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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
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Results for homeless persons
42 results foundAuthor: Taylor, Monica: Walsh, Tamara, eds. Title: Nowhere to Go: The Impact of Police Move-On Powers on Homeless People in Queensland Summary: The project researched the use and effect of police move-on powers on homeless people in Brisbane. Chapter 1 provides an introduction to the law and policies surrounding move-on powers in Queensland. Chapter 2 explores the historical and current policy concerns surrounding the use and effect of move-on powers. Chapter 3 provides a comparative analysis of approaches to move-on powers in other jurisdictions in Australia. Chapter 4 analyses the use and effect of police move-on powers on homeless people from a human rights perspective. Chapter 5 documents the empirical research findings. Chapters 6 and 7 analyse the impact of police-move on powers on two specific vulnerable groups; young people and Indigenous people, and Chapter 8 summarises the report’s recommendations. Details: Brisbane: T.C. Beirne School of Law, University of Queensland and Queensland Public Interest Law Clearing House Homeless Persons' Legal Clinic, 2006. 98p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 7, 2011 at: http://www.qpilch.org.au/_dbase_upl/Nowhere%20To%20Go.pdf Year: 2006 Country: Australia URL: http://www.qpilch.org.au/_dbase_upl/Nowhere%20To%20Go.pdf Shelf Number: 121263 Keywords: Disorderly ConductHomeless PersonsHomelessness (Australia)Nuisance Behaviors and Disorders |
Author: Reeve, Kesia Title: Squatting: A Homelessness Issue. An Evidence Review Summary: This report synthesises research commissioned by Crisis and other organisations about the nature and extent of squatting. It was commissioned to inform debate about squatting, particularly in the context of current Government proposals to criminalise squatting. The key conclusions, and recommendations which flow from them, are as follows: Squatting is a common response to homelessness, with evidence suggesting that 40 per cent of single homeless people squat (6 per cent on any one night). Most homeless people who squat try other avenues for resolving their housing problems before turning to squatting. They approach local hostels and shelters but find there are no spaces in the hostels, or they are not eligible, and that the assistance provided does not help them resolve their housing problem. The majority of those who approach a local authority are recognised as homeless. However, most are not entitled to housing because they are not recognised as being in priority need or are deemed intentionally homeless. Many squat as a last resort, when the only alternative is rough sleeping. The evidence suggests that the majority of squatters were sleeping rough immediately prior to squatting. Squatting, then, typically reflects a lack of other options, a scarcity of provision, and inadequate support and assistance to single homeless people. Many squatters have significant welfare needs including mental and physical health issues and other vulnerabilities. The evidence shows consistently that homeless people who squat have higher levels of needs than those who do not. The most recent study, for example, found that 34 per cent of homeless people who squat had been in care, 42 per cent had physical ill health or a disability; and 41 per cent reported mental ill health (compared with 19 per cent, 27 per cent, and 32 per cent respectively of homeless people who had not squatted) Homeless people who squat occupy empty, usually disused or abandoned property, not other people’s homes. Strengthening laws or enforcement activity against squatters in occupied buildings is likely to have minimal impact on levels of squatting but significant impact on squatters themselves. Squatting, then, is a homelessness and welfare issue, not a criminal justice issue. There is a need to acknowledge squatting as a manifestation of housing need and as a product of inadequate and insufficient support for single homeless people. Squatting needs to be debated within this context. Criminalising squatting will criminalise a vulnerable homelessness population and is likely to increase the number of rough sleepers. Instead, government and service providers should consider the following: Summary of findings and recommendations 1. Do not introduce further squatting related criminal offences. Squatting is not a criminal justice issue but a housing and welfare one and any change to the existing law risks harming an already very vulnerable population. 2. Improve the evidence base so fully informed debate can take place and appropriate interventions developed. At present, no national data are available and studies tend to be small scale. 3. Raise awareness and dispel some of the myths about squatters. Squatting needs to be recognised as a homelessness issue. 4. Provide support and outreach services targeted at squatters. Many want and require assistance but, for various reasons, are disengaged from support services. 5. Protect homelessness services from cuts, and increase homelessness provision. Many people squat because they have no other options. Squatting is likely to escalate if homelessness services are cut. 6. Ensure all local authorities provide effective ‘advice and assistance’ when single homeless people approach a local authority. Many homeless people who squat approach a local authority first but the assistance they receive does not help them resolve their housing problems. Details: London: Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research, Sheffield Hallam University, and Crisis, 2011. 24p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 28, 2011 at: http://www.crisis.org.uk/data/files/publications/Crisis_SquattingReport_SEPT2011.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.crisis.org.uk/data/files/publications/Crisis_SquattingReport_SEPT2011.pdf Shelf Number: 123163 Keywords: Homeless PersonsHomelessnessPovertySquatting (U.K.) |
Author: Fontaine, Jocelyn Title: Supportive Housing for the Disabled Reentry Population: The District of Columbia Frequent Users Service Enhancement Pilot Program Summary: Using qualitative and quantitative data, this report discusses the history, performance, and progress of the District of Columbia Frequent Users Service Enhancement Pilot Program, implemented by the Corporation for Supportive Housing. As a supportive housing reentry program focused on disabled individuals with histories of homelessness and incarceration, the program intended to provide housing and coordinate services for 50 "frequent users" leaving the city jail. Over the first year of operations, the program successfully identified and targeted more than a dozen frequent users and linked them to supportive housing through effective cross-system coordination. Policy implications of the evaluation findings are discussed. Details: Washington, DC: Urban Institute, Justice Policy Center, 2011. 78p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 17, 2012 at: Year: 2011 Country: United States URL: Shelf Number: 123638 Keywords: DisabilityHomeless PersonsHousingPrisoner Reentry (Washington, DC) |
Author: O'Grady, Bill Title: Can I See Your ID? The Policing of Youth Homelessness in Toronto Summary: Homelessness, and its visibility, is back in the news in Toronto. Concerns about the scourge of panhandling have once again surfaced in local media with city councillors regularly weighing in on the ‘problem’. With little evidence that there is a dramatic increase in the numbers of people sleeping in parks or ‘aggressively’ panhandling on sidewalks, calls are once again being made for a law and order response to address this highly visible manifestation of urban poverty; to crack down on homelessness with tougher laws and stricter enforcement. All of this raises important questions about how we respond to homelessness in Canada. What does it say about Canadians when popular thought suggests that the appropriate way to address the problem of homelessness is through law enforcement? Is the use of police in dealing with people who are homeless as much a part of the Canadian response to homelessness as is the provision of shelter beds, soup kitchens and street outreach? And perhaps most importantly, what is the impact of a law and order approach to homelessness on the lives of people who experience such extreme poverty? This report sets out to document the criminalization of homelessness in Canada by exploring the relationship between homeless persons – in particular, street youth - and law enforcement officials (both the police and private security). Drawing from over 240 interviews with street youth in Toronto in 2009, as well as a review of official statistics on Ontario Safe Streets Act tickets in Toronto over the past 11 years, we explore the ways in which homelessness has been criminalized through a law and order agenda. Effective policy should be informed by research, not developed as a response to moral panics. Our research raises serious questions about the use of law enforcement as a strategy to address the visibility of homelessness in Canada. Details: Toronto: Justice for Children and Youth, and Homeless Hub Press, 2011. 96p. Source: Internet Resource: The Homeless Hub Research Report Series, Report #5: Accessed June 26, 2012 at: http://www.homelesshub.ca/ResourceFiles/CanISeeYourID_nov9.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Canada URL: http://www.homelesshub.ca/ResourceFiles/CanISeeYourID_nov9.pdf Shelf Number: 125405 Keywords: Homeless PersonsHomeless YouthHomelessness (Canada)PanhandlingPoverty |
