LA Mayor Bass says nearly 22,000 homeless people have been moved inside during her first year

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Nearly 22,000 Angelenos experiencing homelessness have been moved off the streets during the first year of Karen Bass' administration, the mayor announced Wednesday.

Bass and other leaders tasked with solving Los Angeles' homeless crisis marked her one year in office. They stood on the sidewalk outside Larchmont Charter School on Selma Avenue in Hollywood.

A large homeless encampment once blocked the sidewalk, but was cleared under Bass' Inside Safe program.

"What I could have done is I could have spent the first year studying the problem, testing it out, figuring it out - what to do. I said no. This is an emergency," Bass told Eyewitness News. "We're going to fly this plane and build it at the same time."

According to Bass, nearly 22,000 unhoused Angelenos were moved off the streets in her first year thanks to local, state and national efforts. The figure is 28% more than 2022.

The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority's 2023 homeless count found there's over 46,000 people experiencing homelessness in the city. Bass says much of this year has been focused on removing barriers to housing the homeless.

"One barrier that I discovered this year was that an individual on the street had to prove that they did not have the income. If you're on the street, how am I supposed to prove my income?" Bass said. "If you're on the street you have to have a government-issued ID. If I don't have an address, how can I have a government issued ID?"

Inside Safe has cleared 32 of the city's most problematic encampments and placed 1,951 people into interim housing, but only a few hundred of those have been moved into permanent housing.

"No. I am not OK with that. That has been a very frustrating aspect, but one of the things that we have to reconcile is the fact that there were thousands of people in interim housing waiting before Inside Safe started," Bass said.

Outside the former Hollywood encampment, a man who is now housed thanked the mayor.

"I got my apartment because of this lady. I got this lady's back. I love this lady," the man said speaking just steps from Bass. "I take a bath every day. I got a key because of this lady."

But a goal of Inside Safe is to make sure encampments don't return. That's not the case at Cahuenga Boulevard under the 101 Freeway, the first Inside Safe site nearly one year ago. Some tents there have returned.