report homeless encampment oakland

A surprise sweep of a newly formed homeless encampment on state property has forced some unhoused West Oakland residents to move - yet again. Gavin Newsoms administration awarded Oakland a $4.7 million grant to fund a new community cabin site or tiny home village at Wood Street for about 50 people and to figure out how to help others at the site. Grappling with homelessness, California weighs extending foster care for 5 years Wood Street encampment resident Theo Cedar Jones plays guitar. View the list of locations and servicing schedule below. Diesel is expensive. But the city didnt give the team the resources it needed including a budget, according to the audit. A large column of black smoke rises Tuesday, April 5, 2022, from a fire at a homeless encampment next to West Grand Avenue and Wood Street in Oakland's Prescott neighborhood. A resident of the 1707 Wood site and a local advocate then brought suit against Oakland in federal court asking that the city be enjoined. Determine findings that will prompt EMT intervention; Provide guidance on addressing unreasonable health and safety risks, promoting voluntary compliance, and strategies to address non-compliance. Resident Ron McGowan, who lives at the site in question, said there are about 80 people there. We are in a catch-22., Sarah Ravani (she/her) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. 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. 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. There are about 4,000 homeless people many of them living in at least 140 . But Orrick said requiring Caltrans to provide those resources was beyond the scope of the law. Driven by a housing crisis and continuing economic inequality that hits Oaklands most vulnerable. Antioch council to discuss new liquor stores ban, homeless housing Dozens of Caltrans workers and California Highway . They're looking to make us homeless. The choice: Leave, or hunker down. Plaintiffs' lawyers did not respond to an inquiry as to whether they would seek to appeal or otherwise challenge the determination. The Commission shall review relevant financial and operational reports related to the expenditure of the homeless services fund. 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 Citys suggestion that it has no responsibility for homeless individuals on state property unless there is a specific earmark is simply unacceptable, Patterson wrote. 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. A day later, tensions escalated when witnesses said Oakland police tased an encampment resident. Updated on: July 20, 2022 / 8:30 AM / CBS San Francisco. Thats on top of nearly 90 fires at the site for the 12 months through March. The encampment is one of the largest in the city and has been plagued with problems such as illegal dumping and fires for years. Housing | City staff were there to clear out residents from the northern part of the encampment, near the city-sanctioned RV safe parking site. Instead of clearing homeless camps, Oakland is spiffing them up - SFGATE Residents, Activists Decry Evictions at Oakland's Largest Homeless The man, who was not identified, was taken into custody. Audit: Oaklands $12.6 million homelessness, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Bay Area weather: After thunderstorms and hail, snow could be on the way this weekend, Audit: Oaklands $12.6 million homelessness response lacked strategy, direction, Housing proposal for unhoused leaves Santa Clara residents sharply divided, Forcing Californians into mental health treatment would get easier with proposed legislation, Grappling with homelessness, California weighs extending foster care for 5 years, After nearly two-month delay, judge allows Oakland to remove large homeless camp. ", previously halted Caltrans plans to clear the camp. Here's where Oakland wants to build new homeless housing Judge dissolves order that barred Oakland from clearing Wood Street Oaklands $12.6 million effort to deal with its recent explosion of homeless encampments was haphazard, lacking strategy, policy direction and adequate funding, according to a scathing new city audit. View the map in a new window. (KRON4 News) OAKLAND ( KRON) - A two-alarm fire in an Oakland homeless . 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. Marisa Kendall is a housing reporter for the Bay Area News Group who covers homelessness for The Mercury News and East Bay Times. She joined The Chronicle in 2016 after graduating from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. The Commission shall publish an annual report regarding how and to what extent the City Council and Mayor have implemented this Chapter. Since the policy has gone into effect, two Oakland nonprofits have burned as a result of fires started in areas where the city knew there to be encampments. Police tagged vehicles with illegal parking notices as residents scrambled to move motorcycles, cars and RVs. Bay Bridge light display will go dark after a decade Sunday. Clutch, a 40-year-old Wood Street encampment resident who said he has no last name, was one of the five people moved last month. The encampment spans nearly 25 city blocks with about 300 people living under freeways in tents, RVs and makeshift shelters amid burned-out vehicles, mounds of trash and dirt. That's higher than what a typical . Caltrans spokesperson Rocquel Johnson said the agency plans to eventually completely close the parts of the encampment that are under freeway overpasses and work to relocate people to safer conditions.. Echo Park Lake homeless encampment mulls decision to leave - Los A separate request earlier this month to halt Oakland workers from clearing parts of the encampment on land it owns was denied. Local News | The commission also must follow an extensive legal process before being permitted to levy the $6,000 daily fine on Oakland, noted journalist Jaime Omar Yassin . Where can we fit that? Official Website for the City of Oakland | Mayor Sheng Thao. Partner with us by contributing resources or time to respond to the homelessness crisis. The Encampment Management Team is responsible for implementing the Encampment Management Policy and directing coordination across city departments. In October, the City Council approved an Encampment Management Policy, which prioritizes the removal of camps near homes, businesses, schools and other areas, and lays out health and safety rules encampments must follow. It is both a humanitarian duty and a civic expectation that our homeless become housed, and our City streets and parks are returned to their intended public uses.. Judge will allow Oakland to clear dozens from massive homeless camp Ruined vegetation, broken irrigation lines and damaged fencing at Lake Merritt, as well as degraded water quality in the tidal marsh, will cost the city an estimated $550,000, according to the report. The encampment is. To report an issue related to an encampment, please email Homelessness@oaklandca.gov. While the city did open a RV safe parking site for 40 vehicles at Wood Street last summer, its struggled to house more residents. Caltrans reports it's on pace to close 1,200 encampments in this fiscal year up nearly 500% from the 269 cleared last year. When the City decides to close an encampment, the Team makes every effort to relocate encampment dwellers to emergency shelters or community cabins. As in the earlier case, the plaintiffs argued, among other things, that the eviction would amount to an unconstitutional state-created danger. 