Impact Reduction Program FAQs

The Impact Reduction Program (IRP) does not address the root causes of homelessness or "solve" homelessness. There are many housing and assistance efforts happening at all levels of government, as well as in the private and nonprofit sector. However, until those efforts meet the current need, we continue to see large numbers of people living unsheltered.

View full size image of Three people near two tents, bikes, bags, and miscellaneous items, sitting on a sidewalk underneath a freeway overpass.

The work of IRP addresses concerns arising from our current local reality, where thousands of people are setting up make-shift living areas outdoors. IRP addresses public space maintenance, public access, and sanitation issues – issues that inevitably arise when we have so many living in shared spaces without reliable access to waste disposal, storage, bathrooms and other hygiene facilities. The work is conducted with care, by trained work crews who lead with empathy and respect.

While not solving homelessness, IRP strives to build solutions-oriented practices into the work by contracting with second chance employers and homeless-to-work nonprofits, creating more easy entry job opportunities, offering paths to housing and stability for more people.

In fiscal year 2025-2026 (Jul 1, 2025 – Jun 30, 2026) IRP employed 113 full-time contracted workers conducting camp assessment, posting and removal operations, the majority of whom have personal, lived experience of homelessness. Additionally, IRP's G.L.I.T.T.E.R. partnership program with Ground Score Association funded a mix of full and part time jobs for 48 people who are or have recently experienced homelessness or housing insecurity.

IRP was established to ensure that the City could fulfill its responsibility to maintain Portland's public spaces in the face of a growing crisis of unsheltered homelessness. IRP responds to the high volume of campsite reports submitted, addressing ongoing community demand for assistance when camps restrict public access or have negative impacts on residences, schools, businesses, parks, etc. When people are living outside without garbage service or bathrooms, trash and materials accumulate over time. These conditions pose hazards to camp residents and the broader community, and the impacts can have serious negative effects on neighborhood pride and community spirit, regional tourism, and our local economy.

IRP fiscal year 2024 – 2025 (Jul 1, 2024-Jun 30, 2025) health and safety impacts by the numbers:

• IRP collected over 12,300,000 pounds of waste and materials from Portland's public spaces.
• IRP received and processed 128,274 community reports about campsites.
• IRP assessment teams evaluated health and safety risks at 43,532 reported camp locations.
• IRP removed 8,303 camps, including over 4,600 camps that were obstructing a sidewalk.
• In calendar year 2024 (Jan 1-Dec 31, 2024) GLITTER, a tent-side waste and micro trash removal program funded by IRP, removed over 18,000 sharps and over 167,000 cigarette butts from public spaces.

You can track more IRP data on the IRP Data Dashboard.

Annual numbers will vary depending on weather, budget, and how many camps pose threats to health, safety and livability. In fiscal year 2024-2025 (July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025) IRP removed a total of 8,303 camps - about 160 removals per week. On average, that weekly number was just under a third of the total "active camps observed" every week by assessment teams. Camps are marked "active" during assessments whenever people are observed currently living there. 

The number of active camps observed weekly is not a definitive count of the number of camps in existence in Portland but represents the number of camps IRP is aware of and has been able to confirm.

View full size image of A dotted line representing the number of active camps observed weekly, above a solid line representing the number of camp removals conducted weekly.

As part of IRP's regular workflow, each unique camp reported to the City is first visited by an assessment team. That team collects camper identified garbage and hands out trash bags. They also fill out an assessment report, looking at 10 different health and safety risk criteria, giving a numeric score for each:

• Evidence of conspicuous drug use, paraphernalia, or improperly disposed of syringes/foils
• Impact on neighborhood livability as measured by the amount of uncontained debris
• Proximity to school, park with playground, retail/hospitality businesses or private residence
• Environmental impact on natural areas and/or the presence of hazardous materials
• Restriction of access as defined in the Americans with Disabilities Act standards
• Areas that are posted no-trespassing
• Size of camp
• Verified reports of violence or criminal activity other than camping
• Blocking public access
• Restricting construction or maintenance activities

A total score is aggregated, with final scores ranging from 0-100. IRP prioritizes camp removals based on these scores, with the highest impact camps being removed first. Sites may also be prioritized for removal for reasons outside of the assessment process (maintenance needs, urgent public safety issues, etc.)

Even if the City wished to remove every reported camp, resource constraints mean that only a portion of reported camps can be removed. The assessment process is essential to making sure the work is distributed equitably and is directed to areas of greatest need first.

View full size image of Two tents with some materials outside of the tents on a grassy area near a sidewalk.

View full size image of Four tents and large amounts of materials located on a grassy area, spilling out to the adjacent side walk and street.

