I was watching TV the other night and came across a report on the news about our country’s homeless situation. In the report – it was mentioned that there is a devastating trend in our American cities to criminalize the homeless. I’ve since done some research into this area, inquired about this issue further with a few clients and here’s what I’ve found…
THE CRIME
In recent years, the United States has seen the proliferation of local measures to criminalize “acts of living” laws that prohibit sleeping, eating, sitting, or panhandling in public spaces. City, town, and county officials are turning to criminalization measures in an effort to broadcast a zero tolerance approach to street homelessness and to temporarily reduce the visibility of homelessness in their communities.
This impulse to keep our communities clean and safe may be well-meaning, however, modern vagrancy laws have essentially the same effect as the Vagrancy Act of 1866 passed by the Virginia General Assembly. The law forced into employment for a term of up to three months, any person who appeared to be unemployed or homeless. This law was passed shortly after the American Civil War when hundreds of thousands of recently freed African Americans wandered in search of work. In effect, it was intended to force them back into slavery.
THE TRAGEDY
Ann Oliva, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Special Needs at HUD, writes:
“The intersection between the homeless services system and the criminal justice system is troubling…As all of you know, people experiencing homelessness are often forced to sleep in public spaces such as parks and sidewalks…
Across the country, communities have implemented laws and policies that criminalize homelessness as a means to move people out of these locations. According to a recent report by the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty there has been a significant increase in city-wide bans on camping, loitering, and begging in public areas. These laws effectively criminalize people’s need to survive…
Criminalization measures do not prevent or end homelessness: they only exacerbate existing problems. After people experiencing homelessness are arrested, they are returned to their communities, still with nowhere to live and now laden with financial obligations, such as court fees, that they cannot pay. Moreover, criminal convictions – even for minor crimes – create barriers to obtaining critical public benefits, employment, or housing, thus making homelessness more difficult to escape."
A HUD bulletin in 2014 states:
“Although individuals experiencing homelessness should be afforded the same dignity, compassion, and support provided to others, criminalization policies further marginalize men and women who are experiencing homelessness, fuel inflammatory attitudes, and may even unduly restrict constitutionally protected liberties and violate our international human rights obligations.”
This is a troubling trend and is still ongoing. We all face systemic obstacles in our work. This one, however, is an insidious wolf in sheep's clothing. We must not allow this trend to continue.
