Kansas City Encampment Response · 2023–2026
Kansas City replaced reaction with a consistent, safety-driven system — assess the risk, prioritize the highest-risk sites, and coordinate the right response.
See the four-year progress↓Results at a glance
Risk determines priority. Not complaints. Not visibility.
Before the framework
Kansas City's encampment response once relied heavily on individual complaints, public visibility and disconnected decisions. Large sites grew in wooded areas, along waterways and near civic spaces — without one consistent way to measure danger, prioritize limited resources or coordinate the next step.
These images are a record of the conditions Kansas City was confronting — not a judgment of the people living through them. They show why the City needed a coordinated, housing-focused approach capable of seeing both immediate danger and the human needs behind every site.
See what changed ↓2023–2026 progress
From more than 200 known sites to 40: Kansas City moved from reacting site by site to a coordinated system that identifies risk, prioritizes action and connects people to services.
Kansas City's largest interdepartmental site coordination at the time
Using the Allen Index, City departments and community partners coordinated around a site where more than 30 people slept overnight and well over 100 people gathered throughout the day.
The pilot became a consistent 0–100 prioritization system focused on serious injury and loss of life.
Outreach, housing, public safety, health and infrastructure partners aligned around shared scores and response pathways.
The remaining sites are smaller, and none currently score Critical.
Every Clearance & Closure with Support site remains closed. The October 2023 pilot site — and all sites completed through this coordinated model — have remained closed to date.
Today's 40 sites by size
Today's Allen Index profile
How to read this progress: The numbers describe known sites at each point in time. Encampments change as people move, enter shelter or housing, or new sites are identified. The Allen Index is a prioritization tool — not a prediction of individual behavior or a substitute for professional judgment.
The Allen Index
The Allen Index helps the City answer one question: which sites face the greatest likelihood of serious injury or loss of life?
Creates a consistent, risk-based starting point for prioritizing limited outreach, housing and public-safety resources.
Score 51–75
Eligible for Clearance & Closure with Support, subject to current site conditions and supplemental assessments.
The score starts the decision. Documented stakeholder assessments and current site conditions help determine the final response.
Response matrix
Read across each row. The score provides the baseline response; documented stakeholder conditions can justify a different response category.
Low and Medium sites begin with outreach. High sites are eligible for Clearance & Closure with Support.
KCPD calls for service, a Land Bank property need, MoDOT infrastructure concerns or a comparable documented factor can support reclassification.
For Medium or High sites, a sweep remains a last-resort response when an immediate public-safety threat is confirmed.
Critical score: 76–100
Critical sites are categorized for a decommission or sweep. The City uses a rapid, strategic multidisciplinary approach to protect site and community safety while doing everything reasonably possible to connect residents with services.
Completed actions
Each pathway reflects a different level of urgency, notice and support. Totals show verified completed actions.
Used when a confirmed condition creates an immediate threat to life or public safety.
Used for significant health or safety concerns that require timely action and allow a brief notice period.
Repeated outreach, partner planning, housing connections and follow-up are built into the closure.
A coordinated pathway connecting residents to housing, navigation and stabilizing services.
A verified Housing Gateway site total has not yet been supplied for publication.
From report to resolution
A resident submits a concern through 311. The report is reviewed and routed to the right department.
Staff confirm the location, record conditions and distinguish an encampment from a temporary sleeping spot.
Trained assessors apply the Allen Index consistently across location, vulnerability, environmental health and safety.
The score and confirmed conditions determine urgency and guide the appropriate response pathway.
Outreach and navigation teams work with residents on shelter, healthcare, documents, benefits and housing.
Partners coordinate cleanup, closure and follow-up while continuing to support people who remain unhoused.
Understanding 311 reports
Specific to encampments and unsheltered needs
Involved weapons, violence, crime or illegal activity that should be addressed by law enforcement
Multiple reports may refer to the same person, location or event. These are reports — not unique encampments.
Need to report a concern?
Call 911 for an immediate threat to life or safety. A 311 report helps the City document and route a concern; it does not automatically trigger a closure.
Submit a 311 request ↗