Where Is This Happening?

Clean team programs are operating in cities across the United States, from Seattle ($18 million annual budget, 300 blocks) to Lowell, Massachusetts (one full-time coordinator, $0 dedicated budget beyond salary). At least 15 new programs launched between 2023 and 2025, funded through Business Improvement Districts, municipal general funds, ARPA, and opioid settlement dollars.

No federal database catalogs clean team programs. Some operate as line items within larger BID contracts. Others are embedded in municipal sanitation departments. Some exist as nonprofit workforce programs that happen to clean streets. What follows is drawn from municipal contracts, BID filings, news coverage, and program reporting.

The Established Programs

Five programs have operated long enough and at sufficient scale to illustrate established models.

Seattle Metropolitan Improvement District has operated since 2013, deploying roughly 165 ambassadors across 300 blocks of downtown Seattle, seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., according to DSA. The program was renewed for 10 years in May 2023 with an $18 million annual budget funded entirely through BID property assessments. Workers start at $22 per hour with health benefits, retirement, and employer-paid medical coverage. The MID describes itself as a proud justice-involved employer. Cumulative output through 2022: more than 10 million gallons of trash and 94,000 syringes collected, with annual collection now running at approximately 1.2 million gallons per year.

Portland Clean and Safe District has operated since the 1980s, making it one of the oldest BID-funded cleaning operations in the country. In November 2024, it expanded from 213 to roughly 270 blocks with a $58 million five-year renewal. The district is managed by the Portland Business Alliance. Projected annual budget for 2026 is $8.37 million. The program has drawn sustained criticism from both directions: an “End Clean and Safe” campaign questioned its accountability and equity, while a 2020 city auditor report found very little city oversight of BID operations.

Portland Clean Start, operated by Central City Concern, combines workforce development with large-scale cleaning operations. It employs more than 130 people with 60-plus vehicles. In 2024 alone, crews removed 6.02 million pounds of trash and 92,150 syringes. Participants are seven times more likely to complete treatment than comparable populations, according to program data. Portland’s separate GLITTER program, run by the Ground Score Association, employs approximately 47 people on payroll, roughly 90 percent of whom were currently or formerly homeless. More than 70 percent of tent-dwelling participants have moved into permanent housing.

Lowell, Massachusetts runs a dedicated syringe collection program with full-time coordinator Andres Gonzalez and assistant Tom Callahan, under director Lisa Golden. Since launching in April 2019, the program has collected more than 100,000 syringes using a 311 portal and dedicated hotline (Lowell Sun, August 2025; Valley Patriot, May 2019).

Cincinnati GeneroCity 513 combines workforce development with downtown cleaning. The partnership between the Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC), City Gospel Mission, and other organizations operates a Jobs Van that picks up 10 individuals four days a week at $9 per hour. Through September 2025: 2,648 encounters, 376 intakes, 542 referrals, 300-plus social service connections, and more than 120 individuals housed. Gerald Cooper of City Gospel Mission coordinates the program. A separate force of 85-plus Downtown Ambassadors operates through the Downtown Cincinnati Improvement District.

Recent Launches (2023-2025)

The field has expanded rapidly since 2023. Programs launched across a range of city sizes, regions, and political contexts.

Gainesville, Florida launched in December 2024 with a $3.1 million contract. Eric Davis leads the program, which had housed 25 individuals by March 2025.

West Palm Beach, Florida deployed roughly 40 ambassadors in July 2024.

Iowa City, Iowa launched in June 2024 through a contract with Block by Block, the Nashville-based company that now operates clean team and ambassador programs in more than 190 urban districts nationally.

Denton, Texas started a two-year pilot in January 2024, exploring Public Improvement District funding as a long-term sustainability mechanism.

Decatur, Georgia launched in May 2024 at $496,000 and renewed in September 2025 at $607,000.

Montgomery, Alabama launched in May 2025.

Charlottesville, Virginia contracted a program for 2026 at $1.2 million. Councilor Michael Payne cast the sole dissenting vote, citing concerns about outsourcing work that could undermine unionized public employees.

