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And, he ordered the state transportation agency to work with staff from the city of Oakland and from Alameda County to come up with a plan to relocate residents. Grappling with homelessness, California weighs extending foster care for 5 years The audit also found the city needs to collect better data on encampments, increase outreach to unhoused people, provide better notice to camp residents before a camp will be closed, improve its efforts to collect and preserve residents belongings when a camp is closed, and create a comprehensive policy on transporting displaced camp residents. The city says it needs to clear the camp to make way for a 170-unit affordable housing project planned for the site. She said some weeks she only had 25 open shelter beds out of nearly 600 in the system. Oakland Homeless Encampments Anti-Eviction Mapping Project The city has demonstrated it now has enough shelter beds for everyone who will be displaced by the camps closure, U.S. District Judge William Orrick ruled. But a solution might be on the horizon. He issued a temporary injunction on July 19, 2022. Caltrans plans to clear out 200 homeless people from the sprawling homeless encampment at Oaklands Wood Street by the first week of August, officials said. Wood Street encampment resident Theo Cedar Jones points to a map of the area hes living near. Information, if available, concerning the impacts of programs funded bv the Vacant Property Tax (2018 Measure W1 and 2020 Measure Q homelessness funds subject to Commission oversight this Ordinance on the occurrence of homelessness and illegal dumping outcomes in the City; Recommendations to the Mayor and the City Council on the Biennial Fiscal Year Budget, in accordance with the City Councils Consolidated Fiscal Policy at the time, that ensures that the Commission Chair communicates homelessness priorities to the Mayor and Council: and. We cant go far, Clutch said. The plaintiffs have raised serious questions that the state will violate their constitutional rights, Orrick wrote in his July order, by placing them in increased danger when it removes them at short notice from the encampment without adequate plans to provide shelter.. Homelessness has doubled in the last 10 years. Now is the big showdown, said Theo Cedar Jones, a resident at Wood Street for nearly two years. The land was mostly owned by Caltrans and after a history of fires on the site and concerns about the proximity of a nearby oxygen production plant on July 15, 2022 the agency gave residents five-days' notice to clear the site. Wood Street encampment resident Theo Cedar Jones points to a map of the area hes living near at the Wood Street encampment on April 29, 2022 in Oakland, California.on Friday. Our Response Homelessness has doubled in the last 10 years. All Access Digital offer for just 99 cents! Partner with us by contributing resources or time to respond to the homelessness crisis. City workers do a sweep at the homeless encampment under Interstate 580 in West Oakland as the city promise to deliver porter potties, fences, regular trash pickup, and counseling . And where do we go? Sarah Ravani covers Oakland and the East Bay at The San Francisco Chronicle. Oakland Approves Rules to Restrict Homeless Encampments the city has scheduled sweeps of the site, cleared the parts of the encampment on its property. The encampment is one of the largest in the city and has been plagued with problems such as illegal dumping and fires for years. A show made by people behind bars in California prisons. The judge quickly sided with the homeless residents, and issued a temporary order barring the city from clearing the camp at least until the city could prove it had enough shelter beds for everyone displaced. Walters: Is ending Californias homelessness just a matter of money? We are hard at work implementing that policy amidst a historic budget shortfall, staffing shortages, and an ongoing pandemic that has limited the shelter options available to the residents of our encampments, the statement continued. If its model is a success, Oakland could win more state funds to help more Wood Street residents. It ended badly, Hit bean company Rancho Gordo embroiled in discrimination lawsuit. 