Homelessness Response Plan

Thank you for your question! Because of the Martin v. Boise decision, communities cannot ban camping on all public property unless an adequate alternative is provided. Portland’s plan is to create very large sanctioned tent camping sites, and it’s really unknown at this time if that would stand up in the courts as an “adequate alternative.” For the last year, Vancouver has been standing up what we call Safe Stay Communities, which are small village-like alternative shelter communities. More details about those sites and the rationale behind them can be found here: https://www.beheardvancouver.org/homelessness-response, and I would specifically recommend watching the embedded video of the initial presentation to Council on that page from last May: https://www.beheardvancouver.org/homelessness-response/widgets/33487/videos/2678. 

So the short answer to your question is that we cannot ban camping unless we’re also adding shelter beds, which we have been working to do, as quickly as possible, since last fall. Each of these sites comes with a 1000’ no-camping buffer as a way to reduce the camping in those areas, easing the burdens on those neighborhoods/areas, as well as creating a safe place for the folks living inside the Safe Stay Communities. 

I hope this is helpful in answering your question, but please feel free to reach out with any additional questions. 

Camping is not allowed in Vancouver City Parks.  The Burnt Bridge Trail system is not a City park under the established park rules for the purposes of enforcement, except for the paved trail itself and 15 feet either side of the trail.  The rest of the property near or under the BPA powerlines is undeveloped easement which the BPA allows the City to use for the multi-purpose trail and creek maintenance.  The HART monitors this camp and has a scheduled cleanup planned for Tuesday Nov 8^th.  Abandoned sites will be removed and large camps will be reduced in size.  Solid waste will be collected along with all shopping carts left along the trail’s edge.

Panhandling is not illegal (holding a cardboard sign), but Aggressive Panhandling (intimidating, assaulting, blocking the way) under the Vancouver Municipal Code is.  Anyone who feels they are being subjected to Aggressive Panhandling as defined by law may call 311 or 911 to report that offense.

There are no laws which give the City authority to “move folks along” just because they are homeless and on public property.  In fact, the law requires outreach and engagement to attempt to connect folks with adequate shelter or housing prior to any enforcement.  The City is aggressively working on increasing shelter and housing options to get folks up and off the streets and into better living environments.  The City also works to address the negative impacts of unsheltered homelessness.  More on the City’s plan can be found on this page (https://www.beheardvancouver.org/homelessness-response).

Thank you for your question. To apply for one of our Safe Stay communities you can contact our HART team at hartteam@cityofvancouver.us or call at 360.487.8626. You can also contact Outsiders Inn at 360.695.9677, who is running out Outpost and Living Hope Church at hopevillage@livinghopechurch.com who runs Hope Village. 

Thank you for your email. One could apply for a spot in one of our Safe Stay Communities by calling Outsiders Inn at 360.695.9677 or by emailing Living Hope Church at hopevillage@livinghopechurch.com

Thank you for your question. While the Safe Stay Communities certainly do provide safer and healthier living conditions to the folks living inside of them, they also do the same for the neighborhoods they exist in. Each location comes with a 1000’ no-camping buffer, which is consistently enforced, so neighbors near the sites don’t have to contend with the tents or the people inside them. 

It is required of site residents to be/learn how to be good neighbors to everyone in the site, as well as to the surrounding neighbors and communities. When people move into the sites, they are also required to work on whatever barriers they have to stability, whether that’s mental/behavioral health, physical health, legal issues, etc. It’s been our experience that when most people stabilize and begin working on their challenges, those behaviors you mentioned tend to begin to disappear. It’s also true that not everyone will be a good fit for the Safe Stay Communities, but if someone is asked to leave or just chooses to not come in, it’s not an option for them to camp or just hang around outside of the space because of that buffer.

It actually sounds as though most of your concerns sound to be about police service, or the perceived lack thereof, in response to criminal activity rather than about homelessness or the addition of services to move unsheltered homeless into shelter or housing and off the streets.

I would strongly recommend also sending your concerns about the policing in the City to VANPD@cityofvancouver.us and ask for a response from the Police Department. While law enforcement should not be utilized to address homelessness, they should be the response to criminal activity, like trespassing, vandalism, assault, etc., regardless of the housing status of the individual committing the crime. 

Due to a landmark decision by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, municipalities cannot criminalize camping on all public property at all times unless there is an available adequate alternative, meaning some kind of shelter or housing. The City has been working to quickly create more shelter space over the last year, but we still don’t have enough. In the meantime, the City’s outreach team, HART, continually visits camps all over the city to connect individuals with needed and available services/shelter, and continually monitors camps for health and safety. We work with camps to mitigate any health and safety issues, and if those issues cannot be mitigated, we will then remove a camp. However, until we have enough shelter space, those folks will likely just move to the next available space nearby, or sometimes even return to the same space, which would then start that process over. More about what the City is doing/has done can be found by clicking through this Be Heard page.

The camps along the freeways, like the one you mentioned, are on WSDOT property. The City has no authority to cleanup or remove camps on WSDOT property.

Camping at schools, parks, and libraries is strictly prohibited, so if you see camps in those spaces, or illegal activity, such as you described, please report that to law enforcement.

In order to truly relocate individuals living outdoors vs. just moving them around or displacing them, we have to have spaces for them to move to. Due to a landmark decision by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, municipalities cannot criminalize camping on all public property at all times unless there is an available adequate alternative, meaning some kind of shelter or housing. The City has been working to quickly create more shelter space over the last year, but we still don’t have enough. In the meantime, the City’s outreach team, HART, continually visits camps all over the city to connect individuals with needed and available services/shelter, and continually monitors camps for health and safety. We work with camps to mitigate any health and safety issues, and if those issues cannot be mitigated, we will then remove a camp. However, until we have enough shelter space, those folks will likely just move to the next available space nearby, or sometimes even return to the same space, which would then start that process over. More about what the City is doing/has done can be found by clicking through this Be Heard page.

While camping is allowed on some public property until we have enough shelter space, camping is strictly prohibited in designated parks. If you see camping within an actual park, you should call 311/911 for a more immediate response. You can also report any camps to HART on the MyVancouver app. HART is the City’s outreach team, which works to connect individuals living outdoors with needed services, as well as assess camps for cleanup/sanitation needs.

Thank you for your question. The City of Vancouver recently contracted with WSDOT to allow for us to provide outreach services on WSDOT property. Since July, the City’s Homelessness Assistance and Resources Team (HART) has been visiting WSDOT properties to engage with folks living unsheltered, provide housing assessments and connections to shelter or other services, as well as let them know in advance if/when WSDOT will be doing a cleanup or camp removal. Beyond outreach, the City of Vancouver has no jurisdiction or authority over which camps stay or which camps go on WSDOT property. WSDOT has their own process for prioritization and cleanup/ move outs, and if you’d like more information on how they do that, you can reach out to Bill Morrison at MorriBi@wsdot.wa.gov.

Thank you for your question. If you are located in Clark County, we recommend contacting the Public Health department to see if they have any recommendations. You can also look for a biohazard clean-up company to assist with what is left behind.