Wichita, Kansas ran a pilot in 2025 and approved full funding in February 2026, expanding from two part-time to four full-time employees with new equipment including an electric sidewalk sweeper. In two weeks post-expansion, the team collected 375-plus pounds of trash and removed 80-plus graffiti tags (KWCH, February 2026; KSN).

Scranton, Pennsylvania launched a downtown clean team through Scranton Tomorrow. Leslie Collins, president of the organization, told Discover NEPA: “The physical appearance of downtown plays a significant role in how people perceive the district in its entirety, its economic stability, and opportunities for future growth” (Discover NEPA, via Clean Teams Newsletter).

Springfield, Massachusetts expanded park cleanup efforts to address drug paraphernalia. Thomas Ashe, director of parks, buildings and recreation management, told MassLive that clean-up crews are part of a jobs program: “along with making parks cleaner, the program helps the inmates develop better work skills… [and] the city has even hired some after they are released” (WWLP; MassLive, via Clean Teams Newsletter).

Richmond, Virginia expanded its Manchester district ambassador program in July 2023, covering 80 blocks.

Seattle Chinatown-International District launched a specialized program in June 2025, focused on anti-Asian hate incidents, funded through a partnership between The Asian American Foundation and Amazon.

Philadelphia One Philly United City launched citywide in June 2024, logging over 61,000 services in its first summer.

Arlington, Texas launched in November 2023 through the Downtown Arlington Management Corporation, operated by Block by Block. Kevin Johnson serves as Operations Manager. Homeless outreach services were added in May 2025.

Denver launched its Clean and Safe Downtown Initiative in January 2024, distributing matching yellow vests to roughly 650 existing city employees, nonprofit workers, and private security personnel to create a unified visible presence, according to the Denver Post and Denverite. Denverite described the initiative as a coordination effort using existing workers rather than a new staffing investment. In April 2025, the city announced a separate Safe Downtown Action Plan with $3.7 million from the Downtown Denver Authority, adding a dedicated 10-officer police unit, mounted patrol, and a police kiosk (Denverite, April 2, 2025).

Kansas City expanded Clean Up KC, run by Hope Faith, from 5 to 12 crew members at $18 per hour.

Syringe-Specific Programs

A distinct subset of clean team activity focuses exclusively on needle collection.

Portland, Maine launched a needle buyback program in January 2025 using $52,000 in opioid settlement funds. In the six weeks after launch, syringe collection increased 52 percent (120,793 vs. 76,554 pre-launch). By year-end, syringe return rates reached 86 percent, up from 66 percent the prior year.

Boston ran the Community Syringe Redemption Program from December 2020 through June 2024, collecting 5.2 million syringes at $0.20 per needle. The program enrolled 3,738 participants and distributed 3,781 naloxone doses. American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding expired; the city did not replace it with general fund dollars. Needle complaints have risen since. The operating nonprofit, Addiction Response Resources (ARR), has since launched a version in New York City.

San Francisco contracts a dedicated 10-member syringe collection team at $916,907 through the Department of Public Health and the SF AIDS Foundation, separate from its broader ambassador programs (SF Examiner, May 25, 2018).

New Haven, Connecticut renewed its Yale-partnered syringe program in July 2024 at $25,000.

New York City is considering a buyback bill introduced by Councilmember Diana Ayala at $0.20 per syringe, and ARR launched the NYC version of its Boston model in March 2025.

The Block by Block Effect

One company operates across more programs than any other single entity. Block by Block, a Nashville-based subsidiary of SMS Holdings/Mydatt Services, now operates in more than 190 urban districts, according to the company. Block by Block provides a standardized training program, a proprietary data and reporting platform, and a turnkey staffing model. Iowa City, Arlington, Charlottesville, and numerous other cities contract with the company.

Block by Block operates the programs in Iowa City, Arlington, and numerous other cities that launched in this period. Charlottesville’s Councilor Payne raised the outsourcing concern explicitly during his dissenting vote: “Any time we outsource work, I’m very concerned we’re undermining unionized workers” (29News, February 2026).

The San Francisco Outlier

San Francisco stands alone in spending. The city maintains approximately 34 separate street ambassador and cleaning programs coordinated through the Department of Emergency Management. In December 2025, the city awarded $32 million in new 18-month ambassador contracts: Urban Alchemy received approximately $24 million, Ahsing Solutions $3.5 million, with additional contracts to Glide, Heluna Health, and the Tenderloin Community Benefit District (SF Standard, January 2026).

