Homelessness should not be a crime, but that is how some municipal and state governments are treating it — using bans on camping in public to keep the unhoused out of public view, with some threatening fines and jail unless they seek help for substance abuse.
Supporters of the approach say it’s “an effort to ensure public order and quality of life,” but that treats this vulnerable population as nuisances and threats and not as citizens or people struggling in a changing economic world.
None of this is new, but with homelessness on the rise again, it has gained currency with the public. Local and state governments in Florida, Texas, Minnesota, New York, and elsewhere either are or have crafted ordinances banning tent encampments or limiting their scope, even as skyrocketing housing costs and historic wage stagnation (current wage growth has not offset decades of inertia) have reversed the decline in the number of homeless nationally and locally.
The annual point-in-time (PIT) count conducted in January 2023 for the US Department of Housing and Urban Development found 653,104 homeless individuals across the nation. The PIT, however, only provides a snapshot and likely undercounts the total homeless population, with some experts estimating 10 times as many being homeless for at least some time during the year.
The 2023 figure, though, is the best count we have — and it was the highest number in more than a decade, and 12.1% higher than in 2022. In fact, the number of homeless has been rising steadily since 2018 after a significant drop-off and stabilization during the Obama presidency, though it is important to remember that homeless counts barely dipped below 550,000 (aside from 2020, which is an outlier because of the COVID epidemic), indicating the systemic and nature of the problem.
So, why not applaud efforts like those in Florida designed to move people from tents and the streets to shelters? After all, officials like Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner say that crackdowns work. The city has “seen more homeless individuals using available beds in shelters and therefore receiving the services they need,” he told NBC Miami. That demonstrates that punitive efforts are effective, he argues.
Meiner’s sample size is absurdly small — they began the crackdown with a new ordinance in October — and does not account for the truly deep-rooted nature of the problem. More homeless may be using city beds, but that does not mean that there will be fewer homeless, or that the issues that drive people into the streets will be addressed.
I’ve been writing about homelessness for more than a decade (see my book, “As An Alien in a Land of Promise” (asanalieninalandofpromise.wordpress.com). I’ve interviewed dozens of homeless individuals, advocates, politicians and law enforcement officials over the years. They do not agree on courses of action, but nearly all view coercive efforts as counterproductive. The data is incomplete and sometimes contradictory, but coercive efforts have a long history of abuse and there is data showing a high rate of relapse among those forced into treatment.
Federal court rulings in recent years have recognized this. Courts have ruled that “punishing homeless people with no other place to go violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.” There are questions about these rulings, particularly their reliance on the Eighth Amendment, and the US Supreme Court has agreed to hear a challenge, but they do get at what is at stake — the lack of choices available to homeless individuals and families.
Homelessness is not a criminal justice problem, or shouldn’t be, even if the public mood at this moment may favor more punitive approaches. It is a public health and economic issue. There are intersecting needs in play — the need to treat the homeless as individuals and full citizens, to respect their choices, and to provide them with services, and the need to ensure the health and safety of the larger community. Criminalizing the strategies used by the homeless to survive is not just counter productive but inhumane. It treats these fragile individuals as — to use ex-President Donald Trump’s description — infections to be eradicated.
They are not. They are people facing difficult circumstances, who are forced to survive in a cruel economic system that treats us all as widgets, judging us only on the value we might provide.
Hank Kalet is a poet, essayist and journalist in New Jersey. He teaches journalism at Rutgers University. Email, hankkalet@gmail.com; Facebook.com/hank.kalet; Instagram, @kaletwrites; X (Twitter), @newspoet41; Substance, hankkalet.substack.com.
From The Progressive Populist, March 1, 2024
Blog | Current Issue | Back Issues | Essays | Links
About the Progressive Populist | How to Subscribe | How to Contact Us