311Cincy

Service Request Type:

• Homeless Encampment

Used to:

• Report the presence of a homeless encampment.

Routes to:

• City Manager's Office
  Place Based Initiatives Manager

More Information:

• What is an encampment? A homeless encampment can take a variety of forms, such as a “tent city” or a group of individuals living together in a public area, such as a public park or underneath a freeway overpass. Homeless encampments can vary widely in size and can be constituted of a single person or hundreds of individuals. Generally speaking, an encampment will include some type of shelter (for example, a tent, or a lean-to made of cardboard), although some encampments may rely on pre-existing structures, such as a freeway overpass, to provide shelter with the encampment itself consisting primarily of personal property (clothing, sleeping bags, cookware, etc.), and some encampments may include no shelter.
• When reporting, it is helpful to know: How many people are camping at the location, or typically present? Are they sleeping at that location? What time of day are people typically present there? Is there a tent or structure at the location?

Process:

• Validation: When a new request is received, and the location is not already being engaged by the City, a 311 Community Responder (CR) team will be dispatched on or before the next business day to validate the request and collect information. The CR team is confirming if an encampment exists, whether it is on public or private property, and the general conditions - routing this information to the City Manager's Place Based Initiatives team. If anyone needs immediate outreach, the CR team will request an immediate response of an outreach worker at that time (e.g., an ARC team, a PATH program representative, or the Place Based Initiatives Team).
• Assessment & Engagement: Following validation, the Place Based Initiatives team will visit on or before the next business day to assess conditions, engage with encampment residents, evaluate whether encampment residents have access to shelter, and offer connections to services.
• For more details, and the full process, see this document from the City Manager's Office:
  Standard Operating Procedure - Response to Homeless Encampments on Public Property (PDF)

Safety information:

• Encampment conditions may pose risks to general health and safety. Rather than approach an encampment, submit a request so that the appropriate resources can engage.
• If there is an immediate life safety risk, call 911.