Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass responded Thursday to the latest annual point-in-time count, which is expected to show that the number of unhoused people across the city is on the rise after two years of decreases — an unpleasant look for the incumbent who has made tackling the homeless crisis a top priority as she seeks a second term.

The official numbers are expected to be released Friday.

In an eight-paragraph statement released Thursday, a day before the data was set to be made public, the mayor touted her overall progress in reducing homelessness by 11% since 2023 while saying the increase doesn’t come as a surprise due to the decline in funding from the federal and state government.

“For two years straight, we drove down homelessness by historic margins — but as expected, last year our efforts ultimately couldn’t keep up with policies and funding cuts at the federal and state levels that pushed more people onto the streets,” the statement read, in part.

Bass said many families dealing with higher prices for gas, groceries and rent reached a breaking point. She also blamed Los Angeles County officials for what she called “a lack of adequate services.”

The statement mentioned the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), an agency that the county has cut ties with over concerns about inefficiency and a lack of oversight.

“For thirty years, this city has run its homeless response through LAHSA — and audits and the courts have now made plain what too many Angelenos already saw: the money wasn’t tracked, providers went unpaid, and public trust eroded,” Bass said in her statement.

This comes as Bass, who has advanced to the general election in November, has already experienced a plummeting in popularity following the 2025 Palisades Fire and her office’s response to last month’s cold-storage warehouse fire in Boyle Heights. While there are more than three months to recover before Election Day, homelessness was central to her agenda at City Hall.

In the fall, the incumbent will face progressive Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman in the general election. Raman, who represents District 4, sent NBC Los Angeles the following statement in response to the latest point-in-time count:

“This year’s numbers are disappointing, but not surprising. Leadership at City Hall has not shown the willingness to shift toward an approach that actually moves people into permanent housing. And these results make clear that the Mayor’s approach is not working well enough.

“The results in my district tell a different story — a significant decrease in the number of people living on our streets. Those results came from sustained, hands-on work, and I am confident we can bring that approach — and those results — citywide.”

When it comes to the state’s response to homelessness, NBCLA reached out to the two candidates who want to lead California: Republican Steve Hilton and Democrat Xavier Becerra.

“We know that the heart of it is people with severe mental health problems and drug addiction, and they simply won’t recognize that,” Hilton said in an interview with NBCLA on Thursday. “They keep saying the answer is give people shelter, give people housing first. They call it million-dollar apartments given to people who are fentanyl addicts. That is not going to solve the problem.”

Becerra has not returned NBCLA’s request for comment.

Dennis Oleesky, president and CEO of the Los Angeles Mission, told NBCLA that solving the issue comes down to the community.

“We need Angelenos to really step up and help out,” Oleesky said. “It’s really about community right now, and it’s getting to a breaking point.”