LOS ANGELES—More than 4,000 Angelenos are expected to be housed through various efforts to address homelessness, Mayor Karen Bass announced March 15, including Bass’s declaration of emergency and the Inside Safe program.
During a media presentation Wednesday to provide updates on the ongoing crisis, Bass acknowledged the long-term efforts of the city council and Los Angeles voters who passed Measure HHH to provide funding to address homelessness in the city, as well as state and federal programs.
“We’re in very specific areas of red tape that we can ‘lock arms,’ you’ve heard that phrase from day one,” Bass said. “One of the things I wanted to see was a complete alignment of every level of government, and I’m excited to say that actually happened much quicker than I imagined.”
Bass reported 1,336 individuals entered interim housing and 614 individuals found permanent housing as a result of Measure HHH, while about 775 people were housed through emergency vouchers, 1,000 people found rooms through the mayor’s Inside Safe program, 235 people found safe housing through master leasing and 94 veterans through Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing vouchers.
Inside Safe Program
Bass said her administration’s strategy includes Inside Safe, her plan to bring people inside from tents and encampments—an emphasis on pushing housing forward by closing funding gaps in housing development, approving land across the city for affordable housing development, implementing new tenant protections, etc.Mercedes Marquez, chief of housing and homelessness solutions, said Inside Safe is about creating a bridge between encampments and permanent homes.
Marquez said the city began outreach at Skid Row last week, and in the following week officials anticipate moving about 150 homeless individuals into temporary housing at The Grand as part of Inside Safe. According to Marquez, the goal is to move 2,000 homeless individuals from Skid Row into temporary housing within three years.
Bass said she believes the city will be able to house more residents partly due to the nature of the outreach that happens beforehand.
“There’s actually a relationship there. People are known by name and there is the belief that people didn’t trust where they’re moving. But that trust is built,” she said.
The mayor reviewed some of the challenges her administration faces in scaling Inside Safe. She indicated motel cost and availability, lack of capacity, a rigid bureaucratic system, and RV storage and dismantling.
RVs are an ongoing issue, with city officials trying to find solutions such as finding space to store RVs or convincing people living in them to enter temporary housing.
Finance
Bass said her staff renewed a lease with the L.A. Grand Hotel to continue operation as temporary housing, where they will connect people with resources to permanent housing. Part of her strategy will be moving away from acquiring hotel spaces for temporary housing due to the high costs of motel spaces, which will allow for a more immediate response to housing people away from their encampments.Bass noted that of the $50 million she requested from her declaration of emergency on homelessness, $4.4 million has been spent so far with $27 million to be spent on motels and resources for community-based organizations to provide case management and other services.
Bass said $19 million is left from the $50 million. In addition, the city received $60 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the city received $196 million from the state.
The city anticipates still more money and resources to address homelessness in the future, she added.
