Just hours after Los Angeles released troubling new figures showing homelessness is once again on the rise citywide, Housing and Homelessness Committee Chair Nithya Raman celebrated a sharp decline in her own district — despite the worsening crisis unfolding under the committee she leads.
Raman touted a 49% drop in unsheltered homelessness in Council District 4, arguing the results show her data-driven strategy should serve as the model for the rest of Los Angeles.
The councilwoman also highlighted a 41% decline in tents, RVs and other makeshift shelters, attributing the improvement to what she called an “aggressive interventionist approach” built around intensive outreach, dedicated homelessness staff, constant encampment tracking and closely monitoring available shelter beds.
“My office takes the most aggressive interventionist approach to homelessness you will find in Los Angeles,” Raman said, arguing relentless oversight — not simply spending more money — had produced results few other districts could match.
The celebration came against a starkly different citywide backdrop.
Newly released homeless count data showed homelessness in LA rose 3.4% this year to 45,194 people, while the number living unsheltered climbed 7.9% to 29,115, reversing two straight years of declines despite governments now spending nearly $3 billion annually on homelessness programs.
The figures placed Raman in an uncomfortable position.
As chair of the City Council’s Housing and Homelessness Committee, she leads the panel responsible for overseeing homelessness policy, holding agencies accountable and advancing legislation on one of Los Angeles’ most expensive and politically charged crises.
But when repeatedly pressed about why homelessness increased across the city while she chairs that committee, Raman drew a sharp distinction between setting policy and running day-to-day operations.
“The mayor is the CEO of our city,” Raman said during a press conference on Friday.
She said the City Council writes policy while Mayor Karen Bass is ultimately responsible for carrying it out. Raman maintained she has direct operational control only within Council District 4.
Rather than accepting responsibility for the citywide increase, Raman repeatedly returned to the results in her own district, arguing Los Angeles needs far more rigorous oversight of every homelessness program.
She said City Hall should measure outcomes “program by program, bed by bed,” quickly eliminate strategies that fail and expand those that consistently move people into permanent housing.
One of the biggest factors behind this year’s rise in homelessness, according to LAHSA, was a lack of funding for Time Limited Subsidies, a program that provides temporary rental assistance and case management to help people move into permanent housing.
In its annual report, the agency found that after funding for the program was reduced, new enrollments dropped sharply.
Permanent housing placements fell by more than 5,000 people, exits from shelters into permanent housing declined 36%, and the slowdown created bottlenecks that left more people stuck in shelters or returning to the streets.
Raman defended the program, which has become a centerpiece of her mayoral campaign, calling Time Limited Subsidies one of the region’s strongest-performing homelessness strategies.
She argued the increase in homelessness reflects a lack of funding for the program, not a failure of the model itself.
But Raman’s support for the initiative has also become one of her biggest political vulnerabilities.
Earlier this year, The California Post reported that the city’s redesigned Time Limited Subsidy program — backed by a $62.6 million budget and promoted as a faster, less expensive alternative to hotel-based programs, had housed just three households nearly a year after city leaders approved the overhaul, despite an original goal of helping about 2,000 households.
Within hours of Friday’s press conference, Bass’ campaign seized on the contrast.
Campaign officials said Raman was taking credit for improvements that occurred while Bass’ signature Inside Safe program was operating throughout Council District 4.
According to the campaign, Inside Safe has moved 236 people indoors in Raman’s district since 2023 — more people than the decline Raman highlighted Friday.
The campaign also noted Raman did not attend any of the Inside Safe operations conducted in her district last year, despite now citing the district’s declining homeless numbers as evidence her approach works.
“Nithya Raman is taking credit for the results of Inside Safe while campaigning against it,” Bass campaign spokesperson Alex Stack said.
“Raman’s signature campaign platform on homelessness has been a complete failure, only filling three households after nearly a year and over $60 million. While Raman takes credit for the City’s work in her district, she’s also the chair of the Homelessness & Housing Committee for all of Los Angeles.”
The Bass campaign also accused Raman of reversing course politically, noting she praised Inside Safe after homeless numbers declined in 2024 before criticizing the program during her mayoral campaign as too expensive and fiscally unsustainable.
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