Gavin Newsom orders state agencies to move homeless people out of camps — but to where?

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Gov. Gavin Newsom today ordered state agencies to remove homeless camps throughout California, his first major show of force since the Supreme Court granted state and local authorities more power to clear encampments.

Newsom’s executive order mandates that state agencies and departments adopt policies to clear camps on state property. It also encourages local governments to do the same.

“This executive order directs state agencies to move urgently to address dangerous encampments while supporting and assisting the individuals living in them — and provides guidance for cities and counties to do the same,” Newsom said in a news release. “The state has been hard at work to address this crisis on our streets. There are simply no more excuses. It’s time for everyone to do their part.”

The move comes almost a month after the U.S. Supreme Court upended six years of protections for residents of homeless encampments in California and other western states. Previously, cities were prohibited from punishing people for sleeping outside if they had nowhere else to go. As a result, local courts ordered several cities, including San Francisco, to halt or pause encampment sweeps. 

Reversing that precedent in Grants Pass v. Johnson, the justices last month found it is not unconstitutional for a city to ban homeless encampments, even if there is no shelter available. The ruling, which Newsom cheered, gives city leaders broad authority to crack down on camps.

In Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Bass, who opposed the Grants Pass ruling last month, also was critical of Newsom’s new order.

“Strategies that just move people along from one neighborhood to the next or give citations instead of housing do not work,” she said in an emailed statement. “We thank the Governor for his partnership thus far and hope that he will continue collaboration on strategies that work.”

Some of Bass’ peers were more supportive. 

“We’re eager to work with the state to responsibly and quickly remove encampments from state property in San Jose, especially those adjacent to neighborhoods and in dangerous areas along our freeways and on- and off-ramps,” San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan said in a statement.

Mayor Todd Gloria of San Diego, on behalf of a coalition of mayors from the state’s 13 largest cities, said he welcomed the governor’s “renewed direction and sense of urgency.”

Republicans lauded the order.  “It’s about damn time!” Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones, of San Diego, said in a statement.

Business interests also applauded the governor for taking action.

“Getting our many thousands of unhoused residents indoors and out of unsafe, unhealthy and inhumane outdoor encampments is critical to ending California’s homelessness crisis,” Jim Wunderman, President and CEO of the business-backed public policy group the Bay Area Council, said in an emailed statement. 

Per Newsom’s new order, state agencies are to model their encampment policies around one that Caltrans has used for several years to remove camps on highway on and off ramps, under overpasses and on other land maintained by the transit agency. State agencies should warn residents at least 48 hours before clearing a camp. They also are required to store residents’ belongings for at least 60 days, and to request services for displaced residents from local organizations. If an encampment poses an “imminent threat” to life, health, safety or infrastructure, the agency can remove a camp immediately. 

Caltrans has cleared 11,188 encampments since July 2021, according to the governor’s office. Newsom has personally attended some of those cleanups, wearing a baseball cap and gloves to help pick up trash left behind. 

But Caltrans has faced backlash for the way it handles encampment cleanups. In 2020, the agency agreed to pay $5.5 million to settle a lawsuit that accused it of destroying property belonging to homeless Alameda County residents.

“It’s fine to talk about clearing encampments, but it begs the question of where people will go.”

Benjamin Henwood, director, USC Center for Homelessness

While the most visible encampments on state land tend to be under the purview of Caltrans, Newsom’s order also could force agencies such as state parks and the Department of Fish and Wildlife to remove homeless encampments. Newsom’s office did not provide an estimate as to how many people camp in those jurisdictions.

“I don’t know if it will fundamentally shift anything,” Benjamin Henwood, director of the USC Center for Homelessness, Housing and Health Equity Research, said of Newsom’s order. “I guess we’ll see.”

The agency that manages California’s state parks said it “stands ready” to support Newsom’s efforts.

“We will continue to partner with our state and local agencies to address homeless encampments on state parks’ property and their impacts on natural and cultural resources while remaining compassionate and respectful of Californians experiencing homelessness,” California State Parks spokesperson Jo Biswas said in an emailed statement.

Newsom took a softer tone with local governments, urging them to voluntarily adopt policies similar to the one used by Caltrans. Some cities already had planned to ramp up efforts to clear encampments in the wake of the Grants Pass decision. San Francisco Mayor London Breed said earlier this month that the city will launch a “very aggressive” crackdown in August, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Newsom also promised the state, via the California Interagency Council on Homelessness, will provide guidance and technical assistance to help local leaders set up programs. But the order does not provide new funds to create housing or shelters.

“It’s fine to talk about clearing encampments, but it begs the question of where people will go,” Henwood said. 

California cities and counties reported having about 71,000 emergency shelter and transitional housing beds last year. The state would need more than twice that number to accommodate the more than 181,000 homeless residents who live in California.

And the problem is compounded when encampments are on state property, because unlike cities, agencies such as state parks don’t run homeless shelters. 

Newsom’s order says state agencies should reach out to local organizations and request services for people displaced from camps. But it doesn’t require a state agency to find them housing.

“Because the state isn’t providing resources to make sure those people have somewhere else to go, where they’re going to go is into cities, into communities, into neighborhoods,” said Eric Tars, legal director for the National Homelessness Law Center.

Clearing, also known as “sweeping,” encampments is a controversial strategy for dealing with homelessness. Groups who work with homeless communities say sweeps sever connections between camp residents and caseworkers – ultimately making it harder for them to get housing.

Without moving people into housing, all sweeps do is make homelessness less visible without actually solving the problem, Assemblymember Alex Lee, a Democrat from Milpitas, said on X in response to Newsom’s order.

“You get your highway off ramp clean for a moment only,” he said.

It’s unclear how the order will be enforced, and whether there will be any penalties for cities and counties that don’t ramp up efforts to clear homeless camps. Newsom could withhold funding from local governments that he feels are not meeting his expectations, as he’s done in the past. In 2022, he briefly rescinded $1 billion from cities and counties after accusing them of failing to take big enough steps to reduce homelessness.

This month, Newsom’s office clawed back $10 million that had been allocated to San Diego County to set up 150 tiny homes for homeless residents. The county took too long to come up with a plan for the tiny homes, according to the governor’s office. Those 150 tiny homes were supposed to be part of a larger effort to deploy 1,200 state-funded tiny homes throughout California. In May, CalMatters reported that delays and about-faces had stymied the program, and only 150 of the small dwellings had been purchased.