Beginning in 2016, as a response to increased attention and concern around its unsheltered, encamped homeless population, the City of San Francisco’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) launched an initiative known as the Encampment Resolution Team (ERT). An encampment was defined as any individual or group of people living on the streets with one or more tent or other permanent or semi-permanent structure. The city identified roughly 40 distinct encampments that had six or more people, tents, or improvised structures situated in a single location for at least a month.
Over the two-year period between July 2016 and June 2018, the ERT resolved a total of 37 encampments, varying in size from fewer than 10 residents to as many as 70 persons living in a single encampment. The ERT encountered over 1,300 people (duplicated across encampments) in these 37 encampments over the two-year period. Accounting for those engaged at multiple sites, a total of 1,206 individuals were engaged by the ERT.
The following report summarizes the approach and operation of the ERT as it was conceived, the ongoing evolution of ERT in its implementation, partnerships stemming from its work, the qualitative feedback from a small sample of the people it served, and the analysis of administrative data gathered on those that were living in encampments during this time period. Over the 24 months examined in this report, there were changes in how the ERT’s work played out in practice. Varying encampment and community engagement tactics were implemented, depending on the specific needs of that location and available resources.
This document concludes with considerations and recommendations for communities seeking to address encampments of individuals living through unsheltered homelessness.