SEATTLE - The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has reaffirmed its stance that homelessness should not be criminalized, voting unanimously in favor of a "care first" approach to combating the issue despite pressure from California's Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The vote from the L.A. County Board of Supervisors comes in response to an executive order launched by Gov. Newsom on July 25, when he announced $24 billion in funding given to local governments across the state to "move urgently to address dangerous" homeless encampments and clear them from state land. In 2023, there were more than 180,000 homeless people in the state of California, representing about 30% of all people in the U.S.
City and county officials are not legally bound to follow Newsom's executive order, though it says they are "encouraged" to adopt the same policies.
But despite Newsom's efforts to combat homelessness, leaders at L.A. County do not agree with how the governor is trying to tackle the issue.
"My position has and continues to be that I do not believe the criminalization of homelessness is the right path," said Kathryn Barger, who is one of five board members who unanimously voted against Newsom's executive order on dismantling homeless encampments across the state.
"Quite frankly, I find it almost ludicrous to think that we're going to issue $250 tickets to individuals who are unhoused who are then going to get another ticket and another ticket and then have a warrant out for their arrest...and for what?," Barger added.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna was also present at the meeting. He voiced his opposition to the executive order, stating that being homeless is not a crime and that LASD will continue to focus on criminal behavior as opposed to a person's housing status.
Newsom's executive order follows the Supreme Court's landmark City of Grants Pass, Oregon, v. Johnson decision in June that gave localities the justification to fine and arrest people for sleeping outdoors on public property.
Although L.A. County is not following Newsom's plan of combatting homelessness, initiatives such as the "Care First, Jails Last" approved by voters in 2020 to set aside at least 10% of existing locally controlled, unrestricted revenues to be directed to community investment and alternatives to incarceration has helped reduce those numbers.
The L.A. City Controller's office told ABC News that the city saw a 10,000-person decrease in the unhoused population between 2023 and 2024.
A June report by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority revealed that an estimated 75,312 people have experienced homelessness in the county so far this year. More than 22,000 of them were provided with shelter, while unsheltered homelessness decreased 5.1% between 2023 and 2024.
In last year's Annual Homelessness Assessment Report to Congress, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development found that homelessness across the nation surged to about 653,000 in 2023, the highest number on record since reporting began in 2007. The state of California accounted for nearly 30% of all homelessness in America (181,399).
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