As white vans and trucks rumbled through a wooded area between a busy highway and apartment complexes on the North Side of San Antonio, at least three deer curiously paused to observe before they bounded away.
Fewer than a dozen city employees and contractors ventured into the grove nestled off of Thousand Oaks Drive on Tuesday to perform one of an estimated 700 homeless encampment cleanups, known as “abatements” or “sweeps,” that will take place in San Antonio this year. That’s 200 more than last year.
In a survey commissioned by the city, San Antonians ranked “homeless outreach and encampments” as the top priority for the city’s 2024 budget. As a result, City Manager Erik Walsh promised that encampments would be cleaned up within two weeks of a notification through the city services and information hotline 311 and outreach efforts to connect people experiencing homelessness to services and housing will be enhanced.
Councilwoman Marina Alderete Gavito (D7) filed a policy proposal in November that would prioritize encampment sweeps near schools, neighborhoods, drainage infrastructure and other “sensitive” areas.
According to city staff, abatements are already prioritized that way.
“Our current [average] response time is 12.7 days,” Assistant City Manager Lori Houston told City Council’s Governance Committee on Wednesday as it reviewed Alderete Gavito’s proposal. “We also respond immediately to encampments that are reported in sensitive areas … and get them scheduled as soon as possible.”
Starting in February, the city placed 32 sites on a list that receive cleanups every two weeks regardless of whether an encampment is reported to 311. So far this fiscal year, which started in October, the city has performed 442 abatements. The 700 sweeps this year will cost the city an estimated $3.6 million.
Residents in District 7 haven’t noticed a difference, Alderete Gavito said.
“We are constantly, constantly hearing from neighbors on the frustration of it,” she said.
After police found last week that a teenager experiencing homelessness allegedly killed and robbed an autistic man earlier this year, tensions are especially high, she added.
“While a lot of people do have compassion toward our unsheltered population, I do feel that that compassion is eroding, and it scares me,” she said. “I’m so nervous of potential violence towards our unsheltered residents.”
She understands that sweeps won’t solve the issue, but leaving people to live in unsafe areas is also not an option, Alderete Gavito said. “This is our responsibility … we have to address it and we have to act with urgency” combining abatement and outreach.
Clearing encampments
A mirror hung from a tree. Amid the piles of belongings left behind were an oversized stuffed bear, a bowling pin, notebooks, backpacks and bicycle tires. A narrow, wire shelf was left empty save for a small doll that sat at the top and watched as a city staffer called out, “Is anyone home?”
The call from Joe Van Kuiken, special project manager with the city’s Department of Human Services, went unanswered.
The couple who were camping there for less than two months in a large tent with their two pit bulls (and their puppies) were gone, Van Kuiken said. What they left behind was gathered in piles, presumably by the couple, before the cleanup crews arrived. In one of the piles, a sign warned inhabitants of the coming sweep.
“These folks were established out here, so we wanted to give them a couple extra days,” he said.
Ahead of each sweep, encampment residents are offered rides to shelters, treatment facilities or other locations to receive housing and assistance. Often, social workers simply listen to and talk with people.
“We haven’t really noticed an increase in folks accepting services,” during those pre-sweep assessments, Van Kuiken said. It’s “a little tough” to offer someone services and then say, “Hey, by the way, you’re getting kicked out in a couple days.”
Each encampment and abatement is unique — sometimes it’s abandoned, sometimes people are still packing up and sometimes they refuse to leave, he said. Regardless, outreach workers and police are nearby to assist if needed.
“[The police know] they can’t arrest away homelessness and we know we can’t abate away homelessness,” he said. “So what works? It’s case management” and requires building trust with people who are often living with trauma, addiction and mental health issues.
Abatements can make it harder for social workers and case managers to locate their clients.
But ignoring encampments also isn’t sustainable, Van Kuiken said, because it’s often unsafe for those living in them.
“We have a responsibility to go in there” if there’s evidence of fires, biohazards such as syringes or human waste, increased criminal activity or a risk of flooding, he said.
It’s rare that an encampment doesn’t meet those parameters, but if a partner organization like Haven for Hope or SAMMinistries is close to getting someone housed, an abatement can easily be canceled or rescheduled.
“All they have to do is say the word, boom, I just pull it off the schedule,” Van Kuiken said. “We don’t want to mess with that, because that’s really the long-term strategy.”
As proposed, Alderete Gavito’s prioritization request would likely not change how that schedule gets built.
“We’re always focusing on sensitive areas. If somebody identifies a camp where there’s a bunch of needles, it’s by a school — we would prioritize that over a camp, that’s maybe out here,” Van Kuiken said, gesturing toward the thicket.
The notification about this camp came from someone who lives nearby, he said.
From where he stood in the encampment, only a faint suggestion of an apartment complex could be seen, but there were remnants of at least one makeshift fireplace. It’s also located in a floodplain.
“The last time we abated this site was about a month and a half ago,” Van Kuiken said, and at least one resident had come back to live here again since. “We can abate, abate, abate but what’s really going to make the difference is getting these folks connected in some way shape or form.”
Part of a strategy
Recent investments in permanent supportive housing and low-barrier shelters have added to the list of support social workers can offer people experiencing homelessness.
The 2023 homeless point-in-time count found 874 unsheltered individuals in Bexar County. Walsh has estimated that increased shelter, housing, outreach and abatements will allow the city to get 400 unsheltered people off the streets and into shelters or more permanent housing arrangements this fiscal year.
The city can’t invest in encampments without also investing in programs and nonprofits that get people off the streets and make housing more affordable, Alderete Gavito said. “Homelessness is a housing problem. … There’s a lot of people falling through the cracks and it’s not about laziness.”
But the city can’t ignore encampments, she said. “That’s setting up a whole other precedent … we cannot let our city become Austin or some of these other cities that have been overrun with this issue.”
The Governance Committee, of which she is not a member, forwarded her policy proposal to be discussed by the full council on April 11. City staff had already scheduled a presentation about the “state of homelessness and the homeless response system” that day, Houston said.
During that meeting, Alderete Gavito said she’ll be pushing for even more frequent sweeps.
“We’re definitely going in the right direction, but we cannot let our foot off the gas pedal,” she said.