211 West Temple Street. But the time for finger-pointing and disclaimers of responsibility is over. Oakland which has more than 5,000 homeless people currently has 598 year-round, city-funded shelter beds, 313 community cabin and temporary structure shelter spaces, 147 RV safe parking. Police tagged vehicles with illegal parking notices as residents scrambled to move motorcycles, cars and RVs. Complete clearing of total area without option to return, Partial clearing of an encamped area without option to return, Cleaning of an area with the option to return, May apply to a portion of or the total area, Regularly established garbage clearing and temporary sanitation. Staff closed and cleaned about 500 encampments during the 2019 and 2020 fiscal years including camps that were closed once, repopulated, and then were closed again. And it was clear at the hearing that the city, county and Caltrans still had not worked out a plan for a number of different issues related to the encampment's closure, including who would do the outreach to residents and where residents' belongings would be kept. All Access Digital offer for just 99 cents! He allowed Caltrans to continue removing debris from the area, as long as it didnt involve residents belongings. The complaint stated, "The residents of 1707 Wood Street have nowhere to go. They come in out of nowhere, said Ben Murawski, another Wood Street resident, lamenting how agency employees destroy our homes.. They're looking to make us homeless. (Beth LaBerge/KQED) Residents sued in July, saying it was more dangerous to force people to move on such short notice with no alternatives for shelter or housing. The city also spent money on contracts, legal costs, towing abandoned cars and police and fire responses to encampment emergencies. The department is taking this action to address the increasingly serious safety risks to life, property and infrastructure at the encampment, including from the fire this week that prompted the closure of the MacArthur Maze, Caltrans said in a statement. But the injunction was dissolved in phases, beginning in August of 2022, giving residents more time to find other alternatives. Gavin Newsoms administration awarded Oakland a $4.7. Copyright 2023 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. At the time, city officials said they didnt yet have a timeline on when the new cabin community at Wood Street would break ground. When the city has scheduled sweeps of the site, residents and homeless advocates have blocked workers from entering and removing belongings. View the map in a new window. Caltrans reports it's on pace to close 1,200 encampments in this fiscal year up nearly 500% from the 269 cleared last year. The majority of the $12.6 million spent over the past two years went to staff and equipment associated with closing and cleaning encampments, as well as providing garbage services, portable toilets and water at camps. (KRON4 News) OAKLAND ( KRON) - A two-alarm fire in an Oakland homeless . Caltrans has completed much smaller sweeps in the past. LAPD union supports unarmed responders to certain 911 calls including The Encampment Management Team tracks all known encampments and prioritizes interventions based on health, safety, and size issues. Ramona Choyce recounts the moment when an April fire killed one person at a homeless encampment on Wood Street in Oakland. Audit: Oakland's $12.6M homelessness response lacked strategy Oakland police towed several vehicles parked by a homeless camp near the Fruitvale Home Depot on Thursday, as part of a cleanup and closure operation. Caltrans has cleared the parts of the encampment on its property three times in the past year and says it will continue to do so if safety concerns, such as fires, continue. In May, Gov. Officials have argued that they dont have enough shelter beds to accommodate the number of people living at the encampment, which spans 25 city blocks. In the meantime, residents say they live in constant fear that they will be forced to leave with little notice. The transportation agency said in a release they will begin shutting down the entire encampment in phases beginning July 20 and will work with city officials and the county to place people in alternate shelter. OAKLAND, CA - SEPTEMBER 26: Workers remove numerous items from the Wood Street homeless encampment on Monday, Sept. 26, 2022, in Oakland, Calif. Caltrans is overseeing the cleanup of its property along Wood Street. She graduated from American University with a BA degree in literature with a minor in journalism. Earlier this week, a coalition of residents wrote a public letter to state, city and county officials urging them to work with them. The encampment is on property owned by the city, railroads and various government agencies, including Caltrans, which owns the property directly under the freeway. Attorneys for Caltrans said the encampment posed a serious health and safety risk, citing some 200 fires at the Wood Street encampment over the past two years. Los Angeles, California 90012. Encampment Management is necessary to address the emergency needs of our unhoused residents, and serves as one part of the Citys overall response to prevent, stabilize and house our