Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday released a model ordinance that aims to enable cities and counties to address encampments and connect people experiencing homelessness with shelter and services.
Backed partially with $3.3 billion in voter-approved funding, Newsom called on “local governments to act without delay” under authority affirmed last year by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The model ordinance follows Newsom’s 2024 executive order that urged municipalities to expeditiously clear encampments with state and local funding while connecting unhoused residents with medical care and supportive services.
The $3.3 billion in funding from Proposition 1, or the Behavioral Health Services Act, is for communities statewide to add or improve facilities that provide housing that offers behavioral health and medical treatment for individuals who are the most seriously ill and consistently homeless, officials said. The Newsom administration has provided local governments with over $27 billion to address homelessness, along with tougher accountability requirements for funding recipients.
“There’s nothing compassionate about letting people die on the streets. Local leaders asked for resources — we delivered the largest state investment in history,” Newsom said in a statement. “They asked for legal clarity — the courts delivered. Now, we’re giving them a model they can put to work immediately, with urgency and with humanity, to resolve encampments and connect people to shelter, housing, and care. The time for inaction is over. There are no more excuses.”
The model ordinance helps local governments set appropriate rules regarding encampments and implement enforcement procedures based on providing “notice, shelter and services,” according to Newsom’s office. “Encampments pose a serious public safety risk, and expose the people in encampments to increased risk of sexual violence, criminal activity, property damage and break-ins, and unsanitary conditions.”
The model law is a starting point for cities and counties to create their own policies and draws heavily “from the state’s proven and workable approach — an approach that, since July 2021, has cleared more than 16,000 encampments and over 311,873 cubic yards of waste and debris from sites along the state right of way,” officials said. The legal framework for jurisdictions aims to clear encampments from public places “with urgency and dignity.”
The suggested ordinance includes bans on persistent camping in one location and blocking sidewalks. The state’s model law also requires city or county officials to provide at least 48 hours’ notice and make a viable effort to identify and offer shelter options prior to clearing encampments.
Officials said accountability.ca.gov “brings together thousands of locally reported data points to provide an accurate picture of local communities’ work to address homelessness, create housing and create behavioral health supports.”
Newsom’s office touted progress “in reversing decades of inaction on homelessness,” noting that from 2014-19, unsheltered homelessness in California increased by about 37,000 people. That was more than double the increase during the Newsom administration, which began in 2019.
As states nationwide see homelessness increasing, California’s rate has slowed. Officials noted reductions in the number of veterans and youth experiencing homelessness outpace any other state.
In 2024 homelessness spiked more than 18% in the U.S. California posted a 3% increase, a lower rate than in 40 other states, according to the governor’s office.
California is among the few states that have significantly muted increases in unsheltered homelessness, holding it to 0.45% last year. Nationwide in 2024, unsheltered homelessness grew nearly 7%.
Of the nation’s 771,500 people experiencing homelessness, over 187,000, or 24%, lived in California. Two-thirds were unsheltered, accounting for almost half of the unsheltered population in the U.S.
Local officials responded Monday to the governor’s announcement.
“I commend Governor Newsom for releasing this thoughtful and timely model ordinance,” Kathryn Barger, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors chair, said in a statement. “It strikes an important balance between protecting public safety and health while ensuring compassion for individuals experiencing homelessness.
“The model ordinance provides local governments with clear guidelines while emphasizing outreach and services,” Barger continued. “This is a practical step forward in helping communities responsibly manage encampments and connect people to the support they need.
Barger, who represents the 5th District in the county’s northern and eastern locales, said that since 2022, she has allocated additional discretionary funds to increase outreach teams with personnel from the sheriff’s department and the joint city-county Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, or LAHSA.
“Resolving encampments requires expertise, perseverance, and enforcement — that’s an effective formula,” Barger said.
Officials from Southern California cities said they were reviewing the model ordinance.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass highlighted the city’s recent progress in reducing homelessness with state assistance.
“In partnership with the governor’s office, we drove homelessness down in Los Angeles first time in years in 2023 and preliminary data suggests another decrease in 2024,” Bass said in a statement. “We will continue working together to keep moving tents and people off of streets and into housing as we improve and refine our approach. Thank you to Governor Newsom for his continued collaboration and vital support in this effort.”
Bucking state and national trends, homelessness in LA decreased for the first time in six years, according to last year’s point-in-time count. Permanent housing move-ins have doubled since before Bass took office in November 2022.
The homeless population declined 0.27% to 75,312 in LA County last year and declined 2.2% to 45,252 in the city of Los Angeles, according to LAHSA.
