OAKLAND — Facing an ongoing crisis of homelessness — officially recognized as such in January — the City Council will consider extending a pilot program attempting to move an encampment of about 45 people off the streets of West Oakland.

The Compassionate Communities program has consolidated and brought services to dozens of campers under Interstate 580 at Peralta and 35th streets. Councilwoman Lynette Gibson McElhaney’s proposal to fund the program, originally scheduled for Tuesday’s City Council meeting, will instead be heard at the next meeting on Dec. 13.

McElhaney’s proposal would ensure that a three-part plan to find permanent housing for the tented community can continue.

It dedicates $130,000 for ongoing efforts and streamlines the process for adding funds from other sources or more city money as they become available or required.

The goal is to have the camp cleared out and all its resident in permanent housing within six months, said Alex Marqusee, legislative analyst in McElhaney’s office. The focus would then shift to other encampments around the city.

At the West Oakland site, “we found an encampment that had some internal leadership, some elder statesmen within the encampment. We co-designed what the more formal encampment would look like,” he said.

“Our approach is that these are residents to be served, not problems to be solved,” Marqusee said.

Compassionate Communities got underway in October. It first cleared the surrounding streets of campers, who were consolidated under the freeway at 35th and Peralta. Garbage collection, portable toilets and road barriers to keep tents safe from traffic quickly followed.

A 2015 study counted almost 2,200 homeless people in Oakland. Although the “Point in Time” tallies conducted simultaneously across the country are generally considered under-counts, they are the most detailed data available.

In Oakland, 54 percent of homeless people live downtown or in West Oakland, the study found. Oakland’s homeless are 67 percent male, 71 percent African-American, 40 percent without income, 81 percent disabled, 4 percent employed, 80 percent staying on city property and 66 percent last lived in Oakland before becoming homeless. More than 10 percent are veterans.

One of the first stages of the Compassionate Communities strategy is to provide stable interim housing for those on the street. That can mean consolidating camping sites, providing space to ease some of the law enforcement and neighborhood concerns that living in cars present, or “tiny homes” or sheds.

Better would be more housing akin to San Francisco’s “navigation centers” — shelters where people are welcomed along with their partners, families or pets. Case managers are available to help them get services they may need, such as medical, mental health or substance abuse treatment.

The Henry Robinson Multi-Services Center, at 16th and Clay streets, is Oakland’s version of that type of accommodation, Marqusee said.

Case managers are planned for the homeless during interim housing.

Interim housing is only the start.

An estimated 10 percent of the homeless could be housed by reconnecting them with friends or families. Compassionate Communities would help with moving costs, paying for utilities or groceries or providing bus tickets. The budget for that part of the plan is $7,500.

Another 10 percent might need initial help with rent, the report estimated. It recommended allocating $30,000 to help cover these needs for six months. The expectation is that as people get settled into more stable situations, their ability to cover their expenses will increase.

Much more expensive are the services and support needed by the majority of interim housing clients. For the remaining 80 percent of the population, intensive services and deeper subsidy support, for a year or longer after moving into housing, would cost an estimated $20,000 per person.

These clients will likely become increasingly able to fend for themselves once their housing needs have been addressed, Bedford’s report said.

The expectation is also that as people move away from living on the streets, the city’s cost of dealing with health, crime and nuisance issues will decrease.

Longer term, the city needs to address the lack of affordable housing, Marqusee said. For those at the very bottom of the economic spectrum, with income of 0 to 20 percent of area median income, even the current affordable housing stock is out of reach.

A recently passed Oakland bond measure has $20 million dedicated for housing that supports the homeless, Marqusee said. And an Alameda County housing bond sets aside 20 percent for extremely low income housing.

The county also successfully applied for a state Whole Person Care Pilot program that will bring $28 million to streamline Medi-cal services through 2020. Supportive housing is seen as a key strategy for helping the chronic homeless reduce unnecessary use of health care services.

“I’m actually kind of excited,” Marqusee said. “We are blessed that the voters of Oakland are extremely generous.”

Contact Mark Hedin at 510-293-2452, 408-759-2132 or mhedin@bayareanewsgroup.com.