By Jorge Casuso

February 12, 2026 -- The City Council on Tuesday extended the Local Emergency on Homelessness for a fourth year, making it easier to seek funding and launch initiatives to tackle the long-entrenched problem.

The Emergency will exist until December 31 unless terminated by the Council, which must review the need to continue the state of emergency every 60 days, according to staff.

"During the current 2025-26 fiscal year, the Proclamation has facilitated rapid progress on a number of priority initiatives aimed directly at addressing homelessness," staff wrote in a report to the Council recommending an extension.

The initiatives include expanding the City’s homeless outreach teams that consist of licensed mental health professionals, housing case managers, substance use specialists, licensed medical providers and peers.

The City also has expanded its Right to Counsel free attorney services for vulnerable tenants and launched the SamoBridge program, which offers homeless individuals who have committed low-level crimes an alternative to jail and a path to services and housing.

"Staff anticipates ongoing near-term use of the Proclamation to implement additional activities" considered in the "Realignment Plan" approved by the Council last September and "to efficiently operationalize" funds from Measure A.

Approved by LA County voters in November 2024, Measure A imposes a half-cent sales tax countywide that is expected to generate $1 billion a year to support housing and services for homeless individuals.

The Council first adopted a Proclamation Declaring a Local Emergency on Homelessness in February 2023 "due to the homelessness crisis in the region, which continues to grow," staff wrote

The crisis, staff wrote at the time, has led "to deplorable living conditions and illness and deaths of unhoused and unsheltered persons in the region" ("Council Votes to Declare Homelessness Emergency," February 14, 2023).

To declare an emergency, the Council made the necessary findings, which included an increase in the number of public safety calls for service, encampments, public deaths, arson and vandalism tied to the homeless.

City officials said the move made it easier to receive help -- including funding -- from County, State and Federal governments and "remove barriers to building affordable housing."

Fifteen months later, in May 2024, and again in March 2025, the Council adopted proclamations extending the local emergency to advance several key initiatives.

The 2025 Proclamation "allows the City to expeditiously increase City services and programs to address and prevent homelessness" and "allows the City Manager to take all available actions" authorized under the municipal code," staff wrote at the time.

It also "will allow the City to continue to address the crisis in a nimble way, including allowing for enforcement of laws that support homelessness prevention," including rent gouging.

The proclamation also will "streamline, accelerate, and expedite processes to advance development of affordable housing infrastructure and programs," staff said.

Despite the efforts, homelessness has persisted as a serious problem both countywide and in the city, and recent homeless counts that have shown a decrease have been called into question.

The local 2023 homeless census -- conducted three weeks before the homelessness emergency was first declared -- counted a total of 926 individuals, a 15 percent increase over the previous year but fewer than were counted in 2019.

The following year, the 2024 homeless census counted a total of 774 homeless individuals, a decrease of 52 people that was likely an undercount hampered by a precipitous drop in census volunteers and technical glitches after the County took over the annual count.

The 2025 census, also conducted by the County, counted 812 homeless individuals in Santa Monica, an increase of 38 individuals.

The downward trend -- which defied public perception -- was called into question by a RAND study that found the County-run counts likely reflected a serious undercount ("Homelessness Drops in LA County Based on Questionable Count," July 15, 2025).

After last year's countywide results were released, showing the homeless population had dropped 4 percent to 72,308, County Supervisor Lindsey P. Horvath, said the drop was not nearly enough.

"A four percent decrease is progress -- and a sign that our efforts are making a difference," Horvath said in a statement Monday. "But 72,308 people are still living without permanent shelter. We can, and must, do more.

"At this pace, it would take three centuries to end homelessness in Los Angeles County," said Horvath, whose district includes Santa Monica. "Every day, seven lives are being lost on our streets -- an unacceptable reality that demands bold, coordinated action."