In July 2024, Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered California agencies to “urgently” close homeless encampments on state property, aiming to show local officials that the state is leading by example in responding to homelessness.

“There are simply no more excuses,” the governor said in a statement announcing the directive. “It’s time for everyone to do their part.”

But during the four months after Newsom’s announcement, the number of encampment closures initiated by the California Department of Transportation — the primary state agency tasked with clearing camps from along highways and under freeway overpasses — plummeted.

Newsom issued the order on July 25, 2024. In both May and June of that year, Caltrans cleared more than 850 encampments, according to the data obtained by this news organization

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