Letters to the Editor: These problems will always prevent L.A. from solving homelessness
3 days, 17 hours ago

Letters to the Editor: These problems will always prevent L.A. from solving homelessness

LA Times  

To the editor: Both the city and county of Los Angeles are considering breaking up the L.A. According to LAHSA, the number of people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles County declined by 0.27% in 2024 compared to 2023. Nationally, for every 100 people who exited homelessness in 2024, another 118 entered into homelessness, according to the federal government. So the city and county need to look more closely at the reasons homelessness is not being prevented: the staggeringly high cost of rental housing, the scarcity of extremely low-income housing, the removal of rent-controlled units and the lack of resources to assist those who are vulnerable to falling into homelessness because of eviction. To the editor: Reading your editorial on New Year’s Day about LAHSA and all its resources got me thinking about an elderly woman I’ve seen camped out for the past couple of years on a bus bench with her belongings scattered around her on Santa Monica Boulevard in Century City, across from gleaming skyscraper buildings.

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History of this topic

Editorial: Think twice before breaking up the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority
1 week, 1 day ago

Editorial: Think twice before breaking up the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority

LA Times  

Los Angeles City Council member Nithya Raman, left, now former City Council member Paul Krekorian and LAHSA Chief Executive Va Lecia Adams Kellum kick off the first night of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority’s 2024 homeless count in North Hollywood on Jan. 23. The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority is the closest the city and county have had to …

US homelessness surges 18% in 2024 as affordable housing crisis deepens
Top News
1 week, 5 days ago

US homelessness surges 18% in 2024 as affordable housing crisis deepens

India Today  

The United States saw an 18.1% increase in homelessness this year, a dramatic rise driven mostly by a lack of affordable housing as well as devastating natural disasters and a surge of migrants in several parts of the country, federal officials said Friday. “No American should face homelessness, and the Biden-Harris Administration is committed to ensuring every family has access …

US homelessness up 18% as affordable housing remains out of reach for many people
Trending News
1 week, 6 days ago

US homelessness up 18% as affordable housing remains out of reach for many people

Associated Press  

The United States saw an 18.1% increase in homelessness this year, a dramatic rise driven mostly by a lack of affordable housing as well as devastating natural disasters and a surge of migrants in several parts of the country, federal officials said Friday. “No American should face homelessness, and the Biden-Harris Administration is committed to ensuring every family has access …

U.S. homelessness up 18% as affordable housing remains out of reach for many people
1 week, 6 days ago

U.S. homelessness up 18% as affordable housing remains out of reach for many people

LA Times  

The United States saw an 18.1% increase in homelessness this year, a rise driven by a lack of affordable housing as well as devastating natural disasters and a surge of migrants in several parts of the country, federal officials said Friday. “No American should face homelessness, and the Biden-Harris Administration is committed to ensuring every family has access to the …

L.A. to boost pay for nonprofits at its homeless shelters
3 weeks, 5 days ago

L.A. to boost pay for nonprofits at its homeless shelters

LA Times  

Ramiro Arana-Beserra, 56, checks out a tiny home village in Boyle Heights in February. He told the council that a push to $80 would “exhaust” the pool of state funds used by the city to pay for interim homeless housing during the current budget year. Jerry Jones, who heads the coalition, said homeless service providers have struggled for several years, …

A radical reshaping of L.A. County’s homeless services system is proposed
1 month, 2 weeks ago

A radical reshaping of L.A. County’s homeless services system is proposed

LA Times  

Los Angeles City Council President Paul Krekorian, from right, and L.A. County Supervisors Lindsey Horvath and Kathryn Barger join other volunteers to count the homeless in North Hollywood on Jan. 23. Responding to long-standing dissatisfaction over the effectiveness of homelessness programs, Supervisors Lindsey Horvath and Kathryn Barger are proposing a new county department that would take over hundreds of millions …

County audit finds lax accounting at L.A. homeless authority
1 month, 2 weeks ago

