Homelessness and Encampment Response

The Encampment Management Policy seeks to address the adverse health and safety impacts of unsheltered homelessness, with compassion and care to not criminalize poverty. The Encampment Management Team is responsible for implementing the Encampment Management Policy and directing coordination across city departments.

About the Encampment Management Policy

In October of 2020, the Oakland City Council adopted an Encampment Management Policy(PDF, 336KB) 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.

Read the Policy(PDF, 336KB)

Get Involved! Volunteers Needed!

Volunteer Icons - Hands with heartThe CAO- Homelessness Division is looking for dedicated and compassionate individuals and organizations to partner with us as we endeavor to find solutions to address the homelessness crisis in Oakland.

Learn More and Sign Up to Volunteer!

Homelessness - News and Factsheets

  • City of Oakland Offers Shelter to Wood Street Encampment Residents
  • City of Oakland Opens 100-bed Cabin Shelter Program at Wood Street
  • City Transitions Wood Street Encampment Residents to Shelter; Locates Five Stolen Vehicles
  • City Removes 300 Tons of Trash and Debris from Wood Street Encampment; Transitions Residents to Shelter Programs
  • Fifty Wood Street Encampment Residents Move to City Shelter Programs
  • Wood Street Parcel Closed and Secured; 80% of encampment residents accept City shelter
  • Join the City of Oakland + Alameda County for the Annual Point in Time (PIT) Count!
  • City of Oakland Closes Longstanding Encampment on MLK Jr. Way

About the Encampment Management Team

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.

Encampment Cleanup Operations

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.

View Cleanup Schedule(PDF, 90KB)

Completed Encampment Management Operations

This chart is updated at the end of each month.

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Encampment Management Definitions

Interventions Definition Frequency Application
Closure Complete clearing of total area without option to return As scheduled Applied to total area
Partial Closure Partial clearing of an encamped area without option to return As scheduled Applied to a portion of the total area
Deep Cleaning Cleaning of an area with the option to return As scheduled May apply to a portion of or the total area
Health/Safety Regularly established garbage clearing and temporary sanitation Ongoing May apply to a portion of or the total area

Homelessness - Monthly Encampment Management Operations Update

Reporting an Issue

If you or someone you know is hungry, homeless, or housing insecure - Call 2-1-1. To report an issue related to an encampment, please report to 311, and for general inquiries, email Homelessness@oaklandca.gov.

For issues of active violence, active fire, and other emergency matters, the EMT cannot respond to those matters. Call 911 immediately.

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