Author: John Howard Society of Ontario Title: Effective, Just and Humane: A Case for Client-Centered Collaboration: Case Study of John Howard Society of Toronto’s Housing Program Summary: Access to safe and affordable housing is a cornerstone of healthy communities. Failure to provide this necessary foundation for individuals who are vulnerable to homelessness results in a population that faces enormous health disparities, not to mention massive costs to health care and social service systems. Health disparities or inequities are differences in health outcomes that are avoidable, unfair and systematically related to social inequality and disadvantage. The literature is quite clear in this regard: homelessness is inexorably linked with significantly poorer health outcomes, including, but certainly not limited to: being at a higher risk for communicable diseases, acute and often life-threatening conditions, victimization and extremely high mortality rates. Social determinants of health such as poverty, lack of social supports, unemployment and lack of stable housing all increase an individual’s likelihood of becoming homeless. In fact, the underlying determinants of homelessness tend to be the very same factors that predict involvement in the criminal justice system. Indeed, there is a significant bidirectional relationship between homelessness and involvement in the criminal justice system, whereby precariously housed or homeless individuals are more likely to come into conflict with the law and be incarcerated, and once incarcerated, risk of homelessness becomes greater upon eventual release. Not surprisingly then, simply providing housing will not eliminate the existence of homelessness, given all of its associated complexities. It is also necessary to provide resources that address the underlying causes of homelessness, which are manifold (Tremblay, 2009). It is evident from the current literature that the challenges of homelessness require a comprehensive and multi-sectoral solution, which not only addresses the issue of lack of safe and affordable housing, but also targets other intersecting determinants of health inequities experienced by the homeless population. Despite this need, there generally exists a lack of, or inadequate mechanisms for, effective communication between community organizations, government agencies, and other key stakeholders in coordinating the multiple services often required by individuals who are homeless. This need is especially salient for homeless populations who have been recently released from correctional institutions, or who have had previous contact with the criminal justice system, as this population tends to have added challenges that cross-cut any one service sector. Details: Toronto: John Howard Society of Ontario, 2012. 47p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 18, 2012 at: http://www.johnhoward.on.ca/pdfs/FINAL%20Community%20Report%20May%202012.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Canada URL: http://www.johnhoward.on.ca/pdfs/FINAL%20Community%20Report%20May%202012.pdf Shelf Number: 126369 Keywords: Crime PreventionEx-OffendersHomeless PersonsHomelessnessPrisoner ReentrySupportive Housing (Toronto, Canada) |
Author: Baldry, Eileen Title: Lifecourse Institutional Costs of Homelessness for Vulnerable Groups Summary: There is a dearth of empirical research in Australia examining the lifecourse institutional costs associated with vulnerable people who are homeless. Evidence has been mounting that vulnerable groups, in particular persons with mental health disorders and cognitive disability (MHDCD) who experience clusters of disadvantageous circumstances, are over-represented amongst those coming to the attention of police and being serially arrested and incarcerated. People in these groups are more likely to use alcohol and other drugs and be homeless or marginally housed. Persons in this group are often caught in a vicious criminal justice cycle (Baldry et al 2006) with the costs to the person and the community estimated to be very high (Burt 2003; Edwards et al 2009; Flatau et al 2008; Gulcur et al 2003; Mental Health Coordinating Council 2008). But there has been little empirical pathway costing done. The study presented here has developed pathway costings using the Mental Health and Cognitive Disability in the Criminal Justice System (MHDCD) Dataset that contains data on lifelong interventions and interactions with all criminal justice and some human services agencies that are available for a cohort of 2,731 people who have been in prison in NSW and whose MHDCD diagnoses are known. This study’s purpose is to contribute to understanding the real costs associated with this group’s homelessness and criminal justice involvement and to alternative policy and program responses. Merging data across criminal justice sub-systems and with relevant human services is a useful way to provide a broad, dynamic understanding of the trans-criminal justice and human service involvement of persons with complex needs. This study takes an empirical approach to calculating the economic costs of the pathways of eleven individuals who have cycled in and out of homelessness, using the MHDCD Dataset containing their interactions with housing, health, community services and criminal justice agencies. 1 This institutional contact was costed by working with the relevant criminal justice and human service agencies to develop methods of measurement to ascertain unit costs. The cost of each unit of intervention or service recorded in our data - for example, being taken into custody by Police or being given rent assistance by Housing - was calculated across agency and by age, and total costs compiled. Lifecourse institutional costs for the 11 case studies, currently aged between 23 and 55, range from around $900,000 to $5.5 million. The economic costs to government are significant, as are the social and human costs. Whilst each individual story reflects the impacts of particular conditions and experiences, together the case studies highlight the breadth and depth of social need and disadvantage experienced by these individuals, as well as the complex and compounding interactions between them. In almost every case discussed, significant disadvantage, vulnerability and risk factors are obvious from early adolescence and, for several individuals from childhood, yet care and protection and early intervention do not occur in any substantial or sustained way. The evidence is stark that this early lack of adequate services is associated with costly criminal justice, health and homelessness interactions and interventions later in their lives. Millions of dollars in crisis and criminal justice interventions continue to be spent on these vulnerable individuals whose needs would have been better addressed in early support or currently in a health, rehabilitation or community space. It is obvious that access to integrated and responsive support services including drug and alcohol support, mental health and disability services or other psycho-social forms of support is needed. The provision of secure housing and support for an individual to maintain a tenancy appears a key factor in higher criminal justice and emergency services costs. Early and well-timed interventions to establish and maintain secure housing and associated support services could significantly reduce the need for the future years of criminal justice interventions. This study, while focused on the economic costs across the lifecourse associated with vulnerable people who are homeless, does not capture all possible costs to government or to society more generally. There are other elements to the costs of homelessness which the information contained in the MHDCD Dataset could contribute to in future research studies, such as the costs to the individuals, their families and the broader community, the costs of crime, opportunity costs, and cost-benefit research. The policy implications of this study are: • The atomised and singular manner in which homeless persons with complex compounded needs are addressed by most agencies is extremely costly and counterproductive. Early holistic support is crucial for disadvantaged children with cognitive disabilities and/or mental health disorders who are homeless or in unstable housing. • Provision of skilled disability supported accommodation and education early in life would save significant spending on homelessness and criminal justice interventions later in life. • System incentives to cost-shift should be eliminated. • There is evidence of avoidance of working with complex and poorly housed children and adults by human service agencies resulting in criminal justice services, particularly Police, being used as frontline child protection, housing, mental and cognitive disability services. • A significant change in the way government human service agencies approach this small but extremely costly group of persons is required. The evidence from this project suggests that robust, holistic, cross portfolio support and intervention resonses fit for purpose (eg appropriate and adequate disability support with housing) are needed. Details: Sydney, AUS: School of Social Sciences, University of New South Wales, 2012. 