SF analysis: The case for tent encampment restrictions + CARE Court
Image by Nelvin C. Cepeda
The Globe's Evan Symon analyzes a key factor in SF's mounting homelessness crisis: Many homeless folks are being offered shelter but refuse the assistance—54%, according to recent research. Consequently, it's imperative that cities have the legal rights to 1) prohibit dangerous street encampments and 2) provide treatment for severely mentally ill individuals who are resistant.
New data released by the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management on Thursday found that 54% of homeless people in the city decline shelter, a figure that has been touted by many as helping explain why San Francisco’s homeless problem has gotten worse in recent years.
For years, the number of homeless in San Francisco has gone steadily up. While figures tend to fluctuate due to the complexities of the cities and counties of the Bay Area, homelessness in general has gone up significantly since the late 2000’s, with the Great Recession, tech boom, rise in housing costs, major changes to policing in the city, major job losses, and COVID-19 all being considered major factors in the rise. In 2023, San Francisco has, on an average night, 3,400 homeless in shelter beds, with another 4,400 on the street.
While that figure is not even close to where larger cities are at, with Los Angeles alone currently standing at around 46,000 in the city proper, San Francisco has not been forcing the shelter space issue, with no laws on the books saying that shelter space must be offered and homeless sweeps themselves from public areas is currently illegal, although the latter is currently being challenged in the courts. RVs, trailers, and other similar vehicles also have an outright ban from being lived in in the city, while other cities tend to work with those homeless by finding lot space and other areas to safely park overnight.
A solution many other cities are currently enforcing are encampment bans and bans for the homeless to be near areas of public safety such as schools overpasses, and daycare centers. Los Angeles passed the latter ban last year, with neighboring Culver City passing an outright tent ban. In San Diego, a recently passed encampment ban is due to be slowly ramped up over the next several months, with homeless people having to either accept shelter space or face being issued a misdemeanor or arrest if there is shelter space available. However, up North in San Francisco, it just isn’t on the radar....
[Mayor London Breed tweeted,] “We can’t force people to accept or stay in shelter and we’re unable to prevent people from setting up an encampment in area that was just cleaned. This is the situation we are in.”
This article originally appeared in the California Globe. Read the whole thing here.
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