Homelessness remains the most pressing issue throughout the Los Angeles region with officials at the local and County level scrambling to address the ever growing crisis. While governments are working on their solutions, local youth, some of whom have been homeless themselves, are divided on the efforts.
At the highest level, a recent Supreme Court's decision reversed a lower court ruling that had limited cities' ability to penalize homeless individuals for camping in public places when no shelter was available. The ruling enabled governments to tighten their regulations on public camping and prompted action from both the State and local cities
However, advocates for the homeless populations have pushed back. A report by the National Alliance to End Homelessness explained that criminalization tactics lead to more criminal records, making it more difficult for those experiencing homelessness to find permanent housing or employment.
The City of Santa Monica initially tightened its anti-camping rules after the Supreme Court ruling but loosened them again with the installation of a new council this year.
Students at Samohi seem to be either undereducated about the city’s homelessness policies or in disagreement with the criminalization methods.
“Rehousing policies, I think, should be more focused on than just criminalizing it, because it's not really their fault for being homeless. I mean, some people, I guess, could have made better choices, but like other people, it's really not up to them,” said Athena Burton, a sophomore at Samohi. “We're not kind of people who are in the position to judge others for that kind of thing, because we don't really know about their lives. And I think it's wrong to just criminalize people if you don't really know the whole story.”
This opinion was shared by several students interviewed by the Daily Press who were against criminalization methods. Some students who were less knowledgeable about the City’s policies still believed that there was definitely an ongoing problem that affects daily life, and current solutions aren’t working.
A student who requested to remain anonymous spoke to the Daily Press about their personal experience with homelessness.
“Santa Monica isn’t the worst place to be homeless, but at the same time it’s not the best. On the good hand, the weather is good and there are services that can help. But on the bad hand, there is a lot of policing and acting like you’re a problem that needs to be moved. … People think it’s easy because it’s a nice city, but surviving is a full time job,” they said.
The problem with the City’s policies, according to students, is the direction of the funding. Most students surveyed by the Daily Press believed that instead of putting money into the police force to try and drive homeless people away, money should be spent creating affordable and permanent housing.
“Honestly, I think they’re trying, but they’re missing the mark in a lot of ways. There’s a lot of money being spent, but it doesn’t always reach the people who need it,” said the student. “There are programs, but the waitlists are long… Outreach is getting better, but there’s still a disconnect between the services and the actual people living on the streets.”
City officials recently ratified an emergency proclamation on homelessness, extending the local emergency through December 31, 2026, as the crisis continues to worsen across the region.
The Santa Monica City Council first declared a homelessness emergency in February 2023, followed by another proclamation in May 2024. On March 11, 2025, the council adopted the 2025 Proclamation, citing persistent conditions of "deplorable living conditions and illness and deaths of unhoused and unsheltered persons."
The emergency declaration, ratified at the April 22 council meeting, enables the city to expedite services and programs addressing homelessness. It allows officials to receive additional county, state and federal resources while preventing rental price gouging and streamlining certain city processes.
At the county level, the Board of Supervisors has withdrawn from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), creating a separate department to manage millions in homelessness funding following transparency concerns.
The LA County Board of Supervisors voted 4-0 on April 1 to establish its own homelessness department after an audit revealed inadequate spending oversight. The decision prompted LAHSA CEO Va Lecia Adams Kellum to resign after serving since 2023.
"The county's new homeless agency is expected to begin operations January 1, with approximately $300 million transferred from LAHSA by July 2026. The restructuring coincides with a new voter-approved permanent half-cent sales tax for homeless programs.
Samohi students said any programs for temporary shelter or permanent housing programs shouldn’t separate families or partners.
“I think more just general housing that's like, more available for people with lower incomes and things like that. The criminalization of homelessness mostly just keeps people homeless because it gives them criminal records that make it harder for them to get a job in the future, to get them off of the street. So it's not really helping at all,” said sophomore Ansley Lowe.
Devyn Hamilton, SMDP Intern
