Santa Monica's unhoused population fell 11.6% over the past year, dropping to 718 people in the 2026 Point-in-Time Count. The data release comes one day before the City Council votes on a $9.5 million plan to close the city's only homeless shelter and replace it with a network of motel-based transitional housing.
The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority released the count data Saturday, July 25. Santa Monica's numbers bucked a regional trend: homelessness rose 1.2% across L.A. County to 73,040 people and climbed 3.4% in the city of Los Angeles to 45,194.
LAHSA attributed the countywide slowdown to reduced funding for Time Limited Subsidies, a temporary rental assistance program. The agency said fewer subsidies created a bottleneck, limiting available shelter beds regionwide. In June 2026, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development suspended LAHSA from federal grant activity pending a mismanagement investigation.
Unsheltered homelessness in Santa Monica fell 18.7%, with 389 people counted sleeping outdoors, according to a city news release citing LAHSA data. The sheltered population rose nearly 10% to 222. The number of people living in vehicles dropped 29.8%, from 84 to 59.
City officials credited the Homelessness Strategic Plan, expanded outreach, and SaMo Bridge, a diversion program that connects people cited for minor offenses with housing and treatment services instead of jail. The Santa Monica Mirror noted those claims came from the city's news release and were not independently verified.
Tuesday's vote
The council is scheduled to vote Tuesday, July 28, on the Housing Focused System of Care, a plan that would shutter Samoshel, the 60-bed congregate shelter at 505 Olympic Blvd. that has operated more than 32 years. The proposal requires five votes because it includes a budget amendment.
Under the plan, the city would lease the Palm Motel at 2020 14th St. as stabilization housing with 34 rooms and capacity for 48 people, taking over from an expiring L.A. County program. Only people who meet the Santa Monica Program Participant definition, meaning documented local ties such as becoming homeless in the city or living there three or more years, would be placed there. The city would also fund beds at The Salvation Army's Bell Shelter and issue a request for interest to find additional non-congregate sites.
The combined budget across three agreements totals $9,535,809: $4,264,673 in fiscal year 2026-27 and $5,271,136 in future-year requests, according to the Santa Monica Daily Press. Staff proposed shifting $3,458,150 from the Providence Saint John's Development Agreement fund balance to cover part of the cost.
Of Samoshel's 60 beds, only about 10% are occupied by people who meet the city's local-ties definition, according to the staff report.
Neighborhood pushback
City Manager Oliver Chi said at a July 16 town hall at Santa Monica College that placements would be screened. "Nobody gets into the facility unless we direct them there. There's going to be a screening, there's going to be an assessment," Chi said at the event, organized by the Pico Neighborhood Association and Friends of Sunset Park.
Some council members have said they oppose closing Samoshel until the city can account for all potentially lost beds. Pico Neighborhood Association Chair Maria Loya told the Westside Current on July 17 that the city "continues its pattern of placing toxic facilities and hard uses in the south side of Santa Monica."
Residents can submit written comment on the July 28 agenda item by emailing [email protected] by noon Tuesday, or register to speak by phone at santamonica.gov/public-comment by 5 p.m. Monday, July 27.