Monrovia City Manager Dylan Feik saw synergy between the city’s existing policies for encampment removal and the state’s guidelines.
“From what I can see, Monrovia has always employed a services/housing first model before undertaking enforcement action,” Monrovia City Manager Dylan said. “Over the years, we’ve regularly and routinely enforced certain park rules such as hours of operation, anti-littering, etc.”
Feik said Monrovia is No. 6 in Los Angeles County for new housing units under construction, with over 2,200 housing units under construction or recently completed.
“This equates to nearly 20% more housing stock in the community,” Feik said in an email. “The impacts certainly are challenging but I feel we are doing our fair share — and then some.”
Monrovia is also close to adopting an “inclusionary housing ordinance” that will require all multifamily projects, which are buildings with at least five units, must have a percentage of units with affordable rent rates, Feik added.
Azusa Mayor Robert Gonzalez noted the city’s work to remove encampments from the North San Gabriel River area that have posed a “serious public safety risk” for decades “with increased cases of criminal activity, sexual violence, unsanitary conditions, debris and environmental risk.” Efforts involving San Gabriel Valley cities and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over the past few years have reduced riverbed encampments totaling around 100 with an estimated 300 people to less than 10 at a given time.
Gonzalez also noted the “imperative” nature of ongoing funding for homeless services.
“While we recognize and appreciate the efforts of the governor in making funds available to cities and counties, the reality is that this funding does not ‘trickle down’ to smaller communities like Azusa whose efforts have shown tangible results,” he said in a statement.
The mayor said Azusa receives less than 6% annually, or $280,000, from LA County Measure A funding despite contributing over $5 million in sales tax revenue to Measure A funds. LA County departments receive more than 50% of Measure A funding totaling about $600 million annually, with the entire San Gabriel Valley only receiving about $8 million in total from the measure.
Voters approved Measure A in November to fund homelessness and housing programs. It raised the county’s sales tax 0.25% to 9.75% and generates an estimated $1.1 billion each year
“Azusa and our neighboring cities remain committed to doing what’s necessary at the local-level toward addressing homelessness and its wide-ranging impacts, but we cannot maintain these efforts without adequate and long-term funding,” Gonzalez said. “We urge the governor and our state legislators to please reevaluate how funding is disbursed among service providers, and consider further funding for municipalities that are on the front-lines of combatting these issues.”
Pasadena officials were “reviewing next steps and if/when we will need to seek direction from our City Council,” city spokeswoman Lisa Derderian said. “We are fortunate to have our own Housing Department and many homeless services resources available to help those in need in our community.”
Riverside spokesman Phil Pitchford said the state’s legal guidelines seem consistent with local laws that the City Council OK’d in October.
“The city of Riverside continues to reach out and offer services to people experiencing homelessness while also maintaining order in the public right of way,” Pitchford said. “At first glance, we do not see any conflict between what the governor is suggesting and what the city … already is doing.”
San Bernardino spokesman Jeff Kraus said the city “has in place a robust anti-camping ordinance and detailed encampment cleanup policies that have been very effective since we resumed addressing encampments about six months ago. Today’s announcement of Prop 1 funding for the county’s Behavior Health Pacific Village facility located in San Bernardino dedicates resources to specifically help with the mental health component of homelessness which is one of the toughest to solve.”
A San Bernardino County statement said state funding has “enabled the county to expand housing infrastructure and implement evidence-based programs that significantly strengthen our comprehensive response to this urgent community challenge. In San Bernardino County, we’ve been addressing this issue with urgency and compassion by leading and supporting our cities in collective ongoing outreach events at encampment locations. Through these events, we’ve been able to connect individuals to shelter, supportive services and permanent housing. As a county, our efforts have resulted in a substantial decrease in homelessness this year compared to the previous year. We will continue to do all that we can to help resolve this issue.”
In 2024, San Bernardino County’s homeless population was 4,237 people, according to the latest in point-in-time count. That 1% increase compared with the 4,195 individuals experiencing homelessness in 2023, which saw a 26% increase compared with the previous year. In 2022 the homelessness increased 6.6%.
More than 75,000 people experienced homelessness in LA County in 2024, according to LAHSA. Unsheltered homelessness decreased by about 5.1% to 52,365 compared with 2023, while the shelter count grew by 12.7% to 22,947.
In the city of Los Angeles, unsheltered homelessness declined to 29,275 individuals, or 10.4%. The city’s shelter population increased by 15,977 or 17.7%.
The model ordinance is available on the state’s website.
Updated May 13, 2025, 9:18 a.m.
