Don’t expect any major changes in how the city of Santa Cruz is approaching street homelessness in the wake of Gov. Gavin Newsom last week ordering state agencies to ramp up encampment sweeps. Based on evidence, this approach is working and helping more people.

“The state has been hard at work to address this crisis on our streets,” Newsom said in a statement. “There are simply no more excuses. It’s time for everyone to do their part.”

Newsom’s executive order only applies to encampments on state property. It doesn’t require cities or counties to take action but does seek to provide local government officials with a “sense of urgency” in the governor’s words in responding to homelessness.

The state has sent $1 billion to local governments to close encampments and help move people to shelter or housing. Over the past five years, California has spent about $24 billion on various homeless programs, even as a state audit found officials have failed to track whether the money actually is helping solve the crisis.

Since 2018, lower court rulings had prevented officials in California from arresting or fining people for sleeping on public property if beds weren’t available in homeless shelters. But few cities have the resources to move all their homeless residents indoors.

Cities and counties have urged courts to allow more flexibility in clearing and managing encampments — and many officials, including Newsom, were pleased with the Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision last month to give state and local officials sweeping power to clear homeless encampments even when those living on the street have nowhere else to go.

Across California, some 181,000 people experience homelessness on a given night, almost 30% of the nation’s unhoused population. The nine-county Bay Area has an estimated 37,000 homeless residents.

Santa Cruz closed down two large-scale encampments in recent years. The city has made significant progress since then. This year’s Point-In-Time annual count for the city saw a dramatic single-year homeless population decrease of 36%, from 1,028 people counted last year to 659 this year. Additionally, the city’s unsheltered population dipped 49% to 384 people living outdoors. Countywide, the overall number was reported as a slight 2.6% increase to 1,850. The city of Watsonville now has more people experiencing homelessness than any other county jurisdiction, showing a 60% single-year increase to 673 people counted.

Measurable results show Santa Cruz is a good case study for other cities in the state. We asked two city leaders who help oversee the homelessness response whether the governor’s edict will change any policies.

First, from Mayor Fred Keeley:

“Given that we have been able to use existing strategies to achieve a 36%+ reduction in street homelessness in the last 18 months, we are committed to continuing to use the existing tools to address this issue. We use teams of service providers in contacting those experiencing homelessness to urge them to accept shelter and related health and human services (provided by our partners at the County of Santa Cruz). We work with Housing Matters and the Free Guide for shelter and other services. We were able, with the help of state Sen. John Laird, to secure $2 million for shelter services, in this year’s budget battles in Sacramento.

“In short, we will stay the course, as we are seeing it result in measurable improvements.”

And from Larry Imwalle, homelessness response manager, for the city of Santa Cruz:

“The city’s current practices are already consistent with Gov. Newsom’s suggested encampment-related policies for local governments …

“The city plans to continue to reduce homelessness by … building more affordable housing, offering shelter, increasing outreach and service connections, and closing down camps that pose health and safety risks. … City departments will continue the evidence-based approach contained in the City Council-approved Homelessness Response Strategic Plan, prioritizing outreach, engagement, offers for shelter, and service connection to those experiencing homelessness.”