Homelessness and Encampment Response

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.

The policy aims to:

1. Designate high-sensitivity areas, where unmanaged encampments are presumed to cause unreasonably high levels of health and safety impacts due to the nature of the location;

2. Designate low-sensitivity areas, where enforcement will not be prioritized.

3. Determine findings that will prompt EMT intervention;

4. Provide guidance on addressing unreasonable health and safety risks, promoting voluntary compliance, and strategies to address non-compliance.

Encampment Management is necessary to address the emergency needs of our unhoused residents, and serves as one part of the City’s overall response to prevent, stabilize and house our community.

The Encampment Management Team (EMT) is an interdepartmental working group consisting of representatives from Oakland’s Public Works Department (OPW), Human Services Department (HSD), Oakland Police Department (OPD), Oakland Fire Department (OFD), the City Administrator’s Office (CAO), and other consulted departments as necessary (e.g., the Mayor’s Office, the City Attorney’s Office, Parks and Recreation). The EMT is facilitated by the City Administrator's Office via the Homelessness Administrator and receives input and advice from the Commission on Homelessness.

The Encampment Management Team tracks all known encampments and prioritizes interventions based on health, safety, and size issues. The Team provides sanitation services and regular trash pick up. When the City decides to close an encampment, the Team makes every effort to relocate encampment dwellers to emergency shelters or community cabins.

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. View the list of locations and servicing schedule below.

This chart is updated at the end of each month.