California Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order on Thursday setting forth guidelines for the removal of homeless encampments by state agencies and departments, while also encouraging local governments to adopt similar policies.
The order delineates five specific policies that state agencies under Newsom’s jurisdiction are required to follow: (1) conducting site assessments to determine whether a camp poses a danger to public health and requires immediate removal, (2) providing reasonable advance notice to vacate when exigent circumstances necessitate removal, (3) giving a standard 48-hour notice before initiating removals, (4) coordinating with service providers to conduct outreach to homeless individuals, and (5) storing personal property for 60 days for those displaced by the removal. This directive also urges local governments to leverage all available resources, including state funding, to address the issue and ensure that encampments are removed from public spaces in a humane manner.
The directive follows a decision by the US Supreme Court in the case of City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson, allowing governments to enforce bans on homeless encampments even when shelter space is unavailable, asserting that such bans do not violate the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against “cruel and unusual” punishment.
According to a press release from Governor Newsom’s office, the policies are modeled after the efforts by the state agency Caltrans to clear encampments from state right-of-ways. The release also mentions significant investments from Proposition 1 to expand behavioral health services and financial support for communities tackling homelessness.
The ACLU has criticized the order, accusing the governor of showing a “disregard for human dignity” and describing the measures as superficial solutions to a deeper systemic problem, namely the high cost of housing.
California has an estimated homeless population of over 180,000 people as of 2023. A University of California study found that the state’s homeless population makes up nearly a third of the entire US homeless population, despite California comprising just 12 percent of the nation’s populace.