Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Tuesday that the Los Angeles area will receive more than $380 million for homelessness reduction efforts as part of a program providing $827 million in grants across California.
Appearing with Mayor Karen Bass at the Downtown Women’s Center in the city’s Skid Row neighborhood, the governor said the funding is part of the fifth wave of the Homeless Housing, Support and Prevention Program. A sixth round was approved in June, with an additional $1 billion in investments expected in the future.
Of the $380.36 million, approximately $160 million will directly support the city of Los Angeles, another $97 million will go to the county, and the remaining funds will support local governments such as Long Beach, Pasadena, and Glendale. It’s planned.
“No one is naive about the challenges of this issue,” Newsom said. “No one is denying how angry people are, how frustrated people are, how heartbroken people are.”
Newsom said the state created the HHAP program late in former Gov. Jerry Brown’s term after mayors from the state’s 13 largest cities asked for adequate resources to address homelessness. . The program initially provided $500 million with “no accountability or expectations.”
“Since then, we have significantly increased investment, but we have also increased accountability, transparency and expectations,” Newsom said.
The governor said grant recipients must agree to a collaborative approach to ensure homelessness is resolved locally and not treat the crisis as an issue that remains within city limits.
According to the 2024 Los Angeles Metropolitan Area Homeless Count data, there were 75,312 unhoused people in the county in 2024, compared to 75,518 in 2023, a decrease of 0.27%. In Los Angeles, there were 45,252 unhoused individuals in 2024 compared to 46,260 in 2023, a decrease of 2.2%.
Bass said funding for HHAP is critical to the city’s success in reducing homelessness. She claimed that 2024 homelessness figures show a 10.7% decrease in unsheltered homelessness in the city, while the number of shelters increased by 17.7%.
“We know there are many areas of dysfunction, but one of the historical areas of dysfunction has been bickering and finger-pointing between different levels of government,” Bass said. “This is the kind of collaboration, the kind of financial support, and the kind of regulatory changes that are needed to finally solve the homelessness problem in our region.”
County Supervisor Hilda Solis thanked Newsom for his support and the Downtown Women’s Center, which hosted the announcement on Skid Row in Solis’ First District.
“A few years ago, the Downtown Women’s Center approached me with a plan to house all the women who lived on Skid Row,” Solis said. “Since then, I have worked with the City of Los Angeles, LAHSA, the state, and the Governor’s Office to implement the Housing for All Women Plan.”
Since 2021, 453 women have moved into permanent housing and 737 more women have found transitional housing, contributing to a 42% reduction in the number of women experiencing unsheltered homelessness on Skid Row, Solis said. It is said that he did.
She also highlighted the county’s Skid Row Action Plan, which previously received $60 million in state funding and resulted in about 2,000 Skid Row residents moving into transitional housing and about 1,000 residents moving into permanent housing. I found a suitable house.
“The fifth round of HHAP grants will help the state improve its access to safe and stable housing for its most vulnerable residents,” said Tomikia Moss, California Secretary of Business, Consumer Services, and Housing. “It shows how we can support and strengthen regional strategy and coordination.”