community. Housing proposal for unhoused leaves Santa Clara residents sharply divided Oakland fire at homeless encampment extinguished - KRON4 People living in vehicles represent 35% of Oakland's overall homeless population. Californias stormy weather is having an unusual effect on S.F. Housing proposal for unhoused leaves Santa Clara residents sharply divided Over the next several weeks, the Caltrans site was cleaned and cleared and the residents moved to other locations and situations. OaklandWorkers continued Monday to clear the massive homeless encampment along Wood Street in West Oakland. Wood Street encampment resident Theo Cedar Jones plays guitar. I do not look forward to being kicked out. The order is the latest in a long-running dispute over a homeless camp that once covered 40 acres under the Nimitz Freeway in Oakland where between 200 and 300 people lived in vehicles, RVs, tents and other makeshift structures. There are 32 beds available in the new tiny home site off Wood Street, and another 28 new safe parking spaces in East Oakland, the city said in a court filing. Housing | The Oakland city auditor in April released a report that highlighted a litany of problems that plague the city's estimated 140 homeless communities, including: 1,599 interventions for "hygiene . After a pandemic pause, Oakland ramped up homeless camp closures again Get Morning Report and other email newsletters. City staff were there to clear out residents from the northern part of the encampment, near the city-sanctioned RV safe parking site. They did not respond to questions as to what the object was. He issued a temporary injunction on July 19, 2022. They have lacked funding, housing options and staff, he said. The City Council has to approve the plans and construction is likely to take longer than other sites because a set of railroad tracks cuts through the property. While the city did open a RV safe parking site for 40 vehicles at Wood Street last summer, its struggled to house more residents. street outreach, homeless shelters, transitional housing, housing exits, and permanent supportive housing as needed. The Oakland, California Homeless Problem is Beyond Belief Nick Johnson 762K subscribers Subscribe 112K 13M views 1 year ago #california #moving Is this where America is headed? Housing | (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group), OAKLAND, CA - SEPTEMBER 26: Community members watch as workers clear a section of the Wood Street homeless encampment near an area known as Cob on Wood on Monday, Sept. 26, 2022, in Oakland, Calif. Caltrans is overseeing the cleanup of its property along Wood Street. In a lawsuit filed this week, grassroots group Neighbors. Driven by a housing crisis and continuing economic inequality that hits Oaklands most vulnerable. Theo Cedar Jones, a resident at Wood Street for nearly two years who lives in a makeshift shelter, said he doesnt like the citys community cabin model and wouldnt use it. But Orrick said requiring Caltrans to provide those resources was beyond the scope of the law. Homeless Encampment - Issue #14153196 - Brookfield Village, Oakland, CA Oakland Unveils 100-Person Tiny-Home Village at Troubled Wood Street Encampment What was once northern California's largest homeless encampment at Wood Street in Oakland now has a. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group), OAKLAND, CA - SEPTEMBER 26: An officer with the California Highway Patrol marks a vehicle during a partial clearing of the Wood Street homeless encampment on Monday, Sept. 26, 2022, in Oakland, Calif. Caltrans is overseeing the cleanup of its property along Wood Street. Official Website for the City of Oakland | Mayor Sheng Thao. Orange County Sheriff's Department. The city wants to build the state-funded community cabin site in partnership with residents and a provider who would offer wraparound services at the site. The Citys suggestion that it has no responsibility for homeless individuals on state property unless there is a specific earmark is simply unacceptable, Patterson wrote. James Wiseman, leadership genius? Oakland is experiencing a network outage that is affecting key services such as Oak311, permitting and business tax. OAKLAND - Fire swept through a homeless encampment near the MacArthur Maze highway interchange in West Oakland on Monday morning. Lawsuit demands Oakland crack down on homeless camps - The Mercury News PUBLISHED: February 27, 2023 at 4:49 p.m. | UPDATED: February 28, 2023 at 1:58 p.m. A federal judge on Monday ruled the city can resume efforts to remove dozens of people from a large homeless. Our housed and unhoused residents are counting on us to make this right, Ruby wrote. Velena Jones reports. Forcing Californians into mental health treatment