Dive Brief:
- California Gov. Gavin Newsom last week announced the State Action for Facilitation on Encampments task force, an initiative designed to “aggressively prioritize” the dismantling of homeless encampments on state rights-of-way in the state’s 10 largest cities.
- The task force is made up of multiple state agencies and departments, including the California Highway Patrol and Health and Human Services, and will work with local governments to provide shelter and social services to those experiencing homelessness within 30 days of the task force’s Aug. 29 launch.
- The new task force “pairs urgency with dignity,” Newsom said in a release, and restores “safe, usable public spaces while providing care for Californians living in dangerous encampments.”
Dive Insight:
California has the largest unhoused population in the U.S. at 24%, accounting for nearly half of the nation’s unsheltered population in 2024.
After years of surges in the state’s unsheltered homeless population, however, increases are seeing a slowdown. The state’s unsheltered homeless population rose 0.45% in 2024, compared with a national increase of nearly 7%, according to the California governor’s office. Los Angeles County and the city of Los Angeles reported declines in their unsheltered populations this year.
Empowered by the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling last summer that upheld anti-camping laws, Newsom has targeted homeless encampments throughout the state and urged cities and counties to follow suit in banning them.
Newsom’s latest task force announcement detailed a new agreement between the California Department of Transportation, known as Caltrans, and San Francisco to coordinate clearings of encampments on state rights-of-way in the city. Caltrans reached a similar agreement with San Diego in July.
The 10 cities prioritized for encampment clearings on state rights-of-way by the task force include Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, San Diego, Sacramento, San Jose, Long Beach, Anaheim, Bakersfield and Fresno.
Other state agencies that make up the task force include the Office of Emergency Services, Business, Consumer Services and Housing, the Interagency Council on Homelessness and the State Transportation Agency.