County audit finds lax accounting at L.A. homeless authority

LA Times  

Kris Freed, left, a consultant with LAHSA and Va Lecia Adams Kellum, right, CEO of LAHSA tour a new building that has been master-leased by LAHSA on behalf of LA City for Mayor Bass’ Inside Safe program. LAHSA, a city-county joint powers agency, failed to establish formal agreements on how and when advances should be repaid, did not always maintain …

Don't despair, voters: L.A. residents struck blows for good government
1 month, 3 weeks ago

Don't despair, voters: L.A. residents struck blows for good government

LA Times  

It is Saturday, Nov. 16. For the latter, Measure G might be the most earth-shattering good-government ballot initiative you barely remember; The Times’ editorial board called its passage “the most transformative decision county voters have made in decades.” Three major reforms were packed into the measure approved by L.A. County voters last week: the establishment of an ethics commission by …

Editorial: L.A. County voters agreed to another tax to reduce homelessness. Let’s make sure it does
1 month, 3 weeks ago

Editorial: L.A. County voters agreed to another tax to reduce homelessness. Let’s make sure it does

LA Times  

Los Angeles County got a gift from voters: They passed Measure A, a half-cent-per-dollar sales tax that will provide a billion dollars a year for services and housing for homeless people. It’s imperative that L.A. city and county officials and civic leaders use that money efficiently and transparently to get people the help and housing they need. The county made …

L.A. County homeless tax ahead in early returns. Voters deadlocked on enlarging board of supes
2 months ago

L.A. County homeless tax ahead in early returns. Voters deadlocked on enlarging board of supes

LA Times  

L.A. County voters will decide the fate of Measure A, which would double the quarter-cent sales tax voters approved in 2017 for homeless services. A ballot measure aimed at enlarging the pot of money available for homeless services in Los Angeles County was ahead in early returns Tuesday night, while voters were deadlocked on another measure expanding the county Board …

What should L.A. do about homelessness? Renters and homeowners answer differently, poll finds
2 months, 2 weeks ago

What should L.A. do about homelessness? Renters and homeowners answer differently, poll finds

LA Times  

Poll after poll shows that just about everyone in Los Angeles believes homelessness is one of the biggest problems facing the region. Renters in Los Angeles County were at least 14 percentage points more likely to support rent control, affordable housing construction and the use of housing vouchers in their own neighborhoods than homeowners, the survey found, while homeowners backed …

Los Angeles’ $22-billion homelessness problem gives leaders a choice: Double down or change strategies
2 months, 3 weeks ago

Los Angeles’ $22-billion homelessness problem gives leaders a choice: Double down or change strategies

LA Times  

City of Los Angeles officials are finally confronting a question that has seemed too big to answer: How much would it actually cost to get every person living on the street today indoors and make sure that no one languished there for years again? “In other ways, it doesn’t seem that eye-popping to me for the scale of the problem.” …

The under-the-radar proposal to end homelessness in Los Angeles for $20 billion
3 months, 3 weeks ago

The under-the-radar proposal to end homelessness in Los Angeles for $20 billion

LA Times  

A homeless man waits for transportation to housing as Mayor Karen Bass’ Inside Safe program employees along with the Sanitation Bureau clean up homeless encampments along Hollywood Boulevard and Gower Street in Hollywood in August. It would cost $20.4 billion to end homelessness in Los Angeles in a decade, a price tag requiring local, state and federal governments to more …

Editorial: Cities in L.A. County shouldn’t race to criminalize homelessness after Grants Pass ruling
6 months ago

Editorial: Cities in L.A. County shouldn’t race to criminalize homelessness after Grants Pass ruling

LA Times  

Homeless advocates take part in the “Housing Not Handcuffs” rally organized by the National Homelessness Law Center during oral arguments in Grants Pass vs. Johnson at the Supreme Court on April 22 in Washington. Within hours of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Grants Pass vs. Johnson last week allowing cities and counties to criminalize homelessness, Los Angeles City Councilmember Traci …

Will the Grants Pass ruling on homelessness spur smaller cities to shoo people into L.A.?
6 months ago

Will the Grants Pass ruling on homelessness spur smaller cities to shoo people into L.A.?

