A buyback program offering cash to people living in their RVs may become a model after the City of Berkeley effectively cleared out a homeless encampment this past January.

It was so successful that UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative began a study to understand what works and what doesn't work when asking people to move from an encampment into a shelter.

For several years, Mike Jones had lived in his van at the notorious encampment on 2nd Street between Cedar and Page, until this past January, when he accepted an offer to get off the streets.

"The program chose me, I won't say I chose the program, they came around, they had a plan, and I needed change," said Jones.

The change came in the form of cash payment for his van, but also his own room at the Capri Motel on Univ

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