Between 2020 and 2024, Long Beach experienced a minimal but incremental decrease in chronic homelessness that was interrupted by the Los Angeles County wildfires in early January 2025, according to a point-in-time count conducted by the city’s government.
After making notable progress on increasing affordable housing, adopting “Housing First” models, and providing wraparound supportive services, Rex Richardson, the mayor of Long Beach, and city government officials across the state say their efforts could be jeopardized by funding cuts in the Governor’s budget.
In late March 2026, Richardson and a bipartisan group of mayors representing California’s 13 largest cities traveled to Sacramento to urge state leaders to replenish and sustain funding for the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) program.
“In the city of Long Beach, we increased our shelter capacity in the last three years by 84%, nearly doubling the amount of shelter,” Richardson said at the news conference held at the State Capitol Swing Space. “This is one incredible strategy of how we move people out of tents, unmanaged encampments, and into shelter.”