122p. Source: Internet Resource: https://homelessnessclearinghouse.govspace.gov.au/files/2012/10/Lifecourse-Institutional-Costs-of-Homelessness-final-report.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Australia URL: https://homelessnessclearinghouse.govspace.gov.au/files/2012/10/Lifecourse-Institutional-Costs-of-Homelessness-final-report.pdf Shelf Number: 126889 Keywords: DisabilityEconomics of CrimeHomeless PersonsHomelessness (Australia)Mentally Ill |
Author: SQUASH: Squatters' Action for Secure Homes Title: The Case Against Section 144 Summary: SQUASH has collected and analysed information to produce a six-month impact analysis of the criminalisation of squatting in residential properties (S144, Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act, 2012). Relevant literature and reports on the current housing crisis, empty properties, homelessness and squatting in England and Wales have been used to provide a context for a wider analysis of the after-effects of S144. The report’s findings suggest the major concerns with criminalisation that arose during the government’s consultation process have manifested, with homeless and vulnerable people disproportionately affected. The lack of data being kept by councils and Police forces is deeply troubling, and suggests many of these people have been forced into even more precarious forms of hidden homelessness. Given the magnitude of the housing crisis and the huge rise in homelessness we are currently facing, this law has critically narrowed the options for many, and is sending homeless people to prison for seeking shelter in empty buildings. The report is divided into four main sections that analyse different aspects of S144. 1) The Undemocratic section takes into consideration the process that led to this new criminal law. Our research highlights the unusually short parliamentary process, which gave very little time for scrutiny, and the government’s consultation process, which saw 96% of the respondents being ultimately ignored. 2) The Unjust section, by exposing the irrefutable link between squatting and homelessness, shows who the law is most harshly affecting. Case studies of people arrested and prosecuted in the past six months are presented in order to give concrete examples of the law enforcement. 3) The Unnecessary section outlines the prior adequacy of the Criminal Law Act 1977 for dealing with squatting, and raises some concerns about the enforcement of the new offence and the lack of data being collected. 4) Finally, the Unaffordable section analyses the financial aspects associated with S144. By taking into account direct (e.g. evictions, arrests and prosecutions) and indirect (e.g.rehabilitation and housing benefits) enforcement costs the analysis provides some up-to-date figures on the financial impact of the law. As a result of these findings, SQUASH are launching a campaign calling for a repeal of S144 LASPO and at the very least we are calling for a full independent impact assessment before further criminalisation is even discussed. The situation at the moment is dire, and with substantial cuts to welfare provision taking effect from April 1st, things can only get worse. Details: UK: SQUASH, 2013. 25p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 27, 2013 at: http://www.squashcampaign.org/repeal-law/the-case-against-section-144-2/ Year: 2013 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.squashcampaign.org/repeal-law/the-case-against-section-144-2/ Shelf Number: 128147 Keywords: Homeless PersonsHomelessness (U.K.)HousingSquatting |
Author: Feeny, Thomas Title: In Best or Vested Interests? An Exploration of the Concept and Practice of Family Reunification for Street Children Summary: As the movement advocating children’s participation in their own life decisions gathered pace in the late 1990s and early 21st century, governments were left with increasingly few options given their continued antipathy to the presence of these children on the streets. NGOs had begun to take the initiative by offering non-formal education opportunities and vocational training to try and give children the skills to get themselves off the streets, but these efforts continued to struggle in the wider context of a society still very much averse to the mere existence of these children. The response taken by many was therefore to move towards preventive or ‘early’ intervention, spurred on by better understandings of the multiple factors both pushing and pulling children onto the streets. It was into this arena that family reunification programmes emerged – the main characteristics being (a) recognition of the family as the most sustainable partner with regard to the children’s welfare; (b) an acknowledgement that the original causes of family separation need addressing and resolving; and (b) a belief that this can be achieved through procedural and participatory counseling of the child and/or the family members concerned. To suggest that these ideas were completely new would be wrong – as noted earlier, the importance of the family environment had already been emphasised in both religious ideals and the legal provisions of the CRC. Rather, it was that the context proved more fertile to such programmes, with the touted high-profile success of reunification strategies targeting children affected by war, such as Rwanda in the late 1990s. Family-partnered interventions were also in tune with contemporary donor demands for sustainability and participation, while also allowing NGOs to claim such programmes as morally and ethically ‘correct’ and in the ‘best interests’ of the child. Unfortunately, the most important question of methodology – how this reunification process should best be performed – remains unclear. Whatever the motivation behind them, family reunification programmes are now rapidly taking off in many countries around the world, in spite of the inherent methodological uncertainty. Already, organisations have begun to proudly proclaim 80-90% success rates for their reunification programmes, and more and more of their fellow agencies are showing signs of interest. This study sets out to go ‘behind the scenes’ of family reunification programmes from a number of perspectives. In Part One, it will look at the conceptual theory that underpins this intervention, and examine how constructions of the ‘family’ and the ‘child’ have influenced policy making in this field. It will then reconsider these in light of contemporary research material on the social realities of street children’s lives. Part Two will then explore the practical issues relating to the entire process of reunification itself, from the early stages of identifying children on the streets to monitoring their welfare in the weeks and months after reunification with their family. A final Conclusion will then discuss the findings of the study and its implications for organisations operating or considering starting family reunification programmes with street children. Areas for future research are also highlighted. Details: London: Consortium for Street Children, 2005. 65p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 3, 2013 at: http://www.streetchildren.org.uk/_uploads/Publications/In_Best_or_Vested_Interests.pdf Year: 2005 Country: International URL: http://www.streetchildren.org.uk/_uploads/Publications/In_Best_or_Vested_Interests.pdf Shelf Number: 128612 Keywords: Child ProtectionFamily Reunification ProgramsHomeless PersonsHomeless YouthRunawaysStreet Children |
