Los Angeles sees first drop in homeless population in years

The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority announced the results of its 2024 Homeless Point-In-Time Count on Friday, and the numbers pointed in a positive direction for the city and county that is desperate to fix its homelessness issue.

According to the count, there are 75,312 unhoused people in L.A. County and 45,252 in the city. Those figures are down 0.3% and 2.2% from last year, respectively.

“The numbers in this year’s homeless count give us cause to feel optimistic about the direction of our homeless work across L.A. County,” said Va Lecia Adams Kellum, the CEO of LAHSA.

Planters used to deter homeless encampments in Hollywood ordered to be removed

While the decrease in the total homeless population may not sound significant, L.A. saw strides made when it came to the sheltered population. The city of L.A. saw a 10% decrease in the street homeless population, the largest such decrease in nine years.

The city also had a 38% decrease in makeshift shelters.

“For so many years, the count has shown increases in homelessness, and we have all felt that in our neighborhoods. But we leaned into change. And we have changed the trajectory of this crisis and have moved L.A. in a new direction,” said Mayor Karen Bass. “There is nothing we cannot do by taking on the status quo, putting politics aside, and rolling up our sleeves to work together.”

The count comes from a three-day period in January in which people living on the streets, in vehicles, tents and makeshift shelters were counted.

“For the first time in years, the number of people sleeping on our streets is down and the number of people in our shelters is up,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, who represents District 4. “We have focused on shelters and we are doing a better job convincing people to come inside. The next step is building more permanent supportive housing and investing in long-term solutions to this crisis.”

The news of the homelessness decrease coincidentally comes on a day in which the rights of homeless people were clamped down on by the U.S. Supreme Court. The court ruled Friday that local governments can enforce bans on unhoused people sleeping in outdoor spaces.

Responses to that ruling has been mixed. California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the ruling “removes the legal ambiguities” that tied the hands of lawmakers from clearing “unsafe” encampments.

Bass, however, said the ruling “neither will work or save lives,” and it “must not” be used as an excuse to “arrest their way out of this problem.”

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