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Impact Aug 12, 2023
A formerly unhoused man unlocks the door to his new apartment via the Inside Safe program. | Photo courtesy of Mayor Karen Bass/Twitter
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City officials announced Friday that approximately 45 unhoused people moved inside to nearby motels after an Inside Safe encampment operation took place in Hollywood, marking the 24th such operation in the city.
Mayor Karen Bass, LA County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath and Councilman Hugo Soto-Martinez collaborated on this Inside Safe operation to address an encampment outside of Larchmont Charter School on Selma Avenue. Inside Safe is a citywide initiative intended to bring people inside from tents and encampments, and to prevent encampments from returning.
“We are working every day, across Los Angeles, to urgently confront the homelessness crisis. We will not let up,” Bass said in a statement. “Inside Safe continues to bring people inside who were living on the streets and in encampments and help connect them with housing and services.”
Soto-Martinez said his homelessness team worked to house people in this encampment for months.
“Partnering with the mayor’s office, service providers and our county partners to help even more people off the streets and on the path to permanent housing is exactly the type of work we city leaders should be doing,” Soto-Martinez said in a statement.
Horvath, who represents the county’s 3rd District and chairs the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority commission, said that local government agencies are “partnering to bring our unhoused neighbors inside and to connect them with critical lifesaving services.”
The Inside Safe initiative is responsible for bringing more than 1,400 Angelenos inside, according to the mayor’s office.
Bass previously declared a state of emergency, taking action to accelerate and lower the cost of building affordable and temporary housing, and moving to maximize the use of city-owned property for temporary and permanent housing
On Aug. 2, the chief administrative officer gave a report to the LA City Council’s Housing Committee with an update on the city’s homelessness spending, as well as metrics on Inside Safe.
According to the report, as of July 27, Inside safe served 1,463 unhoused individuals and placed more than 1,105 individuals in interim housing. However, only 108 of Inside Safe participants, or 8%, had entered permanent housing.
The report indicated the data may not be entirely accurate as the city and LAHSA continues to improve data collection.
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