Author: Schweitzer, Don Title: Asking for Directions: Partnering with Youth to Build the Evidence Base for Runaway and Homeless Youth Services Summary: Each year it is estimated that almost 2 million American youth run away from home, are thrown out of their homes, or otherwise end up homeless. As concerning as those numbers are, the risks runaway and homeless youth are exposed to when they find themselves on the street are even more so. Running away from home dramatically increases the risk of victimization, both physically and sexually. Moreover, youth living on the streets exhibit much higher health risks including higher rates of substance abuse, suicide attempts, sexually transmitted disease, pregnancy and death. Because runaway and homeless youth find themselves lacking skills and resources necessary to fully engage in employment, they are left with few legally permissible options for survival. The research literature has addressed many aspects of the lives of runaway and homeless youth (RHY): the history, policy, practice and research but has neglected youth perspectives on their needs. The complexities associated with the RHY population such as age, pathways to running away and/or homelessness, mental health, abuse, neglect, etc. make this a challenging field to work in. Yet understanding these complexities and evaluating the interventions used by community social service programs designed to help youth return home, or enter other safe, stable housing, is critical to helping this field develop and improve interventions, programs, and prevention strategies that will be used by this uniquely vulnerable population. In 1974, Congress first passed the Runaway Youth Act (RYA) providing funding for community shelter programs called Basic Centers. In subsequent years Transitional Living Programs (1988) and Street Outreach services (1994) were added to the act. Unfortunately, researchers, youth advocates, and many service providers report that the vast majority of runaway and homeless youth reject the services and programs designed to meet their needs and keep them safe. This dynamic exacerbates an already perilous situation for youth who find themselves on the streets. Much of the research to date has focused on the pathology of youth and/or their families. This project suggests that if to understand the complexities of these youth and move toward a system with improved utilization rates, we should begin by asking - what are programs doing that work for RHY? Which services or practices do the youth feel are most helpful? Is there a way to synthesize these practices, codify them, and begin to build the evidence base for working effectively with RHY? This study began this process by conducting 14 focus groups with 52 youth ages 14 - 21, who were receiving services from a Basic Center (3), a drop-in center (3), a street outreach program (2), or a Transitional Living Program (6), and asking them what is it about this program that works for you? Then the researcher hired RHY to analyze those responses. Findings hold the potential to begin filling the chasm that exists in the literature around effective practice with RHY. Details: Forest Grove, OR: Pacific University (Faculty Scholarship), 2013. 22p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 31, 2014 at: http://commons.pacificu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1053&context=casfac Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: http://commons.pacificu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1053&context=casfac Shelf Number: 131834 Keywords: Homeless PersonsHomelessnessRunaways |
Author: Sowerwine, Sam Title: Sentencing contradictions - Difficulties faced by people living with mental illness in contact with the criminal justice system Summary: This discussion paper focuses on the need to ensure the diversion of people who are homeless and those with a mental illness out of the criminal justice system. Where such diversion does not occur, sentencing options should be focused on addressing the underlying causes of criminal activity. There is a public interest in reducing recidivism and supporting 'justice reinvestment' approaches that move funds away from more expensive, end-of-process crime control options, such as incarceration, towards programs that target the factors that cause offenders to commit crime. This reinvestment should take place both internally and external to the criminal justice system. However, it is imperative that community service organisations - generally the core service providers of such programs - are adequately resourced. There is also a need for specially tailored services to meet the complex needs of people with mental illness. For this reason, it is important that treatment and care under diversionary programs take a multi-disciplinary and multi-stranded approach. Details: Sydney: Public Interest Advocacy Centre, Ltd., 2013. 30p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 8, 2014 at: http://www.piac.asn.au/sites/default/files/publications/extras/13.10.15_sentencing_contradictions_-_difficulties_faced_by_people_living_with_mental_illness_and_the_criminal_justice_system_-_briefing_paper.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Australia URL: http://www.piac.asn.au/sites/default/files/publications/extras/13.10.15_sentencing_contradictions_-_difficulties_faced_by_people_living_with_mental_illness_and_the_criminal_justice_system_-_briefing_paper.pdf Shelf Number: 132288 Keywords: Alternatives to IncarcerationHomeless PersonsHomelessness (Australia)Justice ReinvestmentMentally IllMentally Ill Offenders |
Author: National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty Title: No Safe Place: The Criminalization of Homelessness in U.S. Cities Summary: Homelessness continues to be a national crisis, affecting millions of people each year, including a rising number of families. Homeless people, like all people, must engage in activities such as sleeping or sitting down in order to survive. Yet, in communities across the nation, these harmless, unavoidable behaviors are treated as criminal activity under laws that criminalize homelessness. This report provides an overview of criminalization measures in effect across the nation and looks at trends in the criminalization of homelessness, based on an analysis of the laws in 187 cities that the Law Center has tracked since 2009. The report further describes why these laws are ineffective in addressing the underlying causes of homelessness, how they are expensive to taxpayers, and how they often violate homeless persons' constitutional and human rights. Finally, we offer constructive alternatives to criminalization, making recommendations to federal, state, and local governments on how to best address the problem of visible homelessness in a sensible, humane, and legal way. Details: Washington, DC: National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, 2014. 71p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 31, 2014 at: http://nlchp.org/documents/No_Safe_Place Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://nlchp.org/documents/No_Safe_Place Shelf Number: 128735 Keywords: Homeless PersonsHomelessness (U.S.)HousingPoverty |
Author: Payne, Jason Title: Homelessness and housing stress among police detainees: Results from the DUMA program Summary: It is generally accepted that a person's living situation, in particular their experience of homelessness and housing stress, can have both long-lasting and wide-ranging consequences. For criminal justice practitioners, the task of limiting homelessness and preventing crime remain key policy priorities in need of ongoing and integrated research. This paper provides a much needed examination of homelessness and housing stress among Australia's criminal justice population. Using data from the AIC's Drug Use Monitoring in Australia program, this study examines the prevalence and nature of homelessness among a sample of police detainees. It is the first of its kind to examine a broader range of homelessness experiences and the reasons why some offenders have few choices but to 'sleep rough' or seek accommodation support. Importantly, the authors estimate that 22 percent of the detainee population is homeless or experiencing housing stress in some form; much higher than has been previously estimated. This research reaffirms the need for intensive accommodation support services to complement criminal justice responses to crime and those who have contact with the criminal justice system. Details: Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology, 2015. Source: Internet Resource: Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice no. 492: Accessed February 18, 2015 at: http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/current%20series/tandi/481-500/tandi492.html Year: 2015 Country: Australia URL: http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/current%20series/tandi/481-500/tandi492.html Shelf Number: 134640 Keywords: Homeless PersonsHomelessness (Australia)HousingOffenders |
