Burlington's Homeless Strategy Mirrors California's Failed Approach, Critics Warn

Venice Beach serves as a cautionary tale for Burlington's comprehensive strategy.

City's tent accommodation and meal programs echo Venice Beach's costly lessons

Burlington has implemented a comprehensive homelessness strategy that closely mirrors the failed California model that cost billions and created dangerous conditions in communities like Venice Beach, raising questions about whether city officials examined these costly lessons before pursuing similar policies.

The city's approach includes providing free meals in public spaces and accommodating tent encampments in city parks - strategies that transformed Venice Beach from prime beachfront property into what investigators described as a crime-ridden disaster zone.

"Local businesses, including restaurants, law firms, offices and others in the area were caught blindsided by the unpublicized plan," according to city reports. The lack of public consultation mirrors early missteps in California's approach to homelessness.

The Complete California Playbook

Venice Beach serves as a cautionary tale for Burlington's comprehensive strategy. What began as compassionate accommodation policies - including meal distribution programs and tent encampments - transformed Venice into what investigators described as "a crippled, crime-infested venue incapacitated by high crime, drugs and hundreds of new encampments being enabled by city" policies.

Burlington's approach closely mirrors California's failed model. The city currently operates meal distribution programs, with groups like Food Not Cops providing free meals daily in public spaces, including parking garages. Vermont officials have also accommodated tent encampments in public areas, similar to the strategy that created chaos in Venice.

In Venice, the combination of free meals, tent accommodation, and permissive policies created a perfect storm. Once prime beachfront property transformed into what officials described as a "homeless hotbed" with "fights, fires and even shootings." Crime statistics tell the story: robberies increased 177%, assaults with deadly weapons rose 116%, burglaries climbed 85%, and vehicle thefts jumped 60%.

For years, housed residents in Venice reported that encampments brought crime to their neighborhoods and made them feel unsafe. An estimated 2,000 homeless individuals took over the tiny beachfront suburb, with only a small fraction receiving supportive housing or temporary shelter.

California's generous policies created a "magnet effect," attracting people from across the country who heard about available services. The state spent $13 billion on homelessness between 2018 and 2020 using accommodation-based approaches, with limited success.

Research indicates that as many as one-half to three-fourths of homeless persons have diagnoses of alcohol or other drug dependence, with about 25 percent of chronically homeless having drug addiction, severe mental illness, or both.

Burlington's Parallel Path

Burlington's current homelessness strategy employs the same approach that failed in California: accommodating tent encampments and providing free meals in public spaces.

Every day, from 1 to 2 p.m., the group Food Not Cops provides free meals and other essential items to those in need in Burlington's parking garages and public spaces. The city has also tolerated tent encampments in various locations, creating conditions similar to those that preceded Venice Beach's crisis.

Vermont's recent shift toward tent accommodation has already shown concerning trends. Overdoses are the leading killer of homeless Vermonters, Seven Days and Vermont Public found. But a shift from motel rooms to tents presents new dangers.

California's Strategic Reversal

California fundamentally changed its approach after years of failure. The state abandoned its permissive accommodation model and implemented a comprehensive strategy focused on enforcement coupled with mandatory treatment.

In 2024, Governor Newsom issued an executive order urging cities to remove homeless encampments, following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that granted cities more authority to clear encampments and arrest or fine unhoused people for sleeping in public spaces. More than two-dozen California cities passed, strengthened or are considering ordinances banning homeless camps.

The state's new approach includes several key components:

Enforcement with Accountability: Governor Newsom awarded $131 million to address homeless encampments with stricter accountability measures, establishing agreements between state and local communities to streamline encampment cleanup.

CARE Courts: California launched an alternative mental health court program designed to fast-track people with untreated schizophrenia into housing and medical care. Under CARE Court, judges can order people to get help, with counties required to provide aid. The program creates "accountability on the provider to keep trying to work with somebody who might be very challenging".

Mandatory Treatment: Governor Newsom signed a law to allow the involuntary treatment of more Californians experiencing severe mental health conditions, representing a complete reversal from the hands-off approach.

Balanced Approach: The state now requires local officials to provide notice and make every reasonable effort to identify and offer shelter prior to clearing an encampment, ensuring communities take a balanced approach with both compassion and enforcement.

The results showed dramatic improvement. Three months after clearing the encampments, Venice looked dramatically different. However, a RAND study found that after authorities cleared encampments, there was only a temporary drop in homelessness lasting two to three months, indicating the need for sustained, comprehensive approaches rather than accommodation strategies.

Enforcement Challenges

Burlington's approach lacks clear enforcement mechanisms and accountability measures. The city's tolerance for tent encampments combined with daily meal distribution in public spaces mirrors the permissive approach that enabled Venice Beach's deterioration.

Without clear boundaries, enforcement protocols, or comprehensive case management, Burlington risks creating the same conditions that made Venice Beach unsafe for both homeless individuals and the broader community.

Lessons from California's Reversal

Communities that have effectively addressed homelessness typically employ treatment-focused interventions rather than accommodation, enforcement coupled with services rather than permissive policies, housing-first programs with accountability measures, and regional coordination to prevent attracting homeless populations from other areas.

California's dramatic policy reversal provides a roadmap for what works: combining enforcement with mandatory treatment, creating court-ordered accountability systems, and requiring measurable outcomes rather than simply providing services without expectations.

The state's CARE Court system represents a fundamental shift from enabling to empowering, using judicial authority to ensure both individuals receive treatment and providers remain accountable for results. This approach recognizes that many individuals experiencing severe mental health conditions or substance abuse disorders need structured intervention rather than permissive accommodation.

Burlington's comprehensive approach - combining free meals and tent accommodation - appears to mirror California's early failed strategies that enabled rather than addressed underlying issues. The lack of clear enforcement mechanisms and absence of comprehensive case management suggest Burlington may be repeating California's expensive mistakes.

Questions Remain

The Burlington program raises critical questions about whether city officials examined case studies from California before implementing the same strategy of tent accommodation and meal distribution. The California experience demonstrates that well-intentioned accommodation policies often worsen the problems they aim to solve, creating unsafe conditions for both homeless individuals and the broader community while attracting more people in need of services than can be effectively helped.

Progressive Party Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak has supported these policies, though the approach could face public scrutiny as residents become aware of the strategies being implemented.

As Burlington continues this approach, the costly lessons from Venice Beach and other California communities serve as a stark reminder that compassionate intentions don't always translate into effective outcomes. The question remains whether Burlington will learn from California's failures or repeat them at taxpayer expense.