Los Angeles lawmakers were asked to stop sweeping homeless encampments during wildfires, toxic spills and other environmental emergencies. Instead, they voted to study the idea. The Los Angeles City Council amended a proposal from Councilmember Ysabel Jurado so that the city's Bureau of Sanitation must report back on options for suspending CARE+ cleanups during such emergencies, rather than halting them outright.
A Unanimous Vote, But a Softer Outcome
All 15 council members voted to approve the amended version of the proposal, according to LAist. That outlet reported the measure sets no due date for when the Sanitation Bureau must deliver its findings. A separate account from MyNewsLA.com described the council approving Jurado's motion on a 10-0 vote and said city staff would report finalized cancellation language and posting protocols within 60 days — a different vote count and timeline than what LAist reported. Hoodline could not independently reconcile the discrepancy between the two accounts.
Jurado represents Boyle Heights, the neighborhood recently blanketed in noxious smoke and the smell of rotting food after the Lineage cold storage warehouse fire, per LAist's reporting. Her original motion argued that regular encampment sweeps “serve important sanitation and public health purposes,” but can end up harming unhoused people who are seeking refuge from nearby hazards, according to the same outlet.
What CARE+ Sweeps Actually Involve
CARE+ is the city's initiative for addressing large-scale encampments through sanitation-focused cleanups, carried out by crews from the Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation. The operations include trash and waste removal, pressure washing and sanitization, and work aimed at restoring sidewalk safety and accessibility. They also involve collecting and securely storing personal belongings for up to 90 days — though unhoused individuals and homeless advocates have argued the sweeps displace people and sometimes destroy belongings and important documents, including identification.
Sanitation spokesperson Tonya Shelton told LA Public Press that property deemed not to pose a health risk is delivered to a 90-day storage facility. Advocates have separately criticized the broader CARE+ program for failing to provide enough resources to the people it displaces, a tension that has shadowed the sweeps debate for months.
What the Original Proposal Would Have Required
Jurado's original version would have gone further, requiring officials to post notices about suspended cleanups in affected areas and to notify residents through cooling centers, shelters, social media and other public channels, per LAist's account. The amended motion still directs the Bureau of Sanitation, along with city attorneys and the chief administrative officer, to work toward a codified posting protocol for CARE+ cleanups. Council members also called for removing existing posted notices in favor of standardized cancellation language in affected service zones, and for coordinating with partner agencies — including updating a confirmation sheet distribution list — to spread the word when operations are suspended.
The Scale of Homelessness Behind the Debate
The stakes are significant given the scope of homelessness in the city. Los Angeles has more than 45,000 people experiencing homelessness on any given night, and roughly 60% of them are unsheltered, according to LAist. A study cited by the outlet found that sweeps in Los Angeles County were associated with poorer physical health and greater psychological distress among unhoused residents who were surveyed. Service providers have also said the cleanups can sever the contact they rely on to help the people living in encampments.
CARE+ operations have also been expanding. The number of citywide operations rose 16% in 2025 compared with the prior year, per LA Public Press's reporting, which is sourced largely from district-level sanitation data. The increase was uneven across districts — the outlet reported a 9% year-over-year rise in Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez's district, a 74% increase in Eunisses Hernandez's district, and a 140% jump in Nithya Raman's district. In raw numbers, 2025 saw 387 CARE+ operations in Soto-Martínez's district, 351 in Hernandez's district and 331 in Raman's district, the same outlet reported.
A Different Approach South of the City
Not every Southern California city has moved toward caution. As the region entered peak fire season, Malibu declared a local emergency this past August that gave officials the power to clear homeless encampments within a day, citing dangerously dry brush conditions, according to the Los Angeles Times. That move stands in contrast to the Los Angeles City Council's decision to study pausing sweeps rather than act on them immediately, underscoring how differently neighboring jurisdictions are approaching encampments amid environmental danger.
For now, the council's instructions to the Bureau of Sanitation remain focused on establishing procedures for suspending encampment cleanups during emergencies declared by the city, county or state — without a firm timeline attached to when those procedures will be finalized or made public.
