Despite Spending Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars, Local Officials Admit Sweeps Aren’t Solving Homelessness
San Benito County, California, recently approved new funding to continue sweeping encampments, even though local elected officials admit it isn’t doing anything to solve the problem.
A Costly Strategy With Little Impact
In early February, the county approved an additional $107,000 to remove encampments, clean up trash, and tow abandoned vehicles around the San Benito River. County supervisors also approved money to pay county employees performing hazardous work, local news outlet Benito Link reported.
The money is part of an initiative to close encampments that began last May and has cost the county more than $352,000 so far, according to the report. Those efforts have not generated much in terms of connecting people experiencing homelessness with housing or services. County officials have removed about 30 tons of trash and impounded 35 vehicles and RVs. Of the 24 people contacted, six were taken to shelters, and four were placed in hotels, according to the report.
“$352,000, and we have one person that transitioned into their home with their family,” Supervisor Angela Curro told Benito Link. “The humanity side is killing me. You lose your water, then you lose your [utilities], then you lose your home, then you’re living out of your car, then you can’t afford your car because you can’t afford gas, and you can’t repair it. All of a sudden, you’re in the riverbed.”
“The whole whack-a-mole, that was a great description because that’s what this is,” she added. “So how can we keep funding if we’re not solving the problem?”
Homelessness Is Rising While Housing Falls Short
Like many places across the U.S., homelessness in San Benito County has been growing rapidly. Data from The Coalition of Homeless Service Providers shows there were more than 3,000 people experiencing homelessness in the county in 2024, which represents a 38% increase from 2023.
More than 2,300 people who are homeless in San Benito County are unsheltered, according to the data, which can skew public perceptions of homelessness. This is happening at a time when the number of year-round beds has decreased by 7.5% to around 1,500.
The county has also struggled to meet its state-mandated affordable housing goals. Of the more than 2,500 housing units completed between 2019 and 2024, less than 2% was reserved for very low- or low-income earners, according to California’s state accountability website.
Federal Policy Changes Could Make Things Worse
President Donald Trump’s administration has also posed a significant risk to San Benito County’s efforts to address homelessness.
Last November, the administration proposed a series of changes to the federal government’s Continuum of Care grant program, the largest single source of federal funding for homeless services. Those changes could decrease the amount of money local governments and nonprofits can spend on permanent supportive housing and other services.
A federal judge in Rhode Island put a halt to those efforts last year, arguing that it would inject a significant amount of chaos and uncertainty into the homeless services system. Congress also passed a law requiring the Department of Housing and Urban Development to pay any CoC grants previously awarded.
But risks remain. According to an analysis by local news station KAZU, about 50 people could lose their homes if the CoC changes are allowed to go through.
“I felt like we were really advancing as a compassionate society, but with this new administration and the federal government right now, I feel like we’re taking so many steps backwards,” Tim Heavin, a formerly homeless musician and DJ, told the outlet.
San Benito County’s push to continue sweeping encampments away from the San Benito River is also happening at a time when several places across the country are increasing criminal penalties for acts commonly associated with homelessness. More than 300 cities have passed new laws criminalizing homelessness since the Supreme Court’s decision in Grants Pass v. Johnson in 2024. The decision allowed local governments to use punitive punishments to address homelessness, even when no shelter is available.
Research Shows Sweeps Do More Harm Than Good
These laws not only increase the number of contacts between people who are homeless and local police, but many also require cities to use encampment sweeps as a primary method of addressing homelessness.
Several studies have shown that encampment sweeps are costly, ineffective, and traumatizing for people experiencing homelessness. For instance, one study of homeless sweeps in San Francisco found that sweeps caused material losses as crews threw away medications and identity documents. It also increased rates of depression by retraumatizing people experiencing homelessness.
Sweeps have also been shown to disrupt service connections for people experiencing homelessness. Last month, a report from UCLA’s Luskin Institute on Inequality and Democracy found that the City of Los Angeles’ Comprehensive Cleaning and Rapid Engagement was more likely to simply remove an encampment than connect people living there with services and shelter. Of the 16 observations and 51 follow-up interviews conducted as part of the study, only 20% of people engaged during encampment cleanups were connected to services and shelter.
“Given recurring displacement and dispossession and a lack of social services outreach, it’s clear that the work of City authorities overseeing street-based homeless governance (including but not limited to CARE+ operations) is more concerned with enforcement against unhoused persons than helping them access shelter, housing, or other services,” the report added. “While this strategy can eventually push unhoused people out of a neighborhood, it makes those who remain more vulnerable.”
Compassionate Solutions Must Take Priority Over Enforcement
Handcuffs will never solve homelessness. The pandemic proved that we need to rethink housing in the United States. It also showed that many programs designed to address homelessness are rooted in law enforcement rather than social services.
Tell your representatives you support revamping how your city addresses homelessness. Handcuffs do not get anyone closer to stable housing. Instead, we must focus on compassionate solutions, the first step to ending homelessness.