Author: Fisher, Marina Title: California's New Vagrancy Laws: The Growing Enactment and Enforcement of Anti-Homeless Laws in the Golden State Summary: Vagrancy laws conjure up a distant past when authorities punished people without a home or permanent residence. Whether the objects of pity or scorn, vagrants could be cited or jailed under laws selectively enforced against anyone deemed undesirable. Although such laws have generally been struck down by courts as unconstitutionally vague, today's "vagrants" are homeless people, who face growing harassment and punishment for their presence in public. More than one in five homeless people in the country lives in California, and two-thirds are unsheltered. The state legislature has done little to respond to this widespread problem, forcing municipal governments to address homelessness with local laws and resources. Cities have responded by enacting and enforcing new vagrancy laws - a wide range of municipal codes that target or disproportionately impact homeless people. Through extensive archival research and case studies of several cities, the report presents detailed evidence of the growing enactment and enforcement of municipal anti-homeless laws in recent decades as cities engage in a race to the bottom to push out homeless people. It concludes with a call for a state-level solution to end the expensive and inhumane treatment of some of California's most vulnerable residents. Details: Berkeley, CA: University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, 2015. 53p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 18, 2015 at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2558944 Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2558944 Shelf Number: 134645 Keywords: Homeless Persons Homelessness (California)Vagrancy |
Author: Mabudusha, Sekgologo Angel Title: The Policing of Illegal Squatting in the Greenbelts within Weltevreden Park Area Summary: After South Africa's democratisation in 1994, the areas which had been deemed "only for whites" within the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality (CoJ) were opened to all citizens. These changes attracted a high in-migration of people seeking better living in the CoJ. This influx not only challenged the provision of employment but also impacted negatively on the availability of land and housing and on the maintenance of safety and security by the police. Lack of accommodation forced immigrants to squat in the open spaces (including in the greenbelts) within the CoJ. A literature review provided an understanding of this problem locally and internationally. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with the affected stakeholders. The findings showed that the measures needed to combat the causes of illegal squatting are beyond police control. The involvement of departments such as Human Development, Labour, Home Affairs and Environmental Management is needed for a successful solution to the problem Details: Pretoria: University of South Africa, 2010. 137p. Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed May 16, 2015 at: http://oatd.org/oatd/record?record=handle%5C%3A10500%5C%2F3458 Year: 2010 Country: South Africa URL: http://oatd.org/oatd/record?record=handle%5C%3A10500%5C%2F3458 Shelf Number: 135679 Keywords: Homeless PersonsIllegal SquattersImmigrantsNuisance Behaviors and Disorder |
Author: Lurie, Kaya Title: Discrimination at the Margins: The Intersectionality of Homelessness & Other Marginalized Groups Summary: This brief addresses the intersectionality of homelessness and other marginalized groups. It examines six marginalized groups: racial minorities, women, individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, transgender, queer, or questioning (LGBTQ), individuals with a mental disability, incarcerated individuals, and veterans. The brief presents national and Washington State statistics to show how these six marginalized groups are represented in the homeless population compared to the general population. Moreover, it presents some of the causes of homelessness for these marginalized groups. This policy brief is particularly important to homeless rights advocacy because it humanizes the homeless population by outlining who is homeless and why. Categorizing a diverse group of people as "homeless" blanches this diversity by presenting these people as a homogenous group. Homogenizing the people who are homeless facilitates their dehumanization, erasing not only their diverse identities, but also obscuring the diverse causes of their homelessness. Homogenization also encourages erroneous negative stereotypes, assumptions, and prejudices. This brief unveils the diverse identities and causes of homelessness. This unveiling reveals that marginalized groups are disproportionately represented in the homeless population, and are therefore, disproportionately targeted by the ordinances that criminalize homelessness. Moreover, these criminalization laws are evidence of systemic and insidious discrimination of many marginalized groups. Because society has already rejected laws that discriminatorily target many of these same marginalized groups, the results of this study should compel society to re-examine the impact of laws that criminalize homelessness. Ultimately, this brief argues that laws that criminalize homelessness should be rejected because they are discriminatory. Details: Seattle, WA: Seattle University School of Law, Homeless Rights Advocacy Project, 2015. 75p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 19, 2015 at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2602532 Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2602532 Shelf Number: 135711 Keywords: CriminalizationDiscriminationHomeless PersonsHomelessnessPovertyPublic Space |
Author: Ortiz, Javier Title: The Wrong Side of History: A Comparison of Modern and Historical Criminalization Laws Summary: Like many other cities throughout the country, Washington's homeless population is being targeted through ordinances infused with a historical spirit of control and discrimination. The policy brief looks at the history of criminalization laws by focusing on historical criminalization laws and how they paved a way for current anti-homeless ordinances. The policy brief reveals that the spirit of historical criminalization laws is present in anti-homeless ordinances today. Since these historical laws have been repealed and overturned, so should anti-homeless ordinances that share the same spirit of control, exclusion, and discrimination. The brief focuses on five historical laws and modern anti-homeless ordinances through case studies: Vagrancy; Anti-Okie, Jim Crow, Ugly, and Sundown Town laws. Each section discusses the impetus for each law and the effect it had on targeted individuals. Next, the brief examines specific language from these laws and how they were applied - and ultimately, how they were overturned by judges, legislatures, and public opinion. The brief then shifts focus to three case studies of modern anti-homeless ordinances. This comparison reveals that modern anti-homeless ordinances share much of the same form, phrasing, and function as historical laws that banned African-Americans from attending public school with white Americans; that banned Midwesterners from entering Western states during the Great Depression; and that banned people with physical disabilities from residing in certain cities. And yet, anti-homeless ordinances are just contemporary expressions of the same impulse to marginalize already marginalized people. Ultimately, this brief shows that modern anti-homeless ordinances are just historically infamous laws in a new guise. Details: Seattle, WA: Seattle University School of Law, 2015. 39p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 26, 2015 at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2602533 Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2602533 Shelf Number: 135783 Keywords: CriminalizationHomeless PersonsHomelessnessPovertyPublic Space |
Author: Sarver, Christian M. Title: Evaluation of the Chronic Homeless Services and Housing (CHSH) Project Summary: National estimates indicate that 10-20% of all homeless individuals in the United States (U.S.) are chronically homeless (McCarty, 2005; United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, 2014). The 2013 Utah Homeless Point-In-Time Count identified 495 chronically homeless persons, comprising three percent of the total homeless population in the state (Wrathall, Day, Ferguson, Hernandez, Ainscough, Steadman, et al., 2013). Chronically homeless individuals often have a variety of health and social needs that must be addressed, in addition to housing, in order to improve their long-term outcomes. As part of the Point-in-Time Count/100,000 Homes Campaign, 678 homeless individuals were surveyed in Salt Lake County in January, 2013; of those, nearly half (42%) were classified as medically vulnerable, including 122 who had tri-morbid health or mental health conditions (Wrathall et al., 2013). Kraybill and Zerger (2003) found that at the service delivery level, the most effective programs for homeless persons emphasized the provision of integrated care through interdisciplinary teams typically made up of medical, mental health, substance use, and social service providers. In September of 2011, The Road Home received funding through a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) grant to develop, implement, and evaluate the Chronic Homeless Services and Housing (CHSH) project over the course of a three year period. The CHSH project was