The Brief
- St. Paul began clearing homeless encampments, starting at Pig’s Eye Park, with additional sites closing on a rolling basis.
- The Minnesota Department of Corrections has a program that helped house around 800 formerly incarcerated people in 2025 and has seen a 57% drop in people leaving prison and becoming homeless since 2021.
- The DOC does not track how many people using the program reoffend.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) – As St. Paul leaders struggle to clear the city’s homeless encampments before winter, one state program working to prevent homelessness in the first place is seeing progress.
Clearing the camps
The backstory:
St. Paul launched a coordinated effort with Ramsey County and local service providers to address health and safety concerns at homeless encampments across the city.
The first in a series of encampment closures took place at Pig’s Eye Park on Aug. 5, and St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her has said two additional sites will close in the coming months. The decision followed a review by multiple city departments, citing concerns about the health, safety and dignity of people staying at the camps.…