California and Fresno unite to tackle unsheltered homelessness through new cooperative agreement

The agreement aligns with Governor Newsom’s multi-pronged approach that is reshaping how homelessness is addressed in our state. Last month, the Governor’s SAFE Taskforce partnered with Fresno to clear encampments on Highway 180 in Fresno, which had attracted 50 people at a time, and a residential neighborhood —ultimately placing installations to prevent repopulation. In coordination with the city officials, community fairs were held to help connect unhoused individuals with housing, medical care, drug treatment, counseling, and other critical services.

The SAFE taskforce has now cleared encampments in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Anaheim and San Diego–with more to come.

B-Roll and SOTs from Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer and Caltrans Dist. 6 Assistant Director Michael Navarro SAFE Taskforce Encampment Cleanup.

“Under Governor Newsom’s leadership, we are building stronger and safer communities with our local partners, providing those in need with an opportunity for shelter and wraparound services,” said California Transportation Secretary Toks Omishakin.  

“Fresno has worked hard to clean up our freeways and restore pride in the way our city looks. This agreement allows us to protect the progress we’ve made, keep these areas beautiful, and ensure that our city remains a place we can all be proud of,” said Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer.  “By maintaining what we’ve already cleaned up, we’re honoring the investment our community has made in making Fresno a cleaner, safer city for everyone.”

The joint partnership

California and Fresno have entered into an agreement called a Delegated Maintenance Agreement (DMA), which streamlines the process of clearing encampments located on state rights-of-way within city limits by authorizing the city to conduct removal operations directly. To assure transparency, accountability and accurate reimbursement costs, the pact requires Fresno to conduct encampment cleanups and maintenance activities in a manner aligned with state and local policies. Additionally, the DMA obligates the city to execute the same reporting procedures that Caltrans uses during its encampment removal operations.  

Cleanup operations will continue to prioritize encampments that pose health and safety risks, such as those located near active traffic lanes, confined spaces, unstable structures, or areas where unhoused individuals face a heightened risk of injury. 

Under the agreement, city maintenance and landscape crews will be responsible for removing litter, debris, weeds and resolving encampments located in designated state rights-of-way. Similar agreements have been established between Caltrans and the cities of San Francisco, San Jose and San Diego.

These agreements complement state efforts that have been underway for years. Since July of 2021, Caltrans has removed more than 19,000 encampments on the state right-of-way and collected approximately 354,000 cubic yards of litter and debris—enough to fill more than 8,000 shipping containers. Since July 1, 2024 alone, Caltrans has removed 81 encampments in Fresno and cleared more than 1,150 cubic yards (equivalent of 48 garbage trucks) of waste and debris, a 58% increase from the previous year. 

Strategies that work

Governor Newsom is the first Governor to make addressing homelessness – an issue decades in the making – a top priority. Since taking office in 2019, the Governor has created unprecedented policy and structural changes in state government to help California better address its housing and homelessness crises, including additional and unprecedented support for local governments, stronger accountability and enforcement, transformational changes to mental health services and state government, and groundbreaking reforms to create more housing, faster than ever before.