How Sacramento's costly and cruel sweeps worsen homelessness crisis | Opinion

On Tuesday, June 18, Sacramento’s City Council voted to ban camping and protests on City Hall property — a move that doubles down on criminalizing homelessness instead of solving it. This latest policy highlights the city’s ongoing reliance on sweeps and punitive measures, even as experts and advocates warn that such actions only displace people and sever crucial connections to services.

As president of the Sacramento Homeless Union and a frontline case manager with access to the Homeless Management Information System, I see the real consequences of Sacramento’s encampment sweeps and the criminalization of homelessness every day.

I am in the field and inside the very systems meant to help people transition from the street into shelter and permanent housing. When an encampment is cleared, it is not just tents that disappear. Critical support networks and the fragile stability people rely on are lost, making it even harder to end homelessness in our city.

Establishing connections to services requires time, trust and consistency. Every case note and contact is a step toward stability. Yet a single sweep can destroy IDs, medications, crucial documents and the limited foundation a person has built. It frequently severs the bond between case manager and client, causing individuals to fall off waitlists, drop out of the system and have to start over — if they get another chance at all.

When people are displaced, it is nearly impossible to connect them to housing, shelter or mental health care. Sweeps are not just about lost belongings; they are about lost opportunities to truly end a person’s homelessness.

City officials often claim these sweeps are about “cleaning up” or “public safety,” but we must ask whose safety is truly being prioritized. I have seen people on the verge of securing housing or treatment simply vanish after a sweep, their files marked “unable to locate.” This is not because they gave up, but because policy pushed them out, causing the system to lose track. When agencies lose contact, the Homeless Union often remains the last reliable connection, built on trust and lived experience.

I understand the frustration of neighborhoods and business owners. No one expects an encampment near their home or business. It is equally important to recognize that unhoused people do not choose these circumstances. They are just as weary and frustrated as everyone else.

This cycle of displacement and disruption helps no one. Each year, millions of taxpayer dollars are spent moving people from block to block, cycling them through a system that struggles to keep up. The tents may move, but the suffering remains. Meanwhile, the financial burden keeps growing — paid by every Sacramento resident.

We must honestly evaluate whether these policies have worked. Have sweeps or enforcement reduced the number of people outdoors? Or are residents still calling 311, still seeing tents move from place to place and still watching the crisis unfold? If these strategies were effective, Sacramento would look different by now. Instead, we are trapped in a cycle that drains resources and delivers no real results.

Frustration should be aimed at policies that waste public funds on temporary fixes instead of long-term solutions. Imagine the transformative impact if those millions of dollars were strategically invested in proven solutions: permanent housing, robust mental health care and comprehensive case management, empowering individuals to rebuild their lives and achieve lasting success.

The lack of accountability is striking. Despite the millions of dollars being poured each year into shelters, agencies and programs that promise progress, Sacramento’s homelessness has continued to increase.

Every dollar spent on repeated sweeps or temporary shelter beds that do not lead to permanent housing is a dollar diverted from real solutions. The only beneficiaries are those paid to manage—not end—the crisis.

We must move beyond blaming unhoused people or thinking that pushing them from one street to another is progress. It is time to hold leaders and agencies accountable for measurable outcomes — not just public statements or empty promises. The status quo fails everyone in our community.

Ending homelessness will not come from criminalizing poverty or dividing Sacramento. It requires accountability, compassion and proven investments in housing, services and healing our community. Sweeps and division are not the answer. Real change must begin now.

Crystal Sanchez is the president of the Sacramento Homeless Union.