Local News | Talya Husbands-Hankin, a homeless advocate who witnessed the incident, said the city was out in extreme force, resulting in more trauma for the unhoused residents.. The report lays out 26 recommendations, all of which the city has committed to following, according to the auditors office. Some people keep watch out for fires or other dangers. The city says it needs to clear the camp to make way for a 170-unit affordable housing project planned for the site. (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. East Oakland homeless camp still standing, despite state orders Over the past seven years, Oaklands Wood Street encampment has exploded in size. Stay in touch. She graduated from American University with a BA degree in literature with a minor in journalism. Antioch council to discuss new liquor stores ban, homeless housing The encampment is one of the. The homeless population has jumped by 63% since 2017 in Oakland, where the median house sales price is about $750,000. 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. 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. In an attempt to fend off the impending closure of the Commons, residents sued the city in early January. 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. Russell Wilson asked for Pete Carroll, Seahawks GM to be fired; QB denies report. What could reparations mean for Black residents of Alameda County? The money would fund a new community cabin site or tiny home village at Wood Street for about 50 people. Among its recommendations, the audit found the city should ensure staff members are trained in crisis management and interacting with traumatized encampment residents. To reduce homelessness, we must slow its growth and keep more people in their homes. (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. As he drove past the intersection of 21st and E streets in Northwest Washington, a 68-year-old man peered through the window, struck by an encampment of homeless people here that grew from 10 . 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. OAKLAND - Caltrans announced Friday that they are shutting down a homeless encampment near the MacArthur Maze in West Oakland due to ongoing safety concerns and a large fire that tore. The City has implemented a number of interventions at every step in the cycle. 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. Grappling with homelessness, California weighs extending foster care for 5 years they paid around $400 a month in public assistance and charged. Oakland closes a Fruitvale homeless camp, putting its new encampment But Orrick said requiring Caltrans to provide those resources was beyond the scope of the law. 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. Caltrans to clear Oakland homeless encampment near MacArthur Maze Forcing Californians into mental health treatment would get easier with proposed legislation What could reparations mean for Black residents of Alameda County? 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 . Caltrans says it's closing Oakland's Wood Street homeless encampment because of safety concerns. Workers have been clearing the sprawling camp in phases, a process that started in July. The Oakland City Council unanimously passed a new homeless encampment policy Tuesday, more than 10 hours into a meeting where dozens of members of the public spoke passionately about the proposal and protesters rallied outside two councilmembers' homes. The Rise of Homeless Encampments in Oakland As reported to Public Works The Rise of Homeless Encampments in Oakland As reported to Public Works The Anti-Eviction Mapping Project is a data visualization, counter-cartography, and digitial storytelling collective documenting dispossession and resistance upon gentrifying landscapes. The Wood Street homeless encampment once housed 200 people and covered 40 acres. Housing | . 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.. After a pandemic pause, Oakland ramped up homeless camp closures again We cant go far, Clutch said. He said his latest order could be rescinded if the city fails to provide enough shelter beds or fails to make outreach workers available to help displaced residents find alterative shelter. "I realize that there are alternatives that public policy could be generating that would work better for homelessness than what has happened in the past. That site reportedly contained a communal area used to organize donations and cook group meals several nights a week as well as "pop-up clinics, regular open mics, and other community town hall events.". Oakland will get millions for the 'inhumane' crisis at one huge The Oakland City Council voted Monday to open a co-governed homeless encampment to provide shelter for 40 people in West Oakland making it potentially the second site that residents and. Cars, RVs and debris burned Monday, sending a giant cloud of smoke into the sky, and freezing highway traffic in the vicinity. LA CITY COUNCIL GREENLIGHTS BAN ON HOMELESS ENCAMPMENTS 500 FEET FROM SCHOOLS, DAYCARE CENTERS Though Newsom's handling of the Oakland matter was worded authoritatively, the governor has also. She graduated from American University with a BA degree in literature with a minor in journalism. Two blocks from the Federal Reserve, a growing encampment of the To reduce homelessness, we must slow its growth and keep more people in their homes. In October of 2020, the Oakland City Council adopted an Encampment Management Policy to focus encampment actions on mitigating negative outcomes as they pertain to public safety, public health, and equity outcomes. 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.". Forcing Californians into mental health treatment would get easier with proposed legislation Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area. That would allow the city and county to figure out their outreach programs so that there could be actual adequate outreach, she said, instead of a rushed approach that will lead to immense danger and harm to the residents.. Official Website for the City of Oakland | Mayor Sheng Thao. Photos: State clears Wood Street homeless camp,, 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, Photos: State clears Wood Street homeless camp, Oaklands largest, 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. The Encampment Management Team (EMT) is an interdepartmental working group consisting of representatives from Oaklands Public Works Department (OPW), Human Services Department (HSD), Oakland Police Department (OPD), Oakland Fire Department (OFD), the City Administrators Office (CAO), and other consulted departments as necessary (e.g., the Mayors Office, the City Attorneys Office, Parks and Recreation). A. When the city has scheduled sweeps of the site, residents and homeless advocates have blocked workers from entering and removing belongings. Since the restraining order was issued, another 12 fires have broken out on the site, Orrick said at the hearing. Hope and Disappointment for the Homeless in Oakland Caltrans crews remove a vehicle from the Wood Street encampment in West Oakland on July 19, 2022. Large Homeless Encampment in Oakland California. 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. People are seen in a homeless encampment on Thursday, March 19, 2020, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot) SAN FRANCISCO (CN) A temporary restraining order put in place last month to protect the unhoused residents of an encampment the city of Oakland had hoped to clear to make way for new affordable housing has been dissolved. The pandemic caused the city to halt most encampment closures, but now city staff say closures are on the table as long as shelter space is available. They alleged that there were then 42 residents living at the site and only 27 shelter beds in the entire city. street outreach, homeless shelters, transitional housing, housing exits, and permanent supportive housing as needed. (213) 229-1700. The EMT is facilitated by the City Administrator's Office via the Homelessness Administrator and receives input and advice from the Commission on Homelessness. 1,000 people on a section of the former Oakland Army Base. In May, city officials put the total number of residents in the encampment at 300 people. Contact information for four of the major Southern California sheriff's departments is: Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Hall of Justice. Report the issue to our encampment management team at homelessness@oaklandca.gov.