California expands efforts to remove homeless encampments

“EDMAs are designed to augment the state’s continued efforts to prioritize public safety, protect vital infrastructure and coordinate with social service partners who connect people experiencing homelessness with safer, more stable housing alternatives,” Chris Clark, Caltrans spokesperson, told The Center Square via email. “Under these agreements, cities are given access to state rights-of-way to perform encampment removals, provided they follow state policies and reporting requirements to ensure eligible reimbursable costs are used effectively and transparently.”

State rights-of-way refer to entrances, exits, underpasses, freeways or any other state-owned roadways, according to Franklin Coopersmith, San Diego deputy director of its Environmental Services Department.

The city of San Diego was given access to work in five miles of state right-of-way areas, Coopersmith told The Center Square during an interview Monday.

San Diego, San Bernardino and Ontario join a group of 10 other cities who already have agreements. The city/county of San Francisco and the cities of Claremont, Commerce, Fresno, Paramount, Riverside, Santa Ana, Santa Fe Springs, San Jose and Santa Monica also have agreements.

Cities that adhere to all of the guidelines and policies presented in their contracts, will be eligible for cost reimbursements from the state.

“Caltrans’ agreement with the city of Ontario was executed on June 1 with a funding total of $400,000. The agreement with San Bernardino signed on July 17 was for $400,000, and the EDMA with the City of San Diego was signed on July 16 for $400,000 for fiscal year 2025-26 and $800,000 for fiscal year 2026-27,” Clark said.

The city of San Diego agreed to its first agreement with the state on July 16, 2025 for $400,000. The city renewed its agreement, with modifications, on July 16, 2026 for $800,000. The additional $400,000 is offered by the state “if the city were to pursue and implement a pilot tracking program,” Coopersmith said.

“Right now we gather information out at the abatements, how many people are there, how many tents, where they're located, and we do what's called an after-action report and send that to Caltrans,” Coopersmith said. “Our awareness is that at least 10 other jurisdictions are doing similar types of work, and they're doing the same thing where they submit it in their own way. And this pilot program is to help streamline and try to get everyone on the same page.”

Coopersmith said the reimbursements from the state cover about 50% of the total expenses the city of San Diego spends on encampment removal and maintenance activities in state-owned areas. 

Areas that are owned by the city of San Diego are fully maintained and fully paid for by the city, not the state, Coopersmith said.

The Clean San Diego homelessness-related budget is more than $10.4 million for fiscal year 2026-2027, which includes the Caltrans Delegated Maintenance Agreement, of which $400,000 is expected to be reimbursed, according to Matthew Hoffman, spokesperson for the city of San Diego. The programs included within Clean SD are encampment abatements citywide, sidewalk sanitizing and the Enhanced Hot Spot Program, which focuses on removing large waste near and around encampments. 

The Center Square reached out to the offices of the mayors of San Bernardino and Ontario, but they did not fulfill interview requests by the time of publication.

The agreements also allow the cities to address litter and debris removal, vegetation management and graffiti removal, in addition to encampment removals, all in one response rather than separate responses. 

Since July 2021, Caltrans has removed nearly 26,500 encampments and collected approximately 457,000 cubic yards of litter and debris across the state, according to Newsom’s press release.

San Diego city crews removed 413 tons of waste from state right-of-way areas in the first year of the agreement. Additionally, 115 people entered into city-funded shelter programs, and 19 have since moved into permanent housing, according to their press release.

Coopersmith said people in homeless encampments are given at least a 48-hour notice prior to abatements and that every one to two weeks, state right-of-way areas are abated. 

Each jurisdiction works differently alongside state authorities, according to Coopersmith. The city of San Diego works separately from Caltrans to enforce homeless encampment abatements and is now able to perform removals on state-owned areas without having to work with state officials, because of the agreement, Coopersmith said. 

“What we've identified is the more cooks you have in the kitchen can sometimes be more detrimental because you just have to communicate more,” he said.

Abatements teams and outreach teams work separately to remove people and encampments in dangerous areas, and help homeless people acquire resources they need. 

“It is not safe for people to be on the freeways, and by getting people off the freeways and into better spots, even if it is just moving from a Caltrans side and they're on the city side, it makes that contact easier for our outreach teams,” Coopersmith said.

City-funded homeless outreach teams provide shelter referrals and help manage cases. The city’s Homelessness Strategies and Solutions Department helps facilitate outreach efforts.

“Our partnerships must continue delivering results – helping keep roadways clean and addressing the very real issues of homelessness in our state. By pairing historic state investments with local-level coordination, we are helping communities across California create safer, healthier places for everyone,” Newsom said in a press release last week.