Los Angeles County has over 72,000 homeless individuals. Only 30% of them are sheltered.
New York City shelters 97% of its homeless population. Los Angeles shelters 30%. Both are American cities. The gap between them is not a resource problem. It is a policy problem.
Approximately 47,000 people in Los Angeles sleep outdoors every night. In encampments, tents, cars, and doorways. Los Angeles declared a state of emergency on homelessness in December 2022. Three years later the number of people sleeping outside has not meaningfully decreased.
The Inside Safe program was the city's primary response. By the end of 2025 it had spent more than $322 million. It served roughly 5,800 individuals. Of those, 1,243 were placed in permanent housing.
$322 million. 1,243 people in permanent housing. That is approximately $259,000 per person successfully housed in a city where the median home price is around $900,000.
The program spent $322 million and left more than 70,000 people still on the street.
Los Angeles has been declaring emergencies, launching programs, and spending money on homelessness for years. The population of people sleeping outside has not gone down. The spending has gone up.
At some point the question is not whether Los Angeles cares about its homeless population. It is whether the approach it has chosen is capable of actually solving the problem.
#losangeles #homelessness #california #government #housing #politics #frontpage
Los Angeles County has over 72,000 homeless individuals. Only 30% of them are sheltered.
New York City shelters 97% of its homeless population. Los Angeles shelters 30%. Both are American cities. The gap between them is not a resource problem. It is a policy problem.
Approximately 47,000 people in Los Angeles sleep outdoors every night. In encampments, tents, cars, and doorways. Los Angeles declared a state of emergency on homelessness in December 2022. Three years later the number of people sleeping outside has not meaningfully decreased.
The Inside Safe program was the city's primary response. By the end of 2025 it had spent more than $322 million. It served roughly 5,800 individuals. Of those, 1,243 were placed in permanent housing.
$322 million. 1,243 people in permanent housing. That is approximately $259,000 per person successfully housed in a city where the median home price is around $900,000.
The program spent $322 million and left more than 70,000 people still on the street.
Los Angeles has been declaring emergencies, launching programs, and spending money on homelessness for years. The population of people sleeping outside has not gone down. The spending has gone up.
At some point the question is not whether Los Angeles cares about its homeless population. It is whether the approach it has chosen is capable of actually solving the problem.
#losangeles #homelessness #california #government #housing #politics #frontpage
