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Homeless people in Grants Pass have been granted another temporary reprieve from prosecution.

Outreach workers in the Bay Area city of Fremont worry the new ordinance could target them, despite assurances from the city.

Every January, across the country, local social service groups set out to count the number of homeless people in their communities. Data from what’s called the Point in Time Count is sent to the federal government and used to decide how funding is distributed. JPR reporter Jane Vaughan recently followed one team in Grants Pass.

Homeless people in Grants Pass can’t be cited, arrested or prosecuted for camping during the next two weeks. A Josephine County judge issued a temporary restraining order on Monday in a lawsuit against the city over its treatment of homeless people.

On Friday morning, homeless residents dragged tarps and carried piles on their backs, heaping their belongings just outside the fence. They were given until 9 a.m. to get their possessions off the city-owned site.

Despite billions spent and thousands of people helped, the most recent available data shows homelessness is still increasing in the state.

For the first time in almost a year, Ashland’s former emergency homeless shelter has reopened. But, it will provide shelter only until April 1.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development recently released its annual report assessing homelessness across the country. California and Oregon continue to have large numbers of people without permanent housing.

As people gather for the holidays, sharing meals and gifts, a hunger crisis in the Pacific Northwest is getting worse.

In June, the nation’s highest court ruled in favor of the City of Grants Pass, deciding that cities could impose criminal penalties without running afoul of constitutional provisions against cruel and unusual punishment.

City leaders around the state want more authority to remove encampments they deem problematic. Homeless advocates say it’s a distraction from real solutions.

Gov. Newsom launched an ambitious program that uses Medi-Cal to help Californians access housing, healthy food and more. Now, its fate is in the hands of President-Elect Trump.