would get easier with proposed legislation Thank you for your patience while we work to restore services. Fire flares up at homeless encampment under Oakland freeway - Los He concluded his decision with "I recognize that no party is happy with this order. A U.N. report from 2018 called the conditions there cruel and inhumane. The expert behind the report compared it to the poorest places in the world, decried the lack of access to clean water and toilets, and said the rodent infestations, fire dangers and other hazards should be quickly addressed. He said, "This TRO is not a long-term prohibition on Oakland's actions but rather a stopgap to prevent violation of constitutional rights that are likely to result from the combination of the state-of-emergency weather situation and the failure to provide alternative shelter.". Theo Cedar Jones (third from right) and other residents of the Wood Street encampment proposed self-governing during a meeting with Oakland staff in July. But those plans were slow in coming. A federal judge on Friday refused to let Caltrans "wash their hands" of people living in a homeless encampment on Wood Street in Oakland by clearing them from it. But those are things that are beyond what can be ordered in this case.". Three days later, a group of encampment residents sued Caltrans, the governor, Oakland and a number of public officials in federal court, alleging that their forced removal from the site would constitute an unconstitutional "state created danger" and place them at a high degree of risk because there were not adequate shelter options for them in Oakland. The homelessness crisis also has taken a toll on Oaklands public parks, according to the audit. OAKLAND -- The biggest homeless encampment in Oakland will soon be shut down. Caltrans can begin evicting the estimated 200 people who live under an 880 overpass in West Oakland after Labor Day, a federal district judge ruled Friday. The expert behind the report compared it to the poorest places in the world, decried the lack of access to clean water and toilets, and said the rodent infestations, fire dangers and other hazards should be quickly addressed. A separate request earlier this month to halt Oakland workers from clearing parts of the encampment on land it owns was denied. They said the city had not fulfilled promises made in connection with the prior lawsuit. Nobody who lived in the homeless camp on Wood Street in Oakland was surprised when police cars and helmeted motorcycle officers started driving up and down the block early on a Tuesday. Court Allows City To Close Homeless Encampment At 1707 Wood Street Judge will allow Oakland to clear dozens from massive homeless camp City of Oakland | Councilmember Bas' efforts to improve Homeless California snowpack hits highest level this century for March, could I-80 closed across Donner Summit as snowstorm pummels Sierra, San Francisco citizens once traveled by gondola. Newly formed Oakland homeless encampment on Caltrans property cleared The City's Public Works crews visit dozens of known encampments throughout the city on a weekly basis to conduct trash removal and garbage cart, porta potty and hand wash station servicing. In May, city officials told The Chronicle that they dont have enough shelter beds to offer to everyone at Wood Street. Staff Attorneys will primarily . Its absurd to think that we've gotten this far through this process and we have not had anybody take a survey of who is actually affected by this, McGowan said at the hearing. He found that the plaintiffs raised at least a significant question about whether the doctrine applied to them and concluded that under all the circumstances, including the weather and the ongoing "tripledemic," it was appropriate to issue the TRO, though he telegraphed that the pause on eviction would not be unlimited. The new report, completed by City Auditor Courtney Ruby, found that the EMT was "overwhelmed by the undertaking of closing and cleaning encampments throughout Oakland." Ruby found that Oakland spent $12.6 million on tasks related to encampments over the past two years, and roughly $1,500 an hour on camp closures and cleanings. The action will set in motion the eviction of several dozen people living on a vacant, city-owned lot off Wood Street in West Oakland . The result is a shuffling with no long-term strategy on how to get people into more permanent, supportive housing. They declined to speak to reporters. Settlement reached between . OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 5: Maria Fuentes, who is a coordinator at the Community of Grace homeless encampment, shows their community garden across from the Home Depot on the 4000 block of . Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani. 