San Francisco spends roughly $60 per resident on street cleaning, approximately twice the Los Angeles rate. A 2025 city audit found $15.2 million left unspent and $3 million in illegal dumping fines uncollected over a decade (SF BLA audit, 2025; Mission Local, October 2025).

Workforce Development Programs

Four cities — Portland, Cincinnati, Kansas City, and Baltimore — operate clean team programs structured around employment pathways.

New York City’s ACE Programs expanded to Queens in November 2024 with $100,000 in funding from Assemblymember Andrew Hevesi. Between May 2024 and March 2025, participants secured more than 50 full-time jobs through the transitional employment pipeline.

Pittsburgh runs a diversified workforce model through Renewal Inc. in partnership with BID funding, city support, philanthropic dollars from Benter, Buhl, and Eden Hall foundations, and corporate contributions from PNC, PPG, UPMC, Highmark, and Giant Eagle.

Baltimore’s My Father’s Plan, founded by behavioral specialist Dawod Thomas, employs young people in neighborhood cleanups in East Baltimore’s Pen Lucy neighborhood while providing vocational training, financial literacy, and tutoring.

Programs With Uncertain or Ended Status

Downtown Streets Team shut down on October 31, 2025, after 20 years of operation across 16 California locations. At its peak, the organization had $17 million in annual revenue. Lifetime outcomes included 2,211 individuals housed and more than 2,100 connected to jobs. The organization cited a “shift in financial and political landscape” and the loss of multiple contracts that created a “multi-million-dollar loss.” Prior to shutdown, the organization had faced sexual harassment allegations against former CEO Eileen Richardson and paid a $170,000 class-action settlement for wage theft in 2021.

Norman, Oklahoma proposed a clean team under Mayor Larry Heikkila, but no evidence exists that the program was ever funded, staffed, or operational. Heikkila was voted out of office on February 11, 2025, losing 35 to 61 percent.

Harris County, Texas does not appear to operate a dedicated clean team, though adjacent programs exist: Employ2Empower in Precinct 2 pays $15 per hour to 79 participants and has housed 19 individuals, and a Clean and Green diversion program operates through the District Attorney’s office.

Documented Models by Type

BID-funded professional cleaning operations are documented at Seattle’s MID ($18 million annually) and Portland’s Clean and Safe ($8.37 million projected for 2026, $58 million five-year renewal).

Workforce development through maintenance work takes different forms at different scales: Portland’s Clean Start (130-plus employees tied to treatment services), Cincinnati’s GeneroCity 513 ($9 per hour daily cleaning with social service connections), and Pittsburgh’s Renewal Inc. partnership (diversified funding across BID, city, philanthropic, and corporate sources).

Syringe-specific programs range from Portland, Maine ($52,000 in opioid settlement funds, 52 percent increase in collection, 86 percent year-end return rate) to Boston’s former program ($0.20 per needle buyback, 5.2 million syringes over three and a half years, ended when ARPA funding expired June 2024).

Block by Block’s turnover model operates in more than 190 districts. Charlottesville launched its Block by Block program in February 2026; Wichita approved full funding in February 2026; Gainesville launched in December 2024 (29News; KWCH; GnvInfo).

The Bottom Line

The programs documented in this card span BID-funded professional operations (Seattle, Portland Clean and Safe, New York City’s 78 BIDs), workforce development models (Portland Clean Start, Cincinnati GeneroCity 513, Kansas City Clean Up KC, Baltimore My Father’s Plan), syringe-specific programs (Lowell, Portland ME, Boston’s former program, San Francisco, New Haven), and hybrid ambassador-clean team models (Denver, Arlington, Gainesville). At least 15 new programs launched between 2023 and 2025. Downtown Streets Team, which had operated for 20 years across 16 California locations, shut down on October 31, 2025, citing a “shift in financial and political landscape” (KTVU; Mercury News). The documented programs are concentrated in urban downtowns; suburban commercial corridors, small-town main streets, and rural communities are largely absent from the landscape this card documents. The ARPA expenditure deadline of December 31, 2026 affects every program launched with pandemic relief dollars