LA Times  

When the U.S. Supreme Court issued its landmark ruling on anti-camping laws last month, Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo was one of the local political leaders who welcomed it. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the 8th Amendment’s cruel and unusual punishment clause prohibits criminal penalties for “sitting, sleeping, or lying outside on public property for homeless individuals who cannot obtain …

Number of homeless residents in Los Angeles County decreases in annual count
6 months, 1 week ago

Number of homeless residents in Los Angeles County decreases in annual count

Associated Press  

LOS ANGELES — The number of homeless residents counted in Los Angeles County has dipped slightly, decreasing by about 0.3% since last year as California continues to struggle with the long-running crisis of tens of thousands of people sleeping in cars and encampments. Results released Friday from a federally required tally conducted in January found 75,312 people were homeless on …

For the first time since 2018, homeless count finds fewer people living on L.A. streets
6 months, 1 week ago

For the first time since 2018, homeless count finds fewer people living on L.A. streets

LA Times  

After climbing for the last five years, overall homelessness leveled off in Los Angeles this year, with fewer people living on the streets, according to the annual count released Friday. “These shifts in both the city and the county mean that this year, across our region, more people are experiencing homelessness inside, where they are safer, where they have food, …

Editorial: Drop in L.A.’s homeless population shows efforts to house people are paying off
6 months, 1 week ago

Editorial: Drop in L.A.’s homeless population shows efforts to house people are paying off

LA Times  

Wah Chen, 52, counts a homeless man sleeping next to his tent while participating in the second night of the 2024 Los Angeles County homeless count on Jan. 24. The results of the 2024 point-in-time homeless count released Friday show a 2.2% drop in the population of unhoused people living in the city of Los Angeles, from 46,260 in 2023 …

Deadly overdoses stopped surging among L.A. County homeless people. Narcan could be why
8 months ago

Deadly overdoses stopped surging among L.A. County homeless people. Narcan could be why

LA Times  

Registered nurse Linda Leimer with the L.A. County Department of Health Services, left, hands Narcan nasal spray to a man in Van Nuys in 2022. Now a newly released report shows that the death rate from overdoses stopped rising among unhoused people in the county in 2022 — the year L.A. County was stepping up its efforts to save lives. …

Editorial: L.A. officials lied to justify seizing homeless people’s belongings. That’s despicable
8 months, 2 weeks ago

Editorial: L.A. officials lied to justify seizing homeless people’s belongings. That’s despicable

LA Times  

Ry Thounry packs up her tent on the Main Street overpass above the 101 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles while sanitation crews move in to clean the homeless encampment. Plaintiff Pete Diocson, Jr., a homeless man in Harbor City, had his dog’s wire kennel seized and discarded because sanitation workers and Los Angeles Police Department officers told him it was …

Man builds entire home next to LA freeway
8 months, 2 weeks ago

Man builds entire home next to LA freeway

The Independent  

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The home is part of an unhoused community …

Renters across L.A. are under strain and many fear becoming homeless, survey finds
8 months, 3 weeks ago

Renters across L.A. are under strain and many fear becoming homeless, survey finds

LA Times  

High rents are putting many Angelenos under strain, according to a new survey. Nearly 4 in 10 renters in Los Angeles County have worried about losing their homes and becoming homeless in the last few years, according to the results of a new survey from UCLA. The 2024 Quality of Life Index, prepared by UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs, …

Mayor Karen Bass urges L.A.’s wealthy to fund homeless housing
8 months, 3 weeks ago

Mayor Karen Bass urges L.A.’s wealthy to fund homeless housing

LA Times  

L.A. Mayor Karen Bass delivers her second State of the City address at City Hall on Monday. “And now we must prevail on the humanity and generosity of the private sector.” The pitch comes as Bass is working to break a logjam that has limited the city’s ability to move homeless Angelenos out of interim housing, such as hotel and …

