Mayor Karen Bass says her Inside Safe team helped bring more than 40 unhoused Angelenos indoors this week, a modest but headline-grabbing batch of placements she is tying to a broader push to get people off the streets and into housing. The announcement, posted to her official X account on April 3, lands as city and county data show a rare two-year drop in homelessness. Bass is framing the moment as proof that the city's encampment-resolution strategy is starting to work, while conceding that the crisis is far from solved.
Our Inside Safe team brought more than 40 unhoused Angelenos inside this week, helping them transition off the streets and into safe and stable housing. While there is more work ahead, for the first time ever, the tide is turning: homelessness has declined for two consecutive https://x.com/i/status/2040165031867043895
— Karen Bass (@mayorofla) April 3, 2026
What the latest count shows
According to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority's 2025 Point-in-Time Count, homelessness across Los Angeles County fell about 4 percent to roughly 72,308 people, while the City of Los Angeles saw a 3.4 percent drop to about 43,699, according to LAHSA. LAHSA also reported a nearly 10 percent decline in unsheltered homelessness countywide and said the two-year trend marks the first consecutive drop since the count began. At the same time, the agency cautioned that inflows into homelessness still outpace rehousing and that keeping the numbers moving in the right direction will require more permanent placements and steady funding.
Inside Safe's role on the ground
Bass and her team point to Inside Safe, the city and county's encampment-resolution effort, as a key driver of recent placements, including operations in North Hollywood. In her post on X, the mayor said the Inside Safe team "brought more than 40" people inside this week. The Mayor's Office has been regularly issuing summaries of the program's encampment work. Coverage of the Inside Safe push in Koreatown and other neighborhoods has tracked those operations over the last two years.
Questions about cost and oversight
Advocates and watchdog groups say the topline numbers tell only part of the story and are pressing for a clearer accounting of how Inside Safe money is spent and what outcomes the program is actually delivering. LAist reported that required Inside Safe transparency reports were delayed or incomplete, raising concerns about contracting practices, motel rates, and overall program oversight.
Human Rights Watch has also warned that encampment-resolution tactics can risk criminalizing unhoused people and has urged independent monitoring of operations, according to Human Rights Watch.
Why the numbers matter, and why they're fragile
Local leaders and LAHSA say the recent declines are real but fragile. The agency notes that more people are still falling into homelessness than the system can move into housing, and warns that cuts to rental subsidies or other key funding streams could quickly erase the gains. LAHSA has stressed that sustaining progress will depend on ramping up permanent housing and maintaining reliable funding, even as encampment-focused programs continue to shift people into interim shelter.
For now, Bass and county partners say they plan to keep Inside Safe operations running while they push for more long-term placements, betting that small weekly wins like this latest group of 40 can add up if the system holds.
