The Fairfax County Hoarding Task Force was created in 1998, as the first of its kind in the United States, in response to medical and fire emergencies occurring in hoarded structures, where occupants could not be removed quickly. The idea was born as a way to combine the many resources within county agencies to provide a coordinated response to hoarding when it threatened life, safety, and property, as well as preventing deaths due to hoarding.
The Task Force combined the resources of code enforcement, first responders, medical and mental health professionals, social services providers, attorneys and private business owners. Through regular meetings, the group balanced the rights of the individual against the safety of the community in developing strategies to ensure consistency, professionalism, and effectiveness when providing resources and assistance in hoarding cases. In 2012, the Hoarding Task Force was renamed the Hoarding Committee, which encompassed all of the key participating Task Force agencies, while allowing public participation– such as cleaning and decluttering service providers, non-profits, and other interested parties.
As of July 2026, the Hoarding Committee was placed on an organizational hiatus, as the Department of Code Compliance (DCC) relinquished its long-time leadership chairing the group. Regardless, the lessons from the nearly 30-years of this coordinated approach have created the institutional systems and network necessary for sustained success. The operational work by the many partner agencies continues with active collaboration and deploying supportive services to those in need. DCC emphasizes its continued priority toward addressing hoarding-related cases and other complex livability challenges facing our community through cooperative joint-operations and multidisciplinary intervention.
Because hoarding is a complex behavioral problem that creates a dangerous living situation to the individual(s) involved, it often requires a multi-faceted response. Neglect or self-neglect associated with the elderly, children, or animals may require emergency interventions; while structures with overloaded support systems could pose immediate dangers to the occupants, first responders and the community.