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Saxton and Lattanner co-author research in the American Journal of Public Health

Public Health faculty Kat Saxton and Micah Lattanner, along with co-authors, published research in AJPH documenting that encampment closures in Oakland increased and expanded into lower-income neighborhoods following the Supreme Court’s City of Grants Pass v. Johnson decision. Saxton and Micah Lattanner assisted in data analyses evaluating encampment closure activity before and after the ruling using geospatial analysis. Results indicated that monthly closure counts increased significantly after the decision, while the geographic reach of closures expanded across the city. Further, closure activity shifted toward census tracts with lower household incomes, higher poverty rates, and larger proportions of Hispanic and Black residents. At the same time, closures became less concentrated in areas with higher shares of White and Asian/Pacific Islander residents. Findings suggest that the Grants Pass decision may have enabled broader enforcement of anti-encampment policies, contributed to the dispersal of unhoused populations, or both. Repeated closures are resource-intensive and ineffective at resolving homelessness. Alternatively, local governments should invest more heavily in shelter and housing solutions and publicly report the health, economic, and displacement impacts of encampment closures. The research was highlighted in .