After high court ruling, Newsom orders state officials to dismantle homeless encampments

Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered state officials to dismantle thousands of homeless encampments across California.

The move comes on the heels of a recent Supreme Court decision that gave local and state governments more latitude to remove people experiencing homelessness from their streets.

Newsom can't force cities and counties to dismantle homeless encampments but is advising local authorities the best way to take action.

“There are no longer any excuses,” Newsom said in a video posted on X. "A billon dollars this state has invested to support communities to clean up these encampments."

How Newsom's homelessness order may affect California

The governor’s new homelessness directive will order other state agencies, such as Caltrans, California State Parks and the Department of Fish and Wildlife, to first target encampments that pose a health and safety risk.

Those agencies will give 48 to 72 hours of advance notice to people in the encampments while working with local homeless organizations to help those experiencing homelessness. Personal property collected at each site will be bagged, tagged, and stored for at least 60 days, according to a proclamation issued Thursday by the governor's office.

The state cannot legally force cities to adopt this policy, though.

Newsom's office has not returned messages from the USA TODAY Network on the new policy.

How will it affect the High Desert?

In Victorville, city spokeswoman Sue Jones said the new directive won't change much, since the city's policies are already in line with the executive order.

"The city of Victorville's primary goal is to connect our unsheltered community to services and assistance to break the cycle of homelessness," she said. "We will continue to have our five-member Homeless Engagement Team working directly with our unsheltered community to connect them with services including sheltering services."

"The outreach conducted by our Homeless Engagement Team and the wraparound services provided by our new Wellness Center are part of a compassionate approach to reducing homelessness that is balanced with a need to minimize the negative impacts homelessness can have on our community," according to Jones.

Nonetheless, encampments can present threats to public health and safety, and are prohibited by the Victorville Municipal Code, Jones said.

Enforcement action is taken in "sensitive areas," such as schools, transportation hubs, parks, government facilities, waterways and homeless shelters, she said.

Some California cities are already making homelessness policy changes

Even before Newsom's announcement about the state's crackdown on homeless encampments, other cities across California have made initial moves to address homelessness on their streets.

In Palm Springs, the City Council passed a sweeping new homeless enforcement ordinance in early July that grants police new power to arrest people who build encampments or sleep in public areas.

Related news: Stockton to weigh stricter enforcement of city's homelessness laws

Last week, San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced that city would begin "very aggressive" sweeps of homeless encampments in August.

Other cities, including Lancaster, Fresno, Chico, Stockton and Folsom, are considering or already developing new homelessness policies.

Newsom's homelessness policy change comes after passage of Proposition 1

In March, voters narrowly passed the Newsom-backed Proposition 1, which authorized the state to borrow $6.38 billion to build 4,350 housing units and add 6,800 mental health and addiction treatment beds across the state.

Newsom's ambitious measure is intended to improve and expand the state's mental health services, representing one of the most significant statewide investments to manage the growing homelessness crisis.

California has nearly half of the nation's unsheltered population, and nationwide surveys suggest at least 21% of those experiencing homelessness report having a serious mental illness, and 16% report having a substance use disorder.

Studies and point-in-time surveys have estimated an even larger proportion of the homeless and unsheltered population have or have a history of mental health conditions or substance abuse.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: After high court ruling, Newsom orders state officials to dismantle homeless encampments