By Cliff Montgomery – Aug. 13th, 2009
The National Law Center on lessness & Poverty and The National Coalition for the less recently published a joint study entitled, s Not Handcuffs: The Criminalization of lessness in U.S. Cities.
The subject is an especially timely one, as homelessness “in the United States has worsened over the past two years, particularly due to the current economic and foreclosure crises,” states the report.
The American Spark below offers a few choice quotes from the study:
“The housing and homelessness crisis in the United States has worsened over the past two years, particularly due to the current economic and foreclosure crises. On March 27, 2008, CBS News reported that 38 percent of foreclosures involved rental properties, affecting at least 168,000 households.
“The Sarasota, Florida, Herald Tribune noted that, by some estimates, more than 311,000 tenants nationwide have been evicted from homes this year after lenders took over the properties.
“People being evicted from foreclosed properties and the economic crisis in general have contributed to the growing homeless population.
“As more people fall into homelessness, local service providers are seeing an increase in the demand for services.
“In Denver, nearly 30% of the homeless population is newly homeless. The Denver Rescue Mission has reported a 10% increase in its services.
“The State of Massachusetts reports that the number of families living in shelters has risen by 33% in the past year.
“In Atlanta, Georgia, the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the less reports that 30% of all people coming into the Day Services Center daily are newly homeless.
“In Concord, New Hampshire, the food pantry at First Congregational Church serves about 4,000 meals to over 800 people each month, around double the rate from 2007.
“Of the 25 cities surveyed by the US Conference of Mayors for its annual Hunger and lessness Report, 19 reported an increase in homelessness in 2008.
“On average, cities reported a 12 percent increase. The lack of available shelter space leaves many homeless persons with no choice but to struggle to survive on the streets of our cities.
“Even though most cities do not provide enough affordable housing, shelter space, and food to meet the need, many cities use the criminal justice system to punish people living on the street for doing things that they need to do to survive.
“Such measures often prohibit activities such as sleeping/camping, eating, sitting, and/or begging in public spaces and include criminal penalties for violation of these laws. Some cities have even enacted food sharing restrictions that punish groups and individuals for serving homeless people. Many of these measures appear to have the purpose of moving homeless people out of sight, or even out of a given city.
“As criminalization measures can be counterproductive in many ways, the U.S. Congress recently passed and the President signed legislation, the Helping Families Save Their s Act of 2009, which requires the federal Inter-agency Council on lessness to devise constructive alternatives to criminalization measures that can be used by cities around the country.
Types of Criminalization Measures
“The criminalization of homelessness takes many forms, including:
• Enactment and enforcement of legislation that makes it illegal to sleep, sit, or store personal belongings in public spaces in cities where people are forced to live in public spaces.
• Selective enforcement of more neutral laws, such as loitering, jay-walking, or open container laws, against homeless persons.
• Sweeps of city areas in which homeless persons are living to drive them out of those areas, frequently resulting in the destruction of individuals’ personal property such as important personal documents and medication.
• Enactment and enforcement of laws that punish people for begging or panhandling in order to move poor or homeless persons out of a city or downtown area.
• Enactment and enforcement of laws that restrict groups sharing food with homeless persons in public spaces.
• Enforcement of a wide range of so-called ‘quality of life’ ordinances related to public activities and hygiene (i. e. public urination) when no public facilities are available to people without housing.
Recommendations
“Instead of criminalizing homelessness, local governments, business groups, and law enforcement officials should work with homeless people, providers, and advocates for solutions to prevent and end homelessness.
“Cities should dedicate more resources to creating more affordable housing, permanent supportive housing, emergency shelters, and homeless services in general. To address street homelessness, cities should adopt or dedicate more resources to outreach programs, emergency shelter, and permanent supportive housing.
“Business groups can play a positive role in helping to address the issue of homelessness Instead of advocating for criminalization measures, business groups can put resources into solutions to homelessness.
“When cities work with homeless persons and advocate for solutions to homelessness, instead of punishing those who are homeless or poor, everyone benefits.”
