Fairfax Homeless Encampment
Since the formation of the small encampment in Fairfax in 2021, the Town officials, including elected representatives, staff, and the Fairfax Police department, have collaborated closely with the Marin County Health and Human Services team.
Fairfax PD has always provided foot patrols in the area before the encampment began. As for daily interactions, Fairfax Police Officers have the encampment area listed as part of their daily foot beat assignment. Officers visit the site on foot during each shift daily. They have a good working relationship with the unhoused community and know each other by name.
Outreach and support to the encampment
Marin County Health and Human Services, Division of Homelessness and Coordinated Care has, through community-based organization partners, actively provided outreach, case management, and housing services to the encampment residents. This has included:
Outreach
- Two separate outreach care teams that have visited the Fairfax site since approximately March 2022.
- Outreach intensity has increased. On average, County outreach teams are visting the encampment three times per week.
Housing Based Case Management
Fairfax is part of the “Central Marin Area” for the High Utilization Case Management project, which is jointly funded by the County of Marin and all 11 local municipalities, including the Town of Fairfax. Listed Cities in the “Central Marin Area” are Corte Madera, Fairfax, Larkspur, Ross, and San Anselmo. This program is a partnership between the cities and county to create a new case management program for people experiencing chronic homelessness who are high utilizers of municipal services, such as police, fire, EMS, and/or DPW. Case management will allow recipients the ability to access housing vouchers through our partnership with the Marin Housing Authority. 68 total individuals have been enrolled county-wide and, to date, 38 have been housed and the remaining 30 are on identified housing pathways.