Compassion and Dignity First. Safety Always

In 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom became the first California governor to make homelessness a top state priority, implementing a bold strategy to expand housing, strengthen support services, reform mental health care, ensure accountability and address encampments to reverse decades of neglect.

"No one in our nation should be without a place to call home. I am proud of the work we are doing together to reverse this decades-old crisis. Together, we are turning the tide on homelessness, but we have more work to do. We have a moral obligation to assist every single Californian in need and that means ensuring that everyone has a roof over their head.”

— Governor Gavin Newsom

In 2025, Governor Newsom launched the State Action for Facilitation on Encampments (SAFE) Task Force, maximizing state resources and working with local partners to coordinate encampment removals and connect unhoused individuals with housing, health care and services. Focused on major cities and state rights-of-way, the initiative aims to restore public spaces while helping people transition off the streets and into stable, long-term solutions.

Learn more about SAFE

Safer and Cleaner Communities

Caltrans is responsible for protecting and maintaining the state’s infrastructure for the traveling public and the communities it serves. For safety, Caltrans removes encampments, collaborates with local partners who are funded and trained to help individuals experiencing homelessness, and cleans state rights-of-way to protect the traveling public and the state highway system.

Map of California with various cities highlighted. Mouseover for more details

Caltrans and cities have agreed to remove litter and debris as well as encampments on the state highway system, with certain costs reimbursable.

On California highways, since July 2021, Caltrans has:

Removed 19,174 encampments

(enough to fill about 12,000 garbage trucks)

Along with local partners, collected 3.4 million cubic yards of litter and debris from highways and public spaces, as part of Clean California

Collected 348,659 cubic yards of litter from encampments

Offered services to more than 61,000 individuals experiencing homelessness

As of November 12, 2025

Clean California

Governor Newsom’s $1.2 billion Clean California effort has provided a visible and lasting environmental impact in local communities, while supporting climate resiliency, economic equity and public safety.

33,317,384 Cubic Yards of Litter

A graphic of a freight ship full of shipping containers

Since the start of the program, enough litter has been collected to fill 77,405 shipping containers.

Bringing California Home

Caltrans is working with local partners and state agencies such as the California Department of Housing and Community Development to help ensure that people experiencing homelessness at encampments are connected to the services they need. Since 2019, California has worked to create more housing and supports for local governments to address homelessness.

California Interagency Council on Homelessness provides an all-government approach to address housing and homelessness. Learn more about Cal ICH

Building Affordable Homes

Since January 2019, the Department of Housing and Community Development:

Funded more than 60,000 affordable homes
Completed over 18,000 homes
More than 27,000 homes under construction

See more information about HCD's multifamily investments

Supporting Local and Regional Solutions

Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) Program

Investment: $3.3 billion
1,469 projects funded statewide
303,901 people accessed services
80,982 people placed in permanent housing

Encampment Resolution Funding (ERF) Program

Investment: $856 million
209 projects funded statewide
15,723 people accessed services
2,881 people placed in permanent housing

View data on HHAP and ERF outcomes

What’s Next

Governor Newsom is launching the first-ever state agency focused only on housing and homelessness: the California Housing and Homelessness Agency. This new agency will help scale up the progress already underway.

State housing leaders are working to:

Give local governments the tools and funding they need
Help move people out of encampments and into housing
Provide extra mental health support for those in crisis

“I love living here ... I would still be sitting in my truck down along the American River if it wasn’t for this place.”
Mike Felt

Homekey Program

$3.6 billion to support 261 housing projects
These projects will provide housing for over 175,000 vulnerable Californians, including 15,926 affordable homes

Learn more about Homekey

Thanks to Proposition 1, approved by voters in 2024, an additional $2.14 billion is now available through Homekey+. This funding will support permanent housing for: