The Santa Monica City Council this week declared a state of emergency on homelessness, joining a number of other local governments — including the both L.A. city and county — in such declarations.
The emergency declaration allows Santa Monica to:
“The reality is that we cannot address this crisis on our own, and we need our regional, state, and federal partners to support us,” said Santa Monica City Manager David White in a statement.
One example of how the city will move forward: City officials anticipate being able to use resources from their Affordable Housing Trust Fund resources (currently, $25 million) to incentive affordable housing initiatives.
The city's last point-in-time count of unhoused people reported 807 people in Santa Monica experiencing homelessness, including those who live in temporary shelter and those who don't. That survey was conducted in February 2022. It also found that the number of unsheltered people experiencing homelessness stayed consistent with 2020.
In L.A. County, the most recent available count of people experiencing homelessness found an estimated 69,144 do not have permanent housing on any given night.
The statement of emergency is in effect for 180 days but can be extended by the city council.
