Leaders of several Tulsa homeless service providers say a state effort to clear encampments has made their work more difficult.

The Tulsa Day Center organized a meeting of local providers to review their response a month after Gov. Kevin Stitt launched Operation SAFE , an Oklahoma Highway Patrol-led initiative to remove people, belongings and trash from campsites on state property, typically along highways.

An initial sweep last month cleared 64 sites and removed more than 1 million pounds of items.

Providers said the sweeps were launched without notice or consultation with local agencies that serve people experiencing homelessness.

OHP has since returned to 32 of the sites, according to a spokesperson, sometimes encountering the same individuals they dispersed before.

Steven Whitak

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