from Los Angeles magazine
Mayor Karen Bass’s $67 Million ($NZ 108 million) Homeless Program Has Only Housed 255 So Far
Bass spearheaded the program a year ago but hasn’t been able to produce results that justify its hefty price tag.
A year after Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass spearheaded her “Inside Safe” program to house the city’s homeless, results look shaky.
Bass has shelled out roughly $67 million on the program but only moved 255 of L.A.’s 46,000 unhoused individuals into permanent housing, so far. Naturally, she told NBC’s I-Team that she was “not satisfied with those numbers.”
She kicked off the program shortly after taking office in December 2022, making it a main component of her agenda for the city. As of February 2023—just a month after Inside Safe first launched—Bass made headlines for clearing six homeless encampments across L.A. The highlight of the campaign at the time was the removal of an encampment in South L.A. located at 87th Street and Western Avenue, which previously spanned an entire block.
At the time, her efforts looked to signify an upcoming era of change for the city. In just one month, she had relocated 247 unhoused people to temporary shelters, with 40 of them eventually being moved into permanent housing.
“It’s a very exciting time because people are very thankful to be leaving the streets,” Bass previously said of the progress.
Nearly one year later, she’s only been able to put an additional 215 unhoused into permanent housing. She cites issues with an overwhelming amount of work for the city’s caseworkers as a possible reason for the low numbers.
“We have worked them beyond their capacity. They never had to work at this volume before, so they basically cannot manage it,” Bass told NBC4.
Why is everything so expensive in California? It’s not because the population is increasing — despite the flood of illegal migrants Joe has allowed, the state’s population has actually declined in the last few years. In a nutshell, the Big Government approach of the Democrats doesn’t work. L.A. City Council (city population 3.8 million) has over 50,000 employees with a $4.8 billion payroll. A year ago it was reported from a study that residents need to make $221,000 ($NZ 356,000) per year to own a home in L.A. — that figure will be higher now.