How Gov. Newsom is escalating efforts to clear encampments

S1: Welcome in San Diego. It's Jade Hindman on today's show. Governor Gavin Newsom announced a new statewide homeless task force. We'll talk about how that could impact San Diego. This is KPBS Midday Edition. Connecting our communities through conversation. So last Friday , California Governor Gavin Newsom announced a new state task force aimed at clearing encampments from California's streets. It's his latest effort to address the homelessness crisis. Marissa Kendall is the homeless reporter at Cal Matters , and she joins us live with more on this task force. Marissa , welcome to the show.

S2: Thanks for having me.

S1: So glad to have you here.

S2: and it's supposed to launch within the next month. It's supposed to bring people from six different state agencies , including the California Highway Patrol , Caltrans , Health and Human Services. And each agency is supposed to tackle a different part of removing encampments from helping people coordinate with housing to the law enforcement approach to the physical work of removing the encampments. And it's supposed to target encampments specifically that are on state property. A lot of cities are already ramping up encampment sweeps , but they really can't touch camps that are on state property. So think , you know , next to freeways , freeway medians , next to highway , on and off ramps , underneath overpasses , that sort of property. So that's really what this is supposed to focus on.

S1: You actually reported last month that California cities lack a unified response to clearing encampments.

S2: This won't address encampments in the rest of the city. You know , in city parks , downtown areas. This really won't be able to touch that. But there have been complaints that the state approach is also lacking in unification. You know , Caltrans is usually the agency responsible for clearing camps on state land. And cities have been complaining that Caltrans doesn't partner with them very well , and there's a lack of communication there. So that's another thing the governor's office is trying to address. And then with this directive they're hoping for for more unity , though the details are are still a little bit sparse since this was just announced. Hmm.

S1: Hmm.

S2: This has really been top priority for him trying to get rid of the encampments on California streets. Uh , earlier this year , he urged cities to create ordinances , making it illegal to camp in the same place for more than three nights in a row. He even released a model ordinance that he wants cities to copy. He's also urged cities , you know , even before that , to crack down. And he's threatened to withhold funding from cities that he doesn't think are doing a good enough job to remove encampments.

S1: Well , you've mentioned it before. Caltrans is one of the agencies involved in this effort. So far , some cities across California , including San Diego , though , have partnered with Caltrans to clear encampments in the transportation agency's land.

S2: San Diego recently was created this partnership where they're going to be working more closely with Caltrans. And the state will be able to reimburse the city for up to $400,000 in costs if the city clears encampments on state right away. San Francisco also recently inked one of these agreements , and that's in response to , like I said , you know , some complaints that there was a lack of coordination here. There was even a bill earlier this year that was supposed to address this that has since been stalled. But several cities are are going ahead with these deals anyway.

S1:

S2: You know , the people who live in these camps and the outreach workers who work on the ground in these communities say sweeps can be really devastating for the people who live in these camps. Um , you know , people lose possessions , they lose medication they use , they lose tents and tarps that they really rely on for survival. When they're forced to move , they sometimes lose access to the outreach workers who help give them food. They lose access to medical care. Sometimes they lose connection to the social workers who are trying to get them into housing. So , you know , the experts I've talked to said it's really important in these efforts to be providing some sort of help. In addition to clearing the encampment. And Newsom , you know , has said that that's part of his approach with this task force. It also includes agencies like Health and Human Services and the Department of Housing and Community Development , who are tasked with facilitating these services. But some people I've talked to are still skeptical , and they wonder if folks will just be asked to , you know , move along from one block to another. Yeah.

S1: Yeah. That's something you'll have to follow closely , I know. Well , listen , you know , the Trump administration is doing its own crackdown on encampments across the country. And you report that experts are actually pointing out similarities between Newsom and Trump's approach here. So what are they saying ? Yeah.

S2: You know , it's interesting because obviously Trump and Newsom , you know , usually have very opposing views on everything but the Trump administration issued an executive order recently really encouraging cities and states to have a very law enforcement heavy approach to homelessness , to clear these camps , to put people into institutions. And some experts I've talked to pointed out , you know , that sounds very similar to what Newsom has been pushing with his model ordinance. You know , really encouraging cities to have these enforcement heavy approaches. Newsom was very quick to distance himself from what Trump has been doing. You know , he says the Trump administration is acting irresponsibly , as opposed to California that has a very specific , deliberate plan in place with resources. And the Trump administration's language is a little more aggressive. But , you know , experts I've talked to are saying , you know , it really just seems like more of the same to them. Hmm.

S1: Hmm. Well , you know , a recent point in time count shows that homelessness is decreasing across the state , San Diego included.

S2: And we are seeing some in some cities not not in all cities , but in some cities we are seeing some decreases , including , uh , San Diego , where the count was down 7% this year. Um , you know , obviously it's hard to know exactly what is working. Um , but the experts I've talked to said , you know , in all instances when you actually see decreases in homelessness , um , it's because you're seeing more housing opportunities and more people moved into housing. It's not because you're seeing more encampments swept or more people arrested for camping. Um , and some experts I've talked to also are worried. Um , you know , uh , a lot of this came after some big increases in funding to homelessness from the Newsom administration. Um , but in this upcoming budget year , there are no new funds for homelessness in the budget for the main Maine Homelessness Program. And then in the next budget cycle , there's going to be potentially a 50% reduction. So they're worried that any gains we are seeing might be compromised if the funding dries up like this. Yeah.

S1: Yeah. Lots to be concerned about there. Well , switching gears a bit , just today , Cal Matters came out with a report on how Newsom's care court is doing. And Care Court is designed to help people who are unhoused and struggling with severe mental illness. What did you find out ? Yeah.

S2: So , like you said , you know , Care Court really launched as this big program with with all this this promise. You know , Newsom said it would target the people on the streets who are the hardest to help. You know , the people living outside suffering from severe mental illness , from severe psychosis , who can't take care of themselves and are too sick to accept treatment , too sick to know that they are sick. And the Newsom administration estimated between 7000 and 12,000 Californians could qualify for this program , but it's been almost two years since it launched in the first counties. Um , and we've , we found , uh , fewer than 2500 petitions have been filed for care court , and only 528 of those petitions had resulted in treatment through the program. So just across the board in in cities all over , we're just we just were seeing a much slower uptake of this program than experts thought , including in San Diego County , which thought it would get 1000 petitions in the first year and established treatment plans for 250 people. But it's been nearly two years , and the county has only gotten 384 petitions and only established 134 treatment plans , our treatment agreements. So just the numbers are just so much lower than people thought. Yeah.

S1: Yeah. Well , briefly , what's next ? What are you continuing to follow as the story develops ? Yeah.

S2: Well , there's a bill moving through the legislature , SB 27 that would expand. Who qualifies for care court. So potentially that could increase the number of people going through the program. Um , but but we'll see what happens. You know , this there was a lot of promise attached to this program , and a lot of people we've talked to are pretty disappointed. Hmm.

S1: Hmm. Well , I've been speaking with Marissa Kendall. Homelessness reporter at Cal Matters. Marissa , thank you so much.

S2: You're welcome.

S1: That's our show for today. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.