The latest installment of Los Angeles’ Inside Safe program was launched in Canoga Park between Canoga Avenue and Vanowen Street.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and city councilmember Bob Blumenfield launched the operation that aims to remove homeless encampments and house those within them.

“Our Inside Safe program continues to address encampments across the city and we are expanding to ensure that we can bring people inside from encampments of all sizes,” Mayor Bass said. “Today’s operation further proves that people want to move inside and receive supportive services to start a new chapter of their lives. Thank you to Councilmember Blumenfield and the County and our service providers for helping us continue to provide much-needed housing to Angelenos across the city.”

The program launches as the colder winter months approach with the opportunity for those unhoused Angelenos to stay in a motel room provided by the city.

The objectives for Inside Safe include access to mental health treatment, substance abuse treatment, “promote” long-term housing strategies and a reduction of deaths among the homeless.

“In preparation of the winter season, it was important to get our unhoused community members into motel rooms,” Blumenfield said in a statement. “The folks we were able to move indoors today considered themselves a family unit and were thrilled that they would be able to celebrate the holidays together, in an inside, safe, environment. Thank you to Mayor Bass and her team for diligently working with service providers to continue to offer life-saving housing to Angelenos.” 

When Mayor Bass took office in December 2022, one of the first executive orders she signed was the launch of the Inside Safe program. The mayor said that a priority of hers was to “shift the way the city approaches homelessness.”

Bass set a goal of housing more than 17,000 homeless Angelenos in her first year as mayor. As of this writing, the mayor’s office reports that it has housed more than 18,000 Angelenos, 1,800 of those coming from the Inside Safe program. Bass’ goal has now been surpassed and continues through the latest launch in the District 3 area.

In the past year, the operation has focused on 31 different encampment areas in the city. The city also said it expedited 8,000 affordable housing units in the last 11 months.

When Bass signed the $13 billion 2023-2024 city budget in May, $1.3 billion was meant to be allocated toward homelessness initiatives. $250 million of the budget went directly toward the Inside Safe program to create temporary housing before transitioning to more permanent options.

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