Encampment Sweeps: What Are They and What Can Be Done?

                

   

What's an Encampment Sweep?

    Encampment sweeps are when our local government orchestrate a forced removal of homeless people and their property from either private or public spaces. The amount of notice given to the victims and what happens their property can vary between cities. The affect of these sweeps can not only be emotionally destructive, but also life threatening to the homeless population.

https://nhchc.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/NHCHC-encampment-sweeps-issue-brief-12-22.pdf

How Have Sweeps Affected Portland?

    The sweeps performed in the second half of 2023 in Portland were estimated to have affected about 5,800 people. Not only was the amount of displaced citizens increasingly high, the city also failed to keep track of the displaced. The city only accounted for those who attended Multnomah County’s four large shelters, this impacted the city's ability to calculate how many people were ideally sent to a shelter for assistance.

https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2024/01/portland-intensified-tent-sweeps-in-2023-but-failed-to-track-where-people-ended-up.html

What Can We Do To Help?

    Citizens have started acting on their own, organizing a volunteer group titled SW Outreach. This group aids the homeless population by providing necessities and assisting in find shelters. They claim that these sweeps are antithetical to their efforts in aiding people. They say that keeping track is impossible when people are constantly being displaced by the local government.

https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/homeless/portland-homeless-camp-removals/283-05437602-7b67-43a8-b9ec-75d664809f75

    According to the American Public Health Association, the most evidence supported actions that can be done to address these issues starts with housing first. This is the act of giving people without a home permanent housing and supportive services, simply based off the belief that housing is a human right. They also advocate for providing services to people with physical or mental health disabilities or any subpopulation in need of aid. 

https://www.apha.org/policies-and-advocacy/public-health-policy-statements/policy-database/2024/01/16/displacement-of-encampments#:~:text=%5B26%5D%20Peer%2Dreviewed%20evidence,services%20to%20subpopulations%2C%20including%20people

    For more information on how truly disruptive these sweeps are I highly recommend reading this article that sites a multitude of instances where very important necessities were taken during one of these sweeps. 

https://projects.propublica.org/homeless-encampment-sweeps-taken-belongings/