{"id":409875,"date":"2026-07-23T20:41:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T20:41:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/409875\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T20:41:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T20:41:10","slug":"oakland-wants-to-pay-homeless-to-clean-up-their-own-encampments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/409875\/","title":{"rendered":"Oakland wants to pay homeless to clean up their own encampments"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Bay Area city plans to embark on a novel way to tidy up homeless encampments as California desperately tries to tackle its homelessness crisis<\/a> \u2014 by paying the homeless to clean up after themselves.<\/p>\n

Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee teased to ABC7<\/a> that she will announce a pilot program in which unhoused residents would be paid to clean areas around encampments, similar to a program in Oregon.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to move in a new way to make sure every neighborhood clean and safe and my goal is to make Oakland the cleanest safest city in the country,\u201d Lee said.<\/p>\n

\"OaklandOakland Mayor Barbara Lee teased a pilot program in which homeless people are paid to clean up their encampments. Anadolu via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cI established the Office of Homeless Solutions so we\u2019re looking at out-of-the-box kind of solutions that are working in other areas to try to put pilots here in our own city to see if it works,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Lee told the outlet that she\u2019s confident the pilot program will move forward, but offered no specifics on start date or pay rate. The California Post reached out to the mayor\u2019s office to seek any details.<\/p>\n

The mayor claimed her proposed solution is \u201cgood for the community\u201d as it would bring financial help to the homeless if the streets are cleaner. If the streets are cleaner, it\u2019ll attract less homeless people and less filth, she said.<\/p>\n

Lee had floated the idea<\/a> of paying the homeless as early as February, part of her overall approach in dialing down the aggressiveness of encampment sweeps in line with the stances of homeless advocates.<\/p>\n

But city councilmembers have taken an opposite approach, voting in April <\/a>to pass a stricter policy to make it easier for the city to clear encampments.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor us to consistently be the region\u2019s social safety net, it\u2019s just not fair,\u201d Councilmember Charlene Wang said before the vote. \u201cThis is about providing relief to the neighborhoods that have had encampments in their backyard.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AOakland has an estimated 4,410 homeless people, but the number of encampments still grew to over 1,900 locations. JOHN G MABANGLO\/EPA-EFE \/ Shutterstock<\/p>\n

As of May of this year, Oakland has an estimated 4,410 homeless people \u2013 a notable decline over the past two years \u2014 but the number of encampments still grew to over 1,900 locations.<\/p>\n

Some homeless residents told ABC7 they liked Lee\u2019s idea of paying them to clean up the camps.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll she needs to do is have someone pick up trash,\u201d said Sean<\/a>, who lives in an encampment. \u201cJust like they do with everybody that has a house. We\u2019re just in a homeless encampment.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Oregon, the city of Portland pays unhoused individuals through initiatives like the Ground Score Association partnership to clean up litter and waste around public spaces and encampments. Workers make an hourly wage ranging from $20 to $29 helping collect hundreds of thousands of pounds of trash.<\/p>\n

The program seems to still<\/a> be ongoing, and the nonprofit behind it claims that all workers<\/a> who were living in tents during their first shift have been able to move into temporary or permanent housing.<\/p>\n

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters <\/p>\n

California Post News: Facebook<\/a>, Instagram<\/a>, TikTok<\/a>, X<\/a>, YouTube<\/a>, WhatsApp<\/a>, LinkedIn<\/a>
California Post Sports Facebook<\/a>, Instagram<\/a>, TikTok<\/a>, YouTube<\/a>, X<\/a>
California Post Opinion<\/a>
California Post Newsletters: Sign up here!<\/a>
California Post App: Download here!<\/a>
Home delivery: Sign up here!<\/a>
<\/a>Page Six Hollywood: Sign up here!<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t