{"id":77872,"date":"2025-12-08T11:21:05","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T19:21:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=77872"},"modified":"2025-12-08T11:21:05","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T19:21:05","slug":"governor-newsoms-safe-task-force-partners-with-long-beach-to-address-encampments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=77872","title":{"rendered":"Governor Newsom\u2019s SAFE Task Force partners with Long Beach to address encampments"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
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25 people housed in recently opened state-funded shelter<\/h3>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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What you need to know:\u00a0<\/strong>The Governor\u2019s SAFE Task Force conducted an encampment operation in Long Beach, helping shelter 25 people and 8 pets in a newly opened state-funded Homekey shelter.<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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LONG BEACH \u2014\u00a0<\/strong>As part of Governor Newsom\u2019s statewide strategy to address homelessness, the Governor deployed his State Action for\u00a0Facilitation on Encampments (SAFE) task force to address a persistent encampment in Long Beach this last week. Working with local partners, including the City of Long Beach and PATH homeless services, the task force helped connect 25 people and 8 pets with shelter at a state-funded shelter with supportive services. Established in August,\u00a0the\u00a0SAFE Task Force<\/a>\u00a0works with local partners to address encampments on state rights of way in California\u2019s 10\u00a0largest cities.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cThere\u2019s nothing humane about letting people languish outdoors without shelter or support. We\u2019ve been leaning in with unprecedented state help \u2014 real resources for our cities and counties \u2014 to turn this national homelessness crisis around and to get people the care they need. We\u2019re standing with our local partners like Long Beach to move people out of encampments and into a safe, stable place.\u201d<\/h4>\n
Governor Gavin Newsom<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cEvery person in Long Beach deserves safety, stability, and a real path forward. For too long, our neighbors living along the riverbed have faced dangerous conditions that have been difficult to address because they span multiple jurisdictions,\u201d\u00a0said Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson.\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cBy strengthening our partnership with Governor Newsom\u2019s SAFE Task Force and Caltrans, we\u2019re finally able to take a coordinated, compassionate approach that connects people with housing, services, and long-term support.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHousing stability is a critical first step to address and end homelessness,\u201d\u00a0said Business, Consumer Services and Housing Secretary Tomiquia Moss.\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cIn California, we\u2019re prioritizing meeting people where they are to help provide access to permanent housing and ongoing services. This work is not possible without strong partnership at the local level, including from cities like Long Beach and community organizations that offer people direct support. Our ultimate goal is to make sure everyone has a safe and affordable place to call home.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCalifornia is building a stronger, more equitable behavioral health system so every person can get the right care at the right time,\u201d\u00a0said Kim Johnson, Secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency.\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cThe SAFE Task Force is a powerful example of this work in action, demonstrating what\u2019s possible when we come together with a shared commitment to helping people stabilize, recover, and thrive.”<\/p>\n

About the Governor\u2019s SAFE Task Force<\/strong><\/h2>\n

California\u2019s SAFE Task Force brings together expertise and programs from across state agencies to target encampments. The SAFE Task Force not only clears encampments but also brings together emergency management, social services, health care, drug treatment, and public safety. SAFE focuses on removing encampments on state property in California\u2019s most populous cities. SAFE has now cleared encampment in\u00a0San Francisco<\/a>,\u00a0Los Angeles<\/a>,\u00a0Anaheim<\/a>, Fresno, and San Diego–with more to come.<\/p>\n

The Long Beach encampment operation addressed an encampment located on state property alongside freeways at the State Route 91 and I-710 Interchange, which endangered not only the people in the encampment, but also motorists and the public. To facilitate clean up, the task force worked with local service providers for weeks to provide outreach to inhabitants of the encampment, offering shelter and supportive services including health care.<\/p>\n

After moving people into shelter and off the encampment site, Caltrans teams picked up debris and hazardous materials, clearing approximately\u00a0150 tons of debris over three days.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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This adds to work that has been underway since 2021, with Caltrans having removed more than 19,000 encampments on state right-of-way and collected approximately 354,000 cubic yards of litter and debris.<\/p>\n

Providing shelter in Long Beach\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Twenty-five people in the encampment were connected with shelter through the operation, being moved from the hazardous outdoor location to a state-funded Homekey site nearby. The Homekey site, which opened on October 29, is an interim housing location that is already paving the way toward stability and permanent housing. The Homekey program is an effort launched in 2019 to rapidly house individuals experiencing homelessness. Through the program, the state provided local communities with funding to transform existing buildings \u2014 such as commercial spaces, hotels, motels, adult residential facilities, and manufactured housing \u2014 to permanent or interim housing for the target population. Across three rounds of the original Homekey program, HCD awarded more than $3.6 billion to fund 261 projects with 15,962 homes expected to house more than 175,000 Californians over the projects\u2019 lifetimes.<\/p>\n

This includes Steve, who was\u00a0connected with shelter after living in the encampment for a number of years<\/a>\u00a0and who expressed that this shelter \u201csaved my life.\u201d<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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Strategies that work<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Governor Newsom is the first Governor to make addressing homelessness \u2013 a decades in the making issue \u2013 a top priority. Since taking office in 2019, Governor Newsom has created\u00a0unprecedented policy and structural changes<\/a>\u00a0in state government to help California better address its housing and homelessness crises, including additional and unprecedented\u00a0support for local governments<\/a>,\u00a0stronger accountability<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0enforcement<\/a>, transformational\u00a0changes to mental health services<\/a>\u00a0and state government, and\u00a0groundbreaking reforms<\/a>\u00a0to create more housing, faster than ever before.<\/p>\n

Turning around a nationwide crisis<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Newsom administration is making significant progress in reversing decades of inaction on homelessness.<\/p>\n

Last year, the state held the growth of unsheltered homelessness to just 0.45%, compared to a national increase of nearly 7%. States like Florida, Texas, New York, and Illinois saw larger increases both in percentage and absolute numbers. In 2024, while homelessness increased nationally by over 18%, California limited its overall increase to just 3% \u2014 a lower rate than in 40 other states. California also achieved the nation\u2019s largest reduction in veteran homelessness and made meaningful progress in reducing youth homelessness.<\/p>\n

And this year, many of California\u2019s communities are reporting reductions in homelessness \u2013 with a particularly notable reduction in unsheltered homelessness.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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