L.A.’s right-left divide on solving homelessness
8 months, 3 weeks ago

L.A.’s right-left divide on solving homelessness

LA Times  

With an estimated 75,000 people unhoused in Los Angeles County, there’s universal agreement among our readers that the situation in Southern California is unacceptable and deserves urgent action. Mary A. Fischer, Echo Park Many heartfelt attempts by many heartfelt politicians have failed residents, who continue to face tents and trash that block sidewalks, and who fear violence by people wandering …

How effective are California's homelessness programs? State hasn't been tracking
8 months, 4 weeks ago

How effective are California's homelessness programs? State hasn't been tracking

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy California spent $24 billion to …

Opinion: Why is California behind Texas and other states in curbing homelessness?
9 months ago

Opinion: Why is California behind Texas and other states in curbing homelessness?

LA Times  

Rent is surging nationwide. Texas cities also stand out: Last year, the Houston metropolitan area achieved the lowest rate of homelessness of any major U.S. city, with just 52 people per 100,000 residents experiencing homelessness. Meanwhile, five of the top 10 major cities with the highest rates of homelessness nationally are in California: San Francisco, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Oakland …

Many homeless in L.A. died from drugs in 2023, preliminary data show
9 months, 1 week ago

Many homeless in L.A. died from drugs in 2023, preliminary data show

LA Times  

Tents line the sidewalk at a homeless encampment in the Rampart Village neighborhood of Los Angeles in November 2021. Data released Thursday by City Controller Kenneth Mejia show at least 898 homeless people died last year on streets, in shelters, on freeways and elsewhere. Mejia’s report, which analyzed Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner preliminary data, did not break …

Civic groups launch campaign to double L.A. County’s quarter-cent homelessness sales tax
9 months, 1 week ago

Civic groups launch campaign to double L.A. County’s quarter-cent homelessness sales tax

LA Times  

A man who is homeless stands among tents and makeshift enclosures on Wilde Street in Los Angeles in 2020. An alliance of civic groups is gathering signatures to place a measure on the November ballot that would double L.A. County’s homelessness sales tax to a half-cent to raise more funds for housing,prevention and services. The money would fund homelessness programs, …

A year ago, L.A. County declared homelessness a state of emergency. Is it working?
10 months, 3 weeks ago

A year ago, L.A. County declared homelessness a state of emergency. Is it working?

LA Times  

A line of campers along Jefferson Boulevard in Marina del Rey in 2023. Los Angeles County’s Pathway Home program targets RV encampments, cleaning up the RVs and moving residents into interim or permanent housing. On Tuesday, the supervisors heard from Cheri Todoroff, executive director of the L.A. County Homeless Initiative, who said the emergency order declared in January 2023 “absolutely …

Editorial: Here’s how Los Angeles can help prevent people from falling into homelessness
10 months, 4 weeks ago

Editorial: Here’s how Los Angeles can help prevent people from falling into homelessness

LA Times  

Laura Ayala, left, signs up in January for an information seminar on tenants rights with Bianca Lopez, an outreach worker for We Are Los Angeles, a project of the Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles. There’s no question that Los Angeles needs more permanent housing for people who are already homeless. But without more homelessness prevention, waves of people will continue …

Photos: 2024 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count is underway
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Photos: 2024 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count is underway

LA Times  

The annual three-night Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count is underway with volunteers fanning out to tally the number of unsheltered individuals, tents, vehicles and makeshift shelters they see in their assigned census tract. The 2023 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count revealed a 9% year-over-year increase in homelessness in Los Angeles County and a 10% rise in Los Angeles. While participating …

Annual count of homeless residents begins in Los Angeles, where tens of thousands live on streets
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Annual count of homeless residents begins in Los Angeles, where tens of thousands live on streets

Associated Press  

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County’s annual count of homeless residents began Tuesday night — a crucial part of the region’s efforts to confront the crisis of tens of thousands of people living on the streets. Up to 6,000 volunteers with the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority fanned out for the effort’s main component, the unsheltered street tally. AP AUDIO: …

