-Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, Calabasas, Malibu, Pacoima, Panorama City) cautioned against reading too much into a single count.
“People experiencing homelessness — and the communities impacted by this crisis — care less about esoteric debates over the numbers,” Horvath said in a statement. “They care more about what they see on our streets — whether people are getting into housing, accessing the care they need, and being accountable for how their tax dollars are being spent.”
The count’s release comes amid an ongoing restructuring of the region’s homelessness bureaucracy. The county Board of Supervisors voted last year to shift hundreds of millions of dollars away from LAHSA toward a newly created Department of Homeless Services and Housing (DHSH), which launched July 1.
LAHSA has since made workforce cuts, and city officials have been weighing whether to withdraw from the joint powers authority altogether.
LAHSA is also facing pressure from Washington: the Trump administration moved last month to suspend the agency from seeking or receiving federal homelessness funding, a move LAHSA is challenging in court and that remains on hold.
Bass sits on LAHSA’s 10-member governing board and appoints four of its members; the county supervisors appoint the other five.
The new numbers land as Bass faces a reelection challenge from City Councilmember Nithya Raman, who chairs the council’s housing and homelessness committee.
LAHSA had not released an official statement on the count as of post time.
