Homelessness Rises In LA County, City After 2-Year Decline: Reports

LOS ANGELES, CA — Following two straight years of decreases, homelessness increased by 3.4% in the city of Los Angeles this year, with the number of unsheltered individuals jumping by 7.9%, according to reports published Thursday, with Mayor Karen Bass blaming federal government service cuts for the rise.

Fox 11 and the Los Angeles Times both reported the increases in homelessness, citing sources familiar with figures from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, which is scheduled to officially release the numbers on Friday.

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Sources, who asked the outlets to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to discuss the data, told the outlets that homelessness increased by 1.2% across the county's Continuum of Care, which includes most cities.

Long Beach, Pasadena and Glendale — which conduct their own counts and are separate from the county COC — experienced a 3.5% increase in unsheltered homelessness, according to the reports. Last year, those three cities experienced a 4% decrease in homelessness, and a 10% decrease in unsheltered homelessness.

LAHSA Interim CEO Gita O'Neill, Commission Vice Chair Stephanie Graves and Chief of Staff Paul Rubenstein are scheduled to announce results of the 2026 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count at the organization's headquarters Friday. Amanda Landrian Gonzalez, a member of USC's Center for Homelessness, Housing and Health Equity Research, will provide a presentation on the data as well.

L.A. city and county officials have repeatedly touted a 17.5% decrease in unsheltered homelessness over the last two years.

Los Angeles Mayor Bass issued a statement Thursday blamed the Trump administration for the increase in homelessness, saying its policies have driven up the cost of living and while reducing federal funding for safety net programs. She noted that reductions in state funding for homelessness have also impacted the city's ability to respond to the crisis.

The mayor also criticized L.A. County for a "lack of adequate services," which she said was a contributing factor to people cycling in and out of homelessness. The county provides cities with services such as mental health and substance-abuse counseling.

"Despite these headwinds, we have reduced homelessness in Los Angeles by double digits since 2023 — placing tens of thousands of Angelenos in interim housing, moving 6,000 people off the streets through Inside Safe, and housing more than 1,000 homeless veterans," Bass said in her statement.

While Bass has defended Inside Safe, her signature program for encampment resolution, a Los Angeles Times analysis found that in roughly four years since the program began, about 41% of unhoused people who participated in the program had returned to homelessness.

L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath told The Times the homeless count serves as one data point and "not the whole picture."

"People experiencing homelessness — and the communities impacted by this crisis — care less about esoteric debates over the numbers," Horvath told The Times. "They care more about what they see on our streets — whether people are getting into housing, accessing the are they need, and being accountable for how their tax dollars are being spent."

LAHSA has faced significant challenges as L.A. County diverted more than $300 million and members of its workforce to establish a new department of homelessness, which began July 1. City officials are also working on a plan to separate itself from the agency.

The joint city-county agency, established in 1993, has been criticized for its failure to properly track millions of dollars, and ensuring taxpayer money was being used effectively. LAHSA has stated it has implemented new procedures, protocols and technology to improve those issues.

"But we also have to be clear-eyed about what's not working," Bass said. "For 30 years, this city has run its homeless response through LAHSA — and audits and the courts have now made plain what too many Angelenos already saw: the money wasn't tracked, providers went unpaid, and public trust eroded.

"I'm not going to defend a broken system. The city must build something better — results-driven, transparent, and centered around the people we're trying to help, not the bureaucracy," Bass added.

City News Service