Homelessness is down in South L.A. But nearly 13,000 remain unhoused
1 year ago

Homelessness is down in South L.A. But nearly 13,000 remain unhoused

LA Times  

A string of tents and makeshift shelters sat for years west of the 110 Freeway, across the street from an elementary school in the Vermont Vista neighborhood. While homelessness increased in other parts of the city, South L.A. had 10% fewer unhoused people than the previous year, according to the annual point-in-time count conducted last January. Karen McGee, a homelessness …

Thirty years ago, Time magazine asked if L.A. was ‘going to hell.’ Are we there yet?
1 year ago

Thirty years ago, Time magazine asked if L.A. was ‘going to hell.’ Are we there yet?

LA Times  

The freeways are clogged with cars. And the question it asks is even more ominous: “Is the City of Angels Going to Hell?” The accompanying story, titled “Unhealed Wounds,” is a portrait of a divided city in the wake of the 1992 riots sparked by the acquittal of the Los Angeles Police Department officers who had beaten Rodney King. Time …

Homeless numbers in Los Angeles could surge again, even as thousands move to temporary shelter
1 year ago

Homeless numbers in Los Angeles could surge again, even as thousands move to temporary shelter

Associated Press  

LOS ANGELES — In the hours after being elected mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass made a promise that will be an inescapable metric of her time in office: “We are going to solve homelessness.” The Democratic member of Congress, who had been on then-candidate Joe Biden’s short list for vice president, envisioned streets clear of more than 40,000 homeless …

Column: Is L.A. actually solving homelessness? The answer will start with perception, not reality
1 year ago

Column: Is L.A. actually solving homelessness? The answer will start with perception, not reality

LA Times  

Mayor Karen Bass, accompanied by HUD official Richard J. Monocchio, left, and City Councilmembers Nithya Raman, far left, Hugo Soto-Martinez and Bob Blumenfield, speak to reporters in Hollywood on Wednesday. “I do really worry that it’s become normalized in public discourse to speak about people experiencing homelessness as, like, a problem for those who are not homeless — as opposed …

Opinion: I run an L.A. homeless services organization. But I can’t afford to live in L.A. anymore
1 year, 2 months ago

Opinion: I run an L.A. homeless services organization. But I can’t afford to live in L.A. anymore

LA Times  

Efforts to house people, which include hundreds of millions of dollars spent on shelter, permanent housing and outreach, have failed to stem the growth of street encampments in Los Angeles. But this time, because of the double whammy of the housing affordability crisis in Los Angeles and the lack of housing security, my family isn’t looking for another place here …

Letters to the Editor: This housing project isn’t ‘down the street.’ It’s right next to single-family homes
1 year, 2 months ago

Letters to the Editor: This housing project isn’t ‘down the street.’ It’s right next to single-family homes

LA Times  

A proposed 33-bed interim homelessness shelter at the site of a city parking lot on Midvale Avenue in West L.A. has drawn backlash from housed residents nearby. To the editor: Your editorial on the local opposition to a temporary housing project for homeless people in a West L.A. residential neighborhood failed to include any objective data or arguments on why …

L.A. City Council backs effort to regulate ‘vanlords’ who rent RVs to homeless people
1 year, 4 months ago

L.A. City Council backs effort to regulate ‘vanlords’ who rent RVs to homeless people

LA Times  

The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday backed an effort to regulate the leasing of RVs and crack down on so-called vanlords who rent them to homeless people. The ordinance would also add a requirement to city code that RV landlords comply with “relevant state and federal laws as it relates to the sale and lease of RVs.” State law …

More Americans Are Ending Up Homeless—at a Record Rate
1 year, 4 months ago

More Americans Are Ending Up Homeless—at a Record Rate

Live Mint  

The U.S. has seen a record increase in homeless people this year as the Covid-19 pandemic fades, according to a Wall Street Journal review of data from around the country. How we compiled the U.S. homeless numbers The Journal reviewed available data from more than 300 entities that count homeless people in areas ranging from cities to entire states. Denver …

1 out of 6 people have left the housing provided by L.A. homeless program, agency says
1 year, 5 months ago

1 out of 6 people have left the housing provided by L.A. homeless program, agency says

LA Times  

Mayor Karen Bass visits a homeless encampment near LACMA whose residents became part of her Inside Safe initiative in February. About one out of every six homeless people who have taken part in Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’ Inside Safe initiative have either left the program’s housing facilities or exited the program entirely, according to figures prepared by the regional …

How three men became homeless on the Westside of L.A.
1 year, 5 months ago

How three men became homeless on the Westside of L.A.