designed to fill existing gaps by providing resources and building relationships at the point of client contact, utilizing an interdisciplinary outreach team to deliver services and staying close to the client at every point during the housing process. The goal of the CHSH project is to use a Housing First approach to stably house chronically homeless individuals who have been the most challenging to engage, have a history of substance abuse and/or mental illness, and who have never been housed or who have previous, unsuccessful housing placements. The Housing First model is defined as an intervention in which housing resources are provided with no requirement or contingencies (e.g., abstinence or employment). When compared to treatment first housing programs, Housing First programs, implemented with chronically homeless persons who have co-occurring mental illness and substance abuse, are associated with higher housing rates, increased residential stability, and fewer days of homelessness (Tsemberis, Gulcur, & Nakae, 2004; Padgett, Gulcur, & Tsemberis, 2006). The CHSH project is based on a Housing First philosophy implemented in the form of a modified Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) team. This interdisciplinary service delivery model is intended to provide long-term, comprehensive medical, social, and mental health support to clients with severe mental illness in order to keep them housed and in the community. ACT teams meet daily to monitor client change and provide intensive and frequent outreach to clients (Tsembris, 2010). When compared to standard case management, chronically homeless adults with severe mental illness who receive ACT (or similar) services demonstrate better outcomes with respect to decreased homelessness, decreased severity of psychiatric symptoms, and higher self-reported quality of life (Coldwell & Bender, 2007; Gilmer, Stefancic, Eitner, Manning, & Tsembris, 2010). The combination of a Housing First philosophy and ACT-type service delivery for homeless persons who are mentally ill is associated with fewer days of homelessness and reduced contact with the criminal justice system and emergency medical services (Nelson, Aubry, & LaFrance, 2007) as well as increased residential stability and less depression and anxiety (Young, Barrett, Engelhardt, & Moore, 2014). The Road Home identified the Utah Criminal Justice Center (UCJC) as the evaluation partner of the CHSH project on the SAMHSA grant. The data collection, performance measurement, and performance assessment is comprised of two parts: (1) tracking the CHSH project's ongoing efforts to develop, expand, and implement collaborative, evidence-based services for the chronically homeless, and (2) tracking client characteristics, interventions, and outcomes. The first portion of the CHSH evaluation, addressing program implementation, has been documented extensively in previous reports (http://ucjc.utah.edu/homeless-2/chsh) and will not be discussed in the current report. The second part of the CHSH evaluation involves tracking client characteristics, interventions, and outcomes in order to answer the following research questions: 1. Who does the program serve? (Profile of clients, including demographics, homelessness, criminal history, substance abuse, mental health, treatment history, etc.) 2. What is CHSH providing to clients? (Profile of services utilized during CHSH participation, including housing, case management, substance abuse and mental health treatment, benefit enrollment (e.g., food stamps, general assistance) and support services) 3. Is CHSH succeeding? (Measures include: clients placed in housing, housing retention, enrollment in benefit programs, access to substance abuse and mental health treatment, use of emergency medical services, contact with the criminal justice system, etc.) 4. Who has the best outcomes in CHSH? (Analysis of client characteristics by program outcomes: housing placements and retention, substance abuse and mental health treatment, criminal justice contact, use of emergency medical services, etc.) 5. What barriers exist for clients who do not reach desired outcomes? (Profile of barriers that clients experience throughout enrollment in CHSH) Details: Salt Lake City: Utah Criminal Justice Center, University of Utah, 2014. 49p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 28, 2015 at: http://ucjc.utah.edu/wp-content/uploads/CHSH-Final-Report.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://ucjc.utah.edu/wp-content/uploads/CHSH-Final-Report.pdf Shelf Number: 135794 Keywords: Homeless PersonsHomelessnessHousing |
Author: Desai, Anita Title: Social Enterprise and Labour Market Integration for Individuals Exiting the Criminal Justice System: A Synthesis of Pilot Project Evaluations Summary: SLSC is pleased to present the Social Enterprise and Labour Market Integration for Individuals Exiting the Criminal Justice System: A Synthesis of Pilot Project Evaluations report. The objective of this report is to develop a synthesis of the findings of the 2013-14 evaluations of the five Federal Horizontal Pilot Projects (FHPPs) funded under the Homelessness Partnering Strategy (HPS) of Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC). On April 1, 2007, the Government of Canada introduced the HPS-Xa strategy aimed at preventing and reducing homelessness in Canada. Recognizing that homelessness is a shared responsibility, the HPS works to enhance partnerships with provincial and territorial governments and a wide range of community stakeholders to find longer-term solutions to homelessness, strengthen community capacity and build sustainability. Through work with other federal departments and agencies, the HPS explores innovative ways to prevent and reduce homelessness. The five FHPPs mentioned in this report were developed in partnership with ESDC (under the HPS), Correctional Services Canada (CSC) and Public Safety Canada. These projects aimed to explore how social enterprises can contribute to labour market integration for individuals exiting the criminal justice system who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. For the purposes of this project, social enterprises are defined as businesses owned by non-profit organizations, that are directly involved in the production and/or selling of goods and services for the blended purpose of generating income and achieving social, cultural, and/or environmental aims. Social enterprises are one more tool for non-profits to use to meet their mission to contribute to healthy communities. This definition, from the Social Enterprise Council of Canada, supports the way in which SLSC has observed social enterprise throughout the course of this research. It maintains a focus on the key components of target populations and mission, and reflects a national organization that has undertaken efforts to support the growth of social enterprises in Canada. The synthesis leverages collective knowledge on promising practices on social enterprise, especially in terms of sustainability and effectiveness, and aims to serve as a reference guide to support the creation of social enterprises to prevent and reduce homelessness. The report consists of the following components: - A synthesis of five FHPP Evaluations that addresses: key successes/challenges; lessons learned; strategies employed; and future directions; - A summary of available literature that focuses on: impacts, outcomes, sustainability challenges, and risks in relation to social enterprise and how different sub-populations i.e. mental health, criminal justice, and homelessness intersect with these topics; - A comparative analysis of how the five FHPP organizations' experiences relate to the literature findings; and, - Concluding thoughts to support policy development and knowledge dissemination activities related to social enterprise. Details: Ottawa: St. Leonard's Society of Canada, 2015. 36p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 31, 2015 at: http://www.stleonards.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/SLSC_CDHPD_Social-enterprise-and-labour-market-integration-for-individuals-exiting-the-criminal-justice-system-a-synthesis-of-pilot-project-evaluations1.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Canada URL: http://www.stleonards.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/SLSC_CDHPD_Social-enterprise-and-labour-market-integration-for-individuals-exiting-the-criminal-justice-system-a-synthesis-of-pilot-project-evaluations1.pdf Shelf Number: 136636 Keywords: Ex-Offender EmploymentHomeless PersonsHomelessnessPrisoner ReentrySocial Enterprise |
