According to the 2019 Homeless Point-in-Time Count, over 70% of people experiencing homelessness in Marin County were located OUTSIDE of Novato.

Unsheltered homelessness, in the form of encampments, has emerged as a top community concern. According to the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, encampments have connotations of both impermanence and continuity. They:

• May be a core group of people who are known to one another and who move together to different locations when necessary.
• May be a changing group of people who cycle in and out of a single location.
• May be comprised of tents or lean-to shacks built with scavenged materials.
• May be people living in groups of cars, RVs, or other vehicles.

During Marin's most recent point-in-time count of the homeless community (January 2019), community volunteers identified 708 people experiencing unsheltered homelessness, but this does not mean that all 708 people were in encampments.

Encampments, like chronic homelessness to homelessness overall, make up a small minority of the overall unsheltered community, yet they have a highly disproportionate impact.

Location breakdown of Marin's homeless community during January 2019 point-in-time counts

Over the past year and a half, a court case called Martin v. Boise has been significantly impacting cities’ ability to respond to street homelessness. In a nutshell, the 9th Circuit Court ruling essentially says that imposition of criminal penalties for sitting, sleeping, or lying outside on public property for homeless individuals is unconstitutional when there are no shelter alternatives.

In the fall of 2019, a group of cities appealed the case to the US Supreme Court. This appeal was in part an effort to gain more clarification. There are a number of grey areas in the original ruling. What does “sufficient” shelter require? How does this ruling apply to encampments, which are more long-term places of habitation? In December, we learned the Supreme Court would not take up the case, and the original 9th Circuit precedent will stand.

This case dates back to 2009, when the plaintiffs, six currently and formerly homeless Boise, Idaho residents, alleged that laws prohibiting them from sleeping outdoors within city limits amounted to cruel and unusual punishment and violated their rights under the Eighth Amendment. The local court ultimately ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, but the City of Boise appealed. It would be another nine years of litigation until the case finally received a ruling in the Federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Once again, the court found for the plaintiffs, not the city.

According to Judge Marsha S. Berzon: Turning to the merits, the panel held that the Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause of the Eighth Amendment precluded the enforcement of a statute prohibiting sleeping outside against homeless individuals with no access to alternative shelter. The panel held that, as long as there is no option of sleeping indoors, the government cannot criminalize indigent, homeless people for sleeping outdoors, on public property, on the false premise they had a choice in the matter.

California now holds two dubious honors: it has the nation’s largest population of people experiencing homelessness (150,000+ people). It also has the country’s lowest rates of shelter. Throughout the state, just 30% of people experiencing homelessness have access to emergency shelter on any given night.

Within this context, the Martin v. Boise ruling has exacerbated an already difficult situation. Following the 9th Circuit ruling, many communities have significantly backed off on enforcement efforts.

Encampments, or gatherings of multiple people living in makeshift shelters, have been a long-standing feature of the modern homelessness crisis, so it is unfair to say Martin v. Boise has caused encampments. With that being said, throughout the region, the reluctance to address these informal living arrangements can, in some cases, make matters much worse. For example, crime, health conditions, and other traumatic and abusive behavior can become more prevalent as encampments get larger and more entrenched.

Encampments can be reported to the Novato Response Team. We take the complaints we receive as an opportunity to reach out and provide services to the person(s) experiencing homelessness. We work in partnership with Marin Health and Human Services to provide a needs assessment and resources to those in need.

To report an encampment:

1. File An Online Report
2. Email NRT@novato.org
3. Call 415-897-4361

When the 9th Circuit Ruling was appealed to the US Supreme Court, a key question was sleep. The original ruling centered around sleep being a basic human right.

In the wake of this ruling, however, there is a serious question about the intersection of sleep and informal shelter. Are encampments – which essentially become permanent structures, a place for gathering during waking hours, and a location for storage and other personal belongings – the same thing as sleep?

Ultimately, the Martin court stated, “We in no way dictate to the City that it must…allow anyone who wishes to sit, lie, or sleep on the streets…at any time and at any place.” In the absence of further clarification from the Supreme Court, it is likely that communities will begin to explore this grey area.

Of final note, as the City of Novato’s enforcement policy continues to evolve with the legal changes, it is critically important that residents understand that it is ultimately up to the Marin County District Attorney’s Office to determine whether or not they will prosecute the citations we issue and arrests we make.

Many of our community members have asked how they can help the homeless in Novato.

You can donate to local non-profits in Marin County that are on the frontlines helping the homeless in our community. We do not recommend that our community members donate directly to encampments or hand cash to panhandlers. There are organizations who accept donations and distribute resources to those in need.

Homeward Bound of Marin
St. Vincent De Paul
Ritter Center
Adopt a Family Marin
Gilead House
Ambassadors of Hope and Opportunity
Downtown Streets Team
North Marin Community Services

From 2017 to 2019, 80% of counties in California witnessed an increase in homelessness. However, Marin was not one of them. Over that same period of time, Marin County had a 7% overall decrease, a 28% decrease in chronic homelessness, and Novato saw a 13% decrease in unsheltered homelessness.

According to the 2019 Homeless Point-in-Time Count, 73% of people currently experiencing homelessness in Marin report living in Marin prior to losing their housing. Across the nine Bay Area counties, 70-85% of people experiencing homelessness in a given county also lost their housing in that county. Homelessness is a local issue.

Most people experiencing homelessness in Marin cite an economic reason for their homelessness. However, for the minority of people experiencing chronic homelessness, over 70% report experiencing some type of emotional or psychiatric challenge. Sadly, the mental health system in this country has been severely eroded over the last few decades and new laws make it harder to provide services for people who are extremely sick and refuse help.

The Novato Police Department works in partnership with the Marin Mobile Crisis Response Team when responding to mental health emergencies.

This allows the person in crisis to be assessed in the field and directed to the most appropriate resources thus reducing law enforcement's involvement in mental health calls and keeping these individuals out of the criminal justice system.

For the vast majority of people who become homeless, it is a brief, one-time experience that usually resolves itself in a matter of weeks or month. However, for approximately 1/4 of the people experiencing homelessness in Marin County are chronically homeless.

Chronic homelessness is long-term homelessness that is accompanied by a disability (e.g. mental illness, physical disability, traumatic brain injury, substance abuse disorder).

Novato uses the Housing First model and works with the Marin County Department of Health and Human Services, the CARE Team, the Homeless Outreach Team (HOT), the Downtown Streets Team and other local resources such as the City of Novato Public Works Department to provide services to those experiencing homelessness.

People become homeless for a wide variety of reasons, yet every person experiencing homelessness has one thing in common: they lack housing. Despite this somewhat obvious fact, providing housing is sometimes the last issue communities prioritize.  Instead, people experiencing homelessness often hear, “We can provide housing for you, but …

• You need to get sober first.”
• You need to get a job first.”
• You need to take medication first.”
• You need to progress through x, y and z programs first.”

Housing First turns this strategy on its head. People are placed directly into housing as the first intervention, and then social workers help people address all the other issues that might have led to that person’s homelessness in the first place.

Since 2017, Marin Health and Human Services has permanently housed 162 chronically homeless residents. Family homelessness is down 28 percent and youth homelessness declined 11 percent.