LA Times  

We must deal with the societal problems of mental illness and drug addiction, but they’re not the cause of the homelessness crisis in Los Angeles. — Robert Karron Jermaine My name is Jermaine, but everyone calls me “J.” I’m 47, and I grew up in South Central. “You’d think a case worker could help,” Jermaine said, “but I’m doing it …

Is there a market solution to L.A. homeless housing?
1 year, 5 months ago

Is there a market solution to L.A. homeless housing?

LA Times  

Kelvin Calloway, second from left, at a permanent supportive housing complex under construction on the former parking lot of Bethel AME Church in Los Angeles. What Calloway had was $11.7 million in private sector capital that would allow Bethel AME Church to build 53 permanent housing units for homeless people on its property at 79th Street and Western Avenue. “It’s …

Single homeless women in L.A. County suffer high levels of violence, new study finds
1 year, 5 months ago

Single homeless women in L.A. County suffer high levels of violence, new study finds

LA Times  

A woman named Cuba wakes up early on the sidewalk in Los Angeles’ Skid Row in 2021. Single homeless women make up nearly 70% of the women experiencing homelessness on any given night in the county, according to the report. The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority reported 22,320 women experiencing homelessness in 2023, including women with partners or family households …

Editorial: L.A.’s homeless numbers are grim. We must keep building housing and expanding services
1 year, 6 months ago

Editorial: L.A.’s homeless numbers are grim. We must keep building housing and expanding services

LA Times  

An encampment in downtown Los Angeles along an offramp to the 110 Freeway in 2019. Especially alarming is the 18% jump from 2022 in the number of chronically homeless people in the county These are the most vulnerable individuals in the homeless population — the ones who have been unhoused for at least a year and struggle with a mental …

Number of homeless residents in Los Angeles County jumps by 9% in annual count
1 year, 6 months ago

Number of homeless residents in Los Angeles County jumps by 9% in annual count

Associated Press  

The number of homeless residents counted in Los Angeles County has spiked again, increasing by 9% since last year in the latest marker of how deep the crisis is of people sleeping in cars, encampments or shelters in California. Results released Thursday from a federally required tally conducted in January found 75,518 people were homeless on any given night across …

Number of homeless residents in Los Angeles County jumps by 9% in annual count
1 year, 6 months ago

Number of homeless residents in Los Angeles County jumps by 9% in annual count

The Independent  

Get Nadine White's Race Report newsletter for a fresh perspective on the week's news Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The number of homeless residents counted in Los …

Homelessness continues to soar, jumping 9% in L.A. County, 10% in the city
1 year, 6 months ago

Homelessness continues to soar, jumping 9% in L.A. County, 10% in the city

LA Times  

Nathaniel Prenters, 44, gathers his belongings before an L.A. sanitation crew arrives at an encampment in the 200 block of South Venice Boulevard. Homelessness continues to rise dramatically, increasing by 9% in Los Angeles County and 10% in the city of Los Angeles last year, a stark illustration of the challenges faced by officials trying to reduce the number of …

Here’s what parts of L.A. County saw biggest rise in homelessness
1 year, 6 months ago

Here’s what parts of L.A. County saw biggest rise in homelessness

LA Times  

Residents of a homeless encampment outside their tents on Venice Boulevard in Los Angeles. The homeless count for Los Angeles County is in, and officials say the numbers are discouraging. The annual point-in-time count released Thursday by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority found a 9% increase in Los Angeles County and a 10% increase in the city of Los …

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