SF HSH

SF Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing

You are here: Home / Services / 1. Outreach / Encampment Resolution Team

Encampment Resolution Team

Encampment Resolution Team

 

HSH is committed to addressing encampments, not through criminalization, but by connecting people living on the streets with services and housing, partnering with other City departments to address the conditions on the streets. To effectively and compassionately address encampments, the City has created the Encampment Resolution Team (ERT).  The ERT is a specialized team of outreach staff. During resolution, ERT collaborates closely with encampment residents, neighbors, property owners and other city departments to close encampments and assist remaining people to connect with residential programs.

 

HSH is committed to addressing encampments following standards it has created, consistent with recommendations by the US Interagency Council on Homelessness.  These include:

  1. Planning and implementing an encampment resolution strategy that includes input from all stakeholders, including homeless people and residents impacted by encampments.
  2. Collaborating across sectors and systems including partnering closely with the Department of Public Works, Department of Public Health, Police Department, and the community
  3. Providing intensive and persistent outreach and engagement through the Homeless Outreach and Encampment Resolution Teams to ensure people from encampments do not return to the streets.
  4. Creating low-barrier pathways to services and housing for those prioritized for immediate assistance through Navigation Centers and Resource Centers
  5. Collecting input from the community and documenting outcomes from our efforts in order to continuously improve our response to unsheltered homelessness.
  6. Preventing encampments from re-forming in previously addressed areas through sustained engagement by City agencies, site activation, physical changes to the site, and community engagement.


ERT Success:

  • In its first year of operations (August 2016-August 2017), ERT resolved 17 large encampments.
  • Through this process ERT has engaged over 450 people, approximately 70% of whom were placed into safe residential programs during the resolution process.