Clearly our elected officials don't care. No response from the city on this trouble spot, nor the Grand Ave trouble spot, even when this results in illegal drinking, drugs, harassment of female residents, stealing of packages, noise issues, etc. These are the types of issues that keep New Haven from advancing to the "next level" as a city - basic Quality of Life concerns.

how about the local alder....Anna, I think....please let us know if there is anything we can do

This was referred to the Office of Community Services / Homeless Outreach.
(203) 946-7907

why can't we just let these people live their lives? far as i can tell the people in these encampments aren't hurting anyone.

@Johnny Haven: I hope that you are just kidding....or maybe haven't seen this site. Piles of rotting trash, smashed liquor bottles on the ground, used syringes in the Mill River.....200 yards from a middle school.

@Johnny Haven - I'm half on your side, nothing against people camping on public land. But the garbage situation really gets bad. If the homeless outreach folks and the sanitation department could reach some kind of arrangement & the more responsible residents of the camps would police the area, it would be a lot less of a problem.

In addition to concerns for the people living here, his is a public health hazard to our community. I find it disturbing that the only official response to this posting is a referral to Homeless Outreach. When will the city respond regarding a strategy to clean up the site, re: garbage, broken glass, syringes, etc???

The City has a policy of cleaning up these camps after the occupants have been triaged and provided services.

Here is a link to a previous story:

http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/homeless_camp_cleared_out/

LCI please triage quickly or at least prevent more people form joining existing encampments. Those are my hard earned tax dollars hauling away rubbish from lawbreakers. I can think of much better uses for that money The City has a homeless program and the parks are not part of it.This City would be a disaster if we all got to do what we want. Why is so much leeway given to these repeat offenders? Treat the issue like graffiti--remove immediately. They will quickly learn that the parks are not an option.

Good Afternoon All,

The Homeless Outreach Task Force is currently working to address this issue. Thank you for your patience as we take the necessary corrective action.

completely agree with Seawall. Please take action. Last time, action was so slow that they obviously didn't think the city was serious so they just set up again.

Thank you for the acnowledgement LCI. I hope your efforts are successful. We clearly have people in this city who need help, but we also need to prioritize the safety & respect of our neighborhoods & parks.
See issue posted on SCF recently about aggressive panhandlers at the I-91 exit right by this location, as well as the issue where someone saw a person littering the packing material of a likely-stolen package as they retreated to the encampment area. This part of East Rock/Cedar Hill/Fair Haven, and Wooster Square near Grand Ave seem to bear the brunt of this problem.

While I'm quite sympathetic to the plight of the homeless (@Johnny Haven) I agree with the sentiment (@MNHGA) that the city was very slow to respond last time to what most of us watched grow with our own eyes for years. Yes, YEARS. I think it's a bad omen that it's been re-populated so soon after the city touted that it finally cleared it out: http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/homeless_holdouts_await_bulldozers/. If we really want to try and prevent the recurring encampments the city has got to be more responsive.

It would be nice if LCI could provide periodic updates on the triage process.

here's an update: still unaddressed; still people camping in several of these reported (and unreported) areas. especially around this area in the bushes and near the river by the skating rink. even have full camping-type tents set up.

As we can see on SCF and talking with people in person, there has been an uptick in petty-theft in the area including smash and grab. Both residences and businesses. Are these issues being investigated in conjunction with one another? Extremely concerning.

Yes, we have had an increase in crime in our part of East Rock. We had a car invasion on Friday night.

Lawbreakers are tolerated and "triaged" while taxpayers and law abiding citizens are ignored. What a system...

Seawall - I agree with your sentiments 100%. We need new leadership in this city

Cleanup completed. Please note, the issue is far more complex than a policing issue or a simple cleanup. Homelessness is an issue that plagues cities across the country and their is no simple solution.

Rather than constantly displacing individuals and then outreach workers not being able to find them we do delay cleanups to give outreach teams the opportunity to get individuals into programs so that we are not just cleaning up the next place they move to again when we find it. Police, the state's attorney and outreach workers and the City have open lines of communications in attempts to address the issues rather than just move them from place to place.

Happy to have reactions as to how long we should make these efforts and what to do when they don't work because we don't have all the answers.

Thanks for fixing this request!

Thank you, Ms. Bombero, for addressing the situation & responding so thoughtfully here. The task doesn't rest solely with the Parks Department, obviously! Homeless outreach social workers, police, sanitation and LCI are all involved. Nobody has all the answers. I'll take you up on offering just a couple of suggestions, though.

1. There probably needs to be a sort of committee with representatives from each affected department, preferably with their own method of communicating (a chat group or something), because as you say, there's a lot to coordinate here. If there is such a group, then it needs to be more active, because there were a lot of "campers" creating a lot of mess for many months.

2. I agree that just rousting people doesn't do much good. They get more alienated than ever & just go trash another site. Part of the outreach effort should involve sanitation. Folks can be given those big garbage & recycling bins, and it can be made clear that "enforcement" of no-camping rules will be strict unless they are used. In other words, a bit of education about how to be good neighbors! Carry in, carry out and all that. The ones who persist in creating dumps can't stay. The ones who bring garbage & recycling to the nearest road are treated more gently.

Thanks for your thoughts. This weeks effort wasn't just the Parks Department, this cleanup was a collaboration between Parks, DPW and State DOT and the lead up efforts were a collaboration between PD, Outreach Workers, LCI and the City's Homeless Services/CSA. We all meet every other month and also communicate between meetings but are working on a software platform to improve those communications.

The encouragement of "nimble" and clean sites does make some sense. Will talk to the outreach workers and those who maintain the lines of communications with these individuals to see how we can integrate. We are also working on education efforts of those "serving" the homeless giving away large bags of clothing and other items that end up as trash in these sites.

Thank you, too. At risk of dragging this on, I'd like to observe that at least one campsite remains in a state of wrack & ruin. It's away from the others, so I understand how it was overlooked. If you start walking the trail that leads from Rice Field to Orange Street, looking down toward the river (i.e., your left) you'll see it after about 50 yards. Telltale blue tarp.

Alas.

Thanks. It is on the radar. The last cleanup was coordinated with State DOT so we focused on the property that straddled park and DOT lands. Will schedule the next when we have gotten past holiday vacations (balancing snow and other demands too) that one is a bit more challenging of a location so will take more time too.