Author: Gentzler, Kari C. Title: A Stress Process Model of Arrest among Homeless Women: Exploring Risk and Protective Factors Summary: Objective: Women constitute one of the fastest-growing segments of both the homeless and incarcerated populations. In addition, homeless women tend to have higher rates of victimization, mental illness, substance use, and criminal justice system involvement compared to non-homeless women, although this body of research is becoming dated. The current study situates homeless women's involvement in the criminal justice system within the stress process model and proposes that these factors - childhood abuse, psychiatric disorders, and homelessness - act as stressors that increase their risk of arrest. In addition, social support and self-efficacy are examined as potential protective factors that may act as buffers against arrest. Method: This study utilizes data from 159 homeless women from three U.S. cities: Omaha, Nebraska, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Portland, Oregon. Results: First, rates of childhood abuse and recent arrest were examined: 75% of the women had experienced some physical, verbal, or sexual abuse during childhood and 20% of the women had been arrested in the year prior to the study. Bivariate logistic regression results indicated that childhood sexual abuse was a significant correlate of recent arrests. Next, stressors related to mental illness, substance use, and women's experiences while homeless were tested as mediators of the focal relationship. Drug dependence disorder and victimization experienced while homeless emerged as significant mediators in the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and arrest. Finally, social support and self-efficacy were explored as moderating resources. These protective factors, however, were unrelated to recent arrest and did not modify the relationship between psychiatric disorders or homelessness stressors and arrest. Conclusions: The current study supports the stress process model as a valid framework for studying risk and protective factors for arrest among homeless women. Stressors experienced early in life, such as childhood sexual abuse, give rise to stressors in other life domains and lead to maladaptive outcomes. Results of the current study provide evidence for the ongoing criminalization of mental illness and homelessness in contemporary society. Details: Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2014. 110p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed September 17, 2015 at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1032&context=sociologydiss Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1032&context=sociologydiss Shelf Number: 136804 Keywords: Child Sexual AbuseFemale OffendersHomeless PersonsMental Illness |
Author: Western Australia. Drug and Alcohol Office Title: Transitional Housing and Support Program (THASP) Evaluation Summary: In March 2011, the Economic and Expenditure Reform Committee (EERC) approved a Combined Capital Bid (CCB) by the Minister for Mental Health; Disability Services, to provide capital funding for community based housing for people with mental illness, AOD problems and disabilities. The Transitional Housing and Support Program (THASP) Phase 1 was established as a pilot, jointly implemented by Department of Housing (DoH) and the Drug and Alcohol Office (DAO). THASP Program Scope In May 2011 THASP Phase 1 commenced providing community based, independent living for people exiting residential AOD treatment programs. A key feature of the THASP program is ongoing support for clients to help with personal recovery and relapse prevention. Clients are assisted with support worker visits; counselling; integration back into the community, education, training and employment; independent living skills; and identifying suitable long term housing. Support provided in each house can vary from harm minimisation, reduced use and ongoing abstinence (with the possible exception of prescription medication or tobacco). The houses are either sole use, shared with other participants or with the client's family. Houses can include mixed cohorts or programs for specific populations, such as mixed gender, women with children, youth or Aboriginal people and families. The houses are primarily available for 3-6 months however some cases may warrant longer term (up to 12 months). Clients can include those with severe and long-term problematic use of alcohol and other drugs, a history of unsuccessful treatment, home or social environment unsupportive of treatment and/or clients who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. It was expected that THASP would achieve the following: - positive outcomes for clients and their families accessing the services; - an increase in number of people exiting residential rehabilitation services and successfully transitioning into independent living; and - a reduction in the number of people exiting residential rehabilitation into homelessness. Evaluation Scope Data collection for the THASP evaluation commenced in March 2013 and was completed by 30 August 2013. Within scope were 15 THASP houses allocated to 8 residential treatment support providers. From commencement of THASP to 30 August 2013, 35 clients resided in a THASP house with an average length of stay of 6 months. The key evaluation objectives were to determine: - program outputs - short-term program outcomes - process issues and what could be improved, including: -- Impact on residential treatment services as support providers -- Impact on the local community and other external stakeholders Not within the initial scope was a review of efficiency, effectiveness and cost effectiveness. However, based on the data collection for the objectives listed above, a basic analysis was conducted and reported on in the Discussion section of this paper. Details: Mount Lawley, WA, AUS: Western Australian Drug and Alcohol Office, 2013. 57p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 6, 2015 at: http://www.dao.health.wa.gov.au/DesktopModules/Bring2mind/DMX/Download.aspx?EntryId=951&Command=Core_Download&PortalId=0&TabId=211 Year: 2015 Country: Australia URL: http://www.dao.health.wa.gov.au/DesktopModules/Bring2mind/DMX/Download.aspx?EntryId=951&Command=Core_Download&PortalId=0&TabId=211 Shelf Number: 137205 Keywords: Alcohol AbuseDrug OffendersHomeless PersonsHousingMentally IllReentryTreatment Programs |
Author: Roe-Sepowitz, Dominique Title: YES Project. Youth Experiences Survey: Exploring the Sex Trafficking Experiences of Arizona's Homeless and Runaway Young Adults Summary: This study investigated the prevalence of sex trafficking experiences among homeless young adults ages 18-25 years old who received services from homeless programs in Arizona during July 2014. The purpose of this study was to explore the unique experiences and challenges facing sex trafficked homeless young adults compared to non-sex trafficked homeless young adults. Surveys were completed by 246 homeless youth receiving services from young adult serving organizations in Arizona including: Tumbleweed Youth Services (Phoenix), One-n-Ten (Phoenix), and Our Family (Tucson). Findings revealed 25.6% of the participants reported a history of sex trafficking, 21.8% of the male participants and 24.5% of the female participants. LGBTQ young adults were significantly more likely to report sex trafficking experiences (33, 38.4%) than heterosexual young adults (23, 19.7%). The sex trafficked young adults were found to significantly differ from the non-sex trafficked participants with higher rates of self harm, history of suicide attempt, addictions to drugs and alcohol, history of dating violence, childhood sexual abuse, and medical and mental health problems. Implications from these findings indicate that as many as one in four homeless young adults in Arizona has experienced sexual exploitation through a commercial sex trafficking situation, with 65.1% reporting having a sex trafficker. These findings also demonstrate that sex trafficking is experienced by both male and female homeless young adults and is significantly more likely to be reported by youth who identify as LGBTQ. Details: Tempe: Arizona State University, School of Social Work, Office of Sex Trafficking Intervention Research, 2014. 32p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 10, 2016 at: http://trustaz.org/downloads/rr-stir-youth-experiences-survey-report-nov-2014.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://trustaz.org/downloads/rr-stir-youth-experiences-survey-report-nov-2014.pdf Shelf Number: 137832 Keywords: Homeless PersonsHuman TraffickingJuvenile ProstitutionRunawaysSex TraffickingYoung Adults |
Author: Schaffner, Laurie Title: Experiences of Youth in the Sex Trade in Chicago: Issues in Youth Poverty and Homelessness Summary: This study of youth engaged in the sex trade in Chicago, Ill. included interviews with over 200 young people, ages 13-24. The sample was composed of a considerable number of males - 47%, the highest percentage of male interviewees from any of the sites in the larger study. An additional 11% were trans female. The research team divided the city into three distinct sections and recruited participants from those areas: Northside, which they found to be a relatively "safe" neighborhood for young, African-American trans females and gay males; Southside, whose interview participants tended to be networked to those on the Northside (despite notable differences in neighborhood context); and Westside, where the team found there to be more pimps and adults controlling and monitoring the streets. Details: New York: Center for Court Innovation, 2016. 53p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 11, 2016 at: http://www.courtinnovation.org/sites/default/files/documents/Chicago_0.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: http://www.courtinnovation.org/sites/default/files/documents/Chicago_0.pdf Shelf Number: 138996 Keywords: Homeless PersonsHomelessnessJuvenile ProstitutionJuvenile Sexual ExploitationPoverty |
