Mayor Karen Bass launches Inside Safe program in Hollywood

On Friday, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, Supervisor Lindsey Horvath and Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez announced a new Inside Safe operation on Selma Avenue outside of Larchmont Charter School.

Launched in December 2022 as part of a larger strategy to combat the L.A. homelessness crisis, Inside Safe is a citywide, voluntary proactive housing-led initiative aimed at bringing people inside from tents and encampments and preventing encampments from returning.

“We are working every day, across Los Angeles, to urgently confront the homelessness crisis. We will not let up,” said Mayor Bass. “Inside Safe continues to bring people inside who were living on the streets and in encampments and help connect them with housing and services.”

The new Inside Safe Selma location is the 24th encampment operation throughout L.A. with operations that cleaned up encampments in Venice, Del Ray, and South L.A. The program, which has helped move 1,400 Angelenos inside, takes people out of encampments and moves them into interim housing, while social service agencies help them transition into permanent housing.

“Our homelessness team has been working to house people in this encampment for months, and this is yet another step forward in our efforts,” said Councilmember Soto-Martinez. “Partnering with the Mayor’s office, service providers and our County partners to help even more people off the streets and on the path to permanent housing is exactly the type of work we city leaders should be doing.”

Inside Safe supports the following five goals:

• Reduce the loss of life on streets  
• Increase access to mental health and substance abuse treatment for those living in encampments  
• Eliminate street encampments  
• Promote long-term housing stability for people experiencing homelessness  
• Enhance the safety and hygiene of neighborhoods for all residents, businesses, and neighbors

“Angelenos are moving from Inside Safe into permanent supportive housing with the resources they need to get back on their feet,” Mayor Bass tweeted. “This is what the start of a new life looks like away from the streets.”