IRP manages two programs that offer campsite waste removal services independent of camp removal operations:

1. Assessment teams (read more in Question 4), staffed by Central City Concern's Clean Start Program, pick up camper identified trash and provide campers with trash bags during initial camp visits.
2. IRP also contracts with Ground Score Association, funding several tent-side waste collection routes across high need areas of the city through a program called G.L.I.T.T.E.R.

Beyond garbage removal, taking the additional step of conducting full camp "removals" at camps with high degrees of health and safety risks is necessary, and doing so regularly is important. A camp removal goes beyond picking up trash, it entails posting a minimum 72-hour notice, then asking campers to vacate the area with their personal property so crews can fully clean and clear the space, collecting all trash and storing any remaining property for 30 days. As fewer removals happen, encampments are unmitigated for longer periods of time, resulting in more expansive, potentially more entrenched camps with more structures, materials, waste and debris. That often leads to increased health and safety hazards and decreased accessibility, all of which have negative impacts for both camp residents and the broader community.

We can anticipate these impacts based on historical evidence. In spring 2020, camp removals were suspended for several months because of the COVID-19 pandemic, then resumed again rarely, only in extreme situations until April 2022 when Oregon's state of emergency was lifted. During removal suspensions, all removal workers were reassigned to trash pick-up. However, even with clean-up work continuing, when removals were suspended, teams witnessed steep escalations in unsafe conditions. When removals resumed again, the cost per camp removal radically increased, and the amount of trash and materials collected per removal soared. Those post-COVID-19 removals often took days to complete, involved multiple contracted work crews, required coordination with police and other City bureaus, and ended in large-scale relocations of big groups of people. COVID-19 disruptions revealed the need for ongoing camp removal work, and the importance of mitigating camp locations with regularity to prevent the rapid expansion of dangerous camp conditions.

Impacts of COVID-19 camp removal suspensions:

View full size image of A green dashed line showing annual pounds of material collected per removal, charted along with a dotted line representing average cost per removal, and a solid blue line representing the annual number of removals conducted.

COVID-19 Impacts in Photos

The photos below document conditions at the area of SE 37th and Oak St. near Laurelhurst Park over a four-year period. The first photo was taken in 2021, at a time when the City had only resumed camp removals in very rare instances, after having stopped removals entirely in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020. The last photo shows a more recent assessment of the area in September 2025, after IRP camp removal work had returned to a more frequent cadence and the large backlog of highly impactful camps that had grown during COVID-19 restrictions had been addressed.

View full size image of At least six tents and one van, along with trash cans, chairs and other materials located along the sidewalk and nearby grassy area of a tree-lined street.

View full size image of A street and sidewalk with at least five tents, two vehicles and a camper, plus shopping carts and other materials located on a sidewalk and street adjacent to a park.

View full size image of A sidewalk adjacent to a park with at least two tents, a patio umbrella and several shopping carts.

View full size image of A sidewalk adjacent to park with one tent, a tarped structure and a few bicycles.

View full size image of A sidewalk with one tent, a patio umbrella, and some scattered materials.

View full size image of One yellow tent on a grassy area next to a sidewalk.

The primary function of IRP work is to provide clean up and sanitation, not outreach or social services. However, IRP does collaborate with local outreach workers in several ways.

As part of the City's campsite removal policy, IRP staff communicate all posted locations to a network of local outreach teams on a weekly basis, in an effort to keep outreach workers connected to people they are working with.

Additionally, IRP has collaborated directly with specific outreach teams for many years, elevating camps of concern and directing outreach to high need areas. IRP worked with a team of contracted outreach staff employed by private non-profits called the Navigation Team from 2019 - 2025. Then, when the City hired its own team of outreach workers, IRP began coordinating regularly with City Outreach staff to share information and dispatch services. That close collaboration with the City Outreach team continues today.

IRP also requires camp removal contractors to have at least one Crisis Prevention Specialist on staff. This position is on-call, ready to visit camps whenever camp residents express an interest in shelter. Crisis Prevention Specialists have overnight shelter information to provide, have referral access to an inventory of set aside shelter beds in select 24/7 shelters, and have referral access to the City's alternative shelter sites. From July through December of 2025, IRP Crisis Prevention Specialists were able to make 267 referrals to set aside shelter beds and 88 referrals to alternative shelter sleeping units.

Finally, IRP workers regularly interact with people experiencing homelessness and serve as critical eyes and ears on the street, providing intervention and escalating concerns to City Outreach and first responders. 

Some recent examples of IRP contractors providing assistance during the course of their work include:

• Administering Naloxone in overdose emergencies (IRP contractors are required to have Naloxone training and to carry Naloxone on the job)
• Interrupting an assault in progress at a camp
• Providing lifesaving first aid to a crime victim at a camp (IRP contractors are required to have first aid training)
• Reporting witnessed abuse to police
• Reporting people in need of medical attention to City Outreach or 9-1-1