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. The complaint stated, "The residents of 1707 Wood Street have nowhere to go. The city's lawyers had no comment on the ruling. 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. Residents of the encampment said they know that Caltrans has long wanted to clear them out and plan to resist if the sweep happens. Federal court order opens the way for Oakland residents to move to new But Oakland only has 598-city-funded, year-round shelter beds and an estimated homeless population of 4,000 as of 2019 with nearly 80% of those unsheltered. July 11, 2022 Updated 3:24 PM PT. Gavin Newsoms office publicly excoriated Oakland officials for failing to cooperate and threatened to withhold state funds. Forcing Californians into mental health treatment would get easier with proposed legislation The City has implemented a number of interventions at every step in the cycle. 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. By City News Service on . Homeless Encampment - Issue #14153196 - Brookfield Village, Oakland, CA that was may . 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. Call Taker: Is the homeless encampment within 500 feet of a waterway (creek, lake or bay)? Oakland to finally clear Wood Street homeless encampment Homeless Encampment Protocol & Reporting Tool East Oakland homeless camp still standing, despite state orders But Orrick told the agencies to work it out. He and the others had lived in four old buses one of which was destroyed during the move and a van. Wood Street residents deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, Husbands-Hankin said. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group), OAKLAND, CA - SEPTEMBER 26: Workers take a break 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. The city may now post notices of the closure and shall give individuals at the encampment at least seven days notice before the closure begins, Orrick wrote. It ended badly, Hit bean company Rancho Gordo embroiled in discrimination lawsuit. Workers have been clearing the sprawling camp in phases, a process that started in July. Homeless advocates said residents were offered alternative shelter spaces. Walters: Is ending Californias homelessness just a matter of money? 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. In July, Caltrans alerted the residents they would have five days to pack their belongings and leave. (Beth LaBerge/KQED) 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. Homeless Action Center hiring Staff Attorney in Oakland, California Previously, she covered breaking news and crime for The Chronicle. Oakland closes a Fruitvale homeless camp, putting its new encampment Some people keep watch out for fires or other dangers. But that's only a fraction of the more than 5,000 encampments on . What should I do about homeless encampments in my neighborhood? Home used to be a tent at the 77th Street homeless encampment, where they had to fill two . Grappling with homelessness, California weighs extending foster care for 5 years "What I have tried to do is create a possibility of relocation in a way that is the least harmful to the people who live on Wood Street," he said at the hearing. 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 . Oakland, together we can meet this crisis, expand our progress, and reduce homelessness in our community. Federal judge says San Francisco can't clear homeless camps (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group), OAKLAND, CA - SEPTEMBER 26: Workers remove a couch 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. Local News | 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 5-days' notice to clear the site. Repairing damage to lighting at Union Point Park is expected to cost another $500,000, not including additional repairs that must be done to bathrooms, landscaping, benches and other amenities. I stretched the point up until now in order to try to get to some sort of a place that recognizes the humanity of the people who've been talking to me.. He concluded his decision with "I recognize that no party is happy with this order. The encampment is on property owned by the city, railroads and various government agencies, including Caltrans, which owns the property directly under the freeway. Without a "constitutional right to housing," Orrick said he had no authority to allow the encampment to remain on the property. The audit found the new policy lays the groundwork for needed change, but implementation has been slow, as the city is inundated with complaints about encampments. Lydia Blumberg, whos lived at Wood Street for at least five years, called the decision beyond disappointing., Everyone wants to wash their hands of us, she said after the hearing. In these situations, the Encampment Response Map will include information about the code violation case instead of details about an encampment cleanup effort. 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. Rise in Homeless Encampment Fires Worries CA Firefighters Large Homeless Encampment in Oakland California. For now, it appears that camp residents will have at least another long weekend at the park before the standoff continues. Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. She previously covered startups and venture capital for the Bay Area News Group and prior to that court cases for The Recorder in San Francisco. (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. Oakland Approves Rules to Restrict Homeless Encampments If its model is a success, Oakland could win more state funds to help more Wood Street residents. Your Privacy Choices (Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads). The city plans to offer approximately 40 emergency shelter beds to residents in the first phase of the closure, though its unclear how many people actually live in the affected area. In an attempt to fend off the impending closure of the Commons, residents sued the city in early January. The decision from Judge William Orrick comes after a month-long legal battle between residents and the transit agency, the city, and the county. The Team provides sanitation services and regular trash pick up. This chart is updated at the end of each month. 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. After nearly two-month delay, judge allows Oakland to remove large homeless camp Gov. Newsom blasts Oakland leaders for not handling rampant homeless