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The audit also analyzed the citys ability to respond when its unhoused communities need help. A lawsuit alleges that Stanford-trained chemists Alexander Burckle and Elizabeth Webster nearly drowned after a dive boat left them behind in choppy water near Maui. We're not homeless. But if it fails to get people into real shelter and housing, it could be a cautionary tale for officials throughout California struggling with mushrooming encampments. City of Oakland Opens 100-bed Cabin Shelter Program at Wood Street, Estelle Clemons, Interim Director of Human Services and, Daniel Cooper, Homelessness Administrator, Court order would allow phased clean-up and closure operation to resume to abate potentially hazardous conditions that threaten public health and safety, Completed Encampment Management Operations, FACT SHEET: Wood Street Update - October 2022, FACT SHEET: Wood Street Encampment - July 2022, HOJA INFORMATIVA: Intervenciones para la gestin del campamento de Wood Street, FACT SHEET: East 12th Street Median Encampment - October 2022, Completed Encampment Management Team Operations Since 2021, Joint Statement regarding Homeless Services Performance Audit, Federal Judge Indicates Approval of City of Oaklands Thoughtful Outreach and Services Plan in Support of Caltrans Encampment Closure Operation on Wood Street. Oakland which has more than 5,000 homeless people currently has 598 year-round, city-funded shelter beds, 313 community cabin and temporary structure shelter spaces, 147 RV safe parking spaces and 353 city-funded transitional-shelter beds. He says Caltrans has forced him to move several times. The Commission shall review relevant financial and operational reports related to the expenditure of the homeless services fund. Caltrans to clear Oakland homeless encampment near MacArthur Maze What Do I Do If a Homeless Encampment Appears on My Property? OAKLAND, CA When U.S. District Court Judge William Orrick issued a temporary restraining order on Jan. 6, 2023 forbidding the city of Oakland from closing a homeless encampment at 1707 Wood St., he told the parties he suspected the TRO would be "brief.". (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group), OAKLAND, CA - SEPTEMBER 26: Community members move a motorcycle to a trailer at the Wood Street homeless encampment on Monday, Sept. 26, 2022, in Oakland, Calif. Caltrans is overseeing the cleanup of its property along Wood Street. Three days later, a group of encampment residents sued Caltrans, the governor, Oakland and a number of public officials in federal court, alleging that their forced removal from the site would constitute an unconstitutional "state created danger" and place them at a high degree of risk because there were not adequate shelter options for them in Oakland. The city doesnt have the resources to close something as large as Wood Street, said LaTonda Simmons, the citys former interim homelessness administrator. Tuesday at 3:07 PM. The homeless population has jumped by 63% since 2017 in Oakland, where the median house sales price is about $750,000. The Commission on Homelessness provides oversight of the Oakland vacant property tax received bv the City of Oakland for homeless services, and makes recommendations to the City Council for strategies to remedy homelessness. Homeless Encampment at 9418 Edes Ave Oakland, CA, 94603, USA: Im a community member and my street is getting full of RV and abandoned cars for many months now. Oakland residents told a polling firm in 2023 that homelessness, such as at the Wood Street encampment, is their top concern for the city to address in its coming budget. Lara Tannenbaum, the citys human services manager, who was at the meeting, told The Chronicle last month that officials will meet with residents and any intervention would be done in partnership with them. Now, both new shelter sites appear to be up and running, and the judge has once again changed course. The city spent $12.6 million over the past two fiscal years, mostly unbudgeted, to manage the camps that have spread across city streets, sidewalks, parks and open spaces, according to a report released Wednesday by the city auditor. Their. Residents, Activists Decry Evictions at Oakland's Largest Homeless Jones and several other residents want the city and state to give them the land to build their own community, equipped with a kitchen and common area to play music. Review and respond annually to the City's Homeless Encampment Policy and the Permanent Access to Housing Path Plan which shall be presented to the Commission, as well as hear reports on the housing, programs, and services for persons experiencing homelessness in the City including, but not limited to.