homelessness

Early Wednesday morning, Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers were back at the site of an encampment in Norman they cleared last week — this time dozens of arrests were made.

State troopers returned to Norman for a second time to clear a homeless encampment on Friday next to a local shelter.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt is threatening to invoice Tulsa and Oklahoma City Police Departments for costs associated with clearing homeless encampments on state land.

The Norman Night Shelter was shut down for four days after an anonymous complaint triggered a state fire marshal inspection, revealing multiple code violations. The closure left more than 50 people without shelter, coming amid encampment sweeps under Operation SAFE and a broader wave of anti-homeless policy in Norman and statewide.

Following the sweep of a homeless encampment in Norman, the city council discussed an ordinance that would allow for camping on residential property as an alternative to unauthorized encampments.

Gov. Kevin Stitt's Operation SAFE encampment sweeps produced sharply different outcomes across three Oklahoma cities. Oklahoma City's collaborative approach, which included housing funding and service provider involvement, drew praise. Norman's unannounced May sweep drew sharp criticism from advocates who said it displaced vulnerable people without resources or dignity.

On Friday morning, Gov. Kevin Stitt directed the Oklahoma Highway Patrol to conduct an encampment sweep in Norman.

The number of people experiencing homelessness in Oklahoma City decreased for the first time since 2022, city officials reported Thursday.

A lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the funding for a new homeless shelter in Norman has been dismissed.

Homelessness is expected to get worse in the coming years. Experts said the Trump administration’s move away from Housing First, a celebrated policy that prioritizes shelter before dealing with problems like addiction, will put more than 100,000 people, including families with children, at risk of homelessness.