Author: University of California School of Law - Berkeley. Policy Advocacy Clinic Title: California's New Vagrancy Laws: The Growing Enactment and Enforcement of Anti - Homeless Laws in the Golden State Summary: Executive Summary More than one in five people who are homeless in the United States live in California, and two - thirds of all people experiencing homelessness in California are unsheltered. Although homelessness exists statewide - exacerbated by decades of deep cuts to federal a nd state funding for affordable housing and by rising inequality - it is managed mostly at the local l evel. The state legislature has been slow to respond to this widespread problem, forcing municipal governments to address homelessness often with l imited resources. While some local governments have invested in social services, shelters , and supportive housing, cities have also responded by enacting and enforcing a wide range of anti - homeless laws - municipal codes that target or disproportionately impact people experiencing homelessness . Fortunately , t he conversation about homelessness has begun to shift in California. In the past year, San Francisco announced plans to create and fund a new Department on Homelessness and Supportive Housing. Oakland, Berkeley and San Jose each declared a shelter crisis . A nd Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti asked the Governor to declare a homeless state of emergency . 2 When Mayor Garcetti held a press conference on the city's homeless crisis in late 2015, Los Angeles Councilmember Jose Huizar explained : Unless we change our approach, this crisis will continue to worsen.... This approach to homelessness has failed. We can't ignore the problem, and we can't arrest our way out of it. W hile t his shift in rhetoric is a notable development, evidence suggests that California cities continue to pursue inhumane , ineffec tive , and costly policies that criminaliz e homeless people. This report update s our 2015 study on the enactment and enforcement of anti - homeless laws in California with new ordinance data from cities and updated arrest data from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program. We find that California cities are enact ing and enforc ing anti - homeless laws in record numbers. In contrast with historical post - recession trends , arrests of people who are homeless continue to rise in spite of an improving economy. Further, cities appear to be arresting people increasingly based on their homeless status as opposed t o any concrete unlawful behavior. Details: Berkeley, CA: Policy Advocacy Clinic, 2016. 13p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 3, 2016 at: http://wraphome.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/NVL-Update-2016_Final.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: http://wraphome.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/NVL-Update-2016_Final.pdf Shelf Number: 140147 Keywords: Homeless PersonsHomelessnessVagrancy LawsVagrants |
Author: Burwick, Andrew Title: Identifying and Serving LGBTQ Youth: Case Studies of Runaway and Homeless Youth Program Grantees Summary: Mathematica and our partners at the Williams Institute recently conducted a series of case studies of four local agencies receiving grants from the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Runaway and Homeless Youth Program, focusing on services for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth. Researchers learned about agencies' experiences collecting and using data on sexual orientation and gender identity, strategies for understanding and addressing the needs of LGBTQ youth, and potential areas for future research. The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in collaboration with the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation in ACF, sponsored the case studies. Details: Princeton, NJ: Mathematica Policy Research, 2014. 52p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 26, 2016 at: http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/research/safe-schools-and-youth/identifying-and-serving-lgbtq-youth-case-studies-of-runaway-and-homeless-youth-grantees/ Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/research/safe-schools-and-youth/identifying-and-serving-lgbtq-youth-case-studies-of-runaway-and-homeless-youth-grantees/ Shelf Number: 132001 Keywords: Homeless PersonsHomeless YouthLGBTQ YouthRunaways |
Author: Fernandes-Alcantara, Adrienne L. Title: Runaway and Homeless Youth: Demographics and Programs Summary: This report discusses runaway and homeless youth, and the federal response to support this population. There is no single definition of the terms "runaway youth" or "homeless youth." However, both groups of youth share the risk of not having adequate shelter and other provisions, and may engage in harmful behaviors while away from a permanent home. These two groups also include "thrownaway" youth who are asked to leave their homes, and may include other vulnerable youth populations, such as current and former foster youth and youth with mental health or other issues. The term "unaccompanied youth" encompasses both runaways and homeless youth, and is used in national data counts of the population. Youth most often cite family conflict as the major reason for their homelessness or episodes of running away. A youth's sexual orientation, sexual activity, pregnancy, school problems, and alcohol and drug use are strong predictors of family discord. The precise number of homeless and runaway youth is unknown due to their residential mobility and overlap among the populations. Determining the number of these youth is further complicated by the lack of a standardized methodology for counting the population and inconsistent definitions of what it means to be homeless or a runaway. Estimates of the homeless youth exceed 1 million. Estimates of runaway youth - including "thrownaway" youth (youth asked or forced to leave their homes)—are between 1 million and 1.7 million in a given year. From the early 20th century through the 1960s, the needs of runaway and homeless youth were handled locally through the child welfare agency, juvenile justice courts, or both. The 1970s marked a shift toward federal oversight of programs that help youth who had run afoul of the law, including those who committed status offenses (i.e., running away). Congress passed the Runaway Youth Act of 1974 as Title III of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (P.L. 93-415) to assist runaways through services specifically for this population. The federal Runaway and Homeless Youth Program (RHYP) has since been expanded through reauthorization laws enacted approximately every five years since the 1970s, most recently by the Reconnecting Homeless Youth Act (P.L. 110-378) in 2008. Funding authorization expired in FY2013, and Congress has continued to appropriate funding for the act: $119.1 million was appropriated for FY2016. The Runaway and Homeless Youth program is made up of three components: the Basic Center Program (BCP), Transitional Living Program (TLP), and Street Outreach Program (SOP). The Basic Center Program provides temporary shelter, counseling, and after care services to runaway and homeless youth under age 18 and their families. The BCP has served approximately 31,000 to 36,000 annually in recent years. The Transitional Living Program is targeted to older youth ages 16 through 22 (and sometimes an older age), and has served approximately 3,000 to 3,500 youth annually in recent years. Youth who use the TLP receive longer-term housing with supportive services. The SOP provides education, treatment, counseling, and referrals for runaway, homeless, and street youth who have been subjected to or are at risk of being subjected to sexual abuse, sex exploitation, and trafficking. Each year, the SOP makes hundreds of thousands of contacts with street youth (some of whom have multiple contacts). Related services authorized by the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act include a national communication system to facilitate communication between service providers, runaway youth, and their families; training and technical support for grantees; and evaluations of the programs, among other activities. The 2008 reauthorizing legislation expanded the program, requiring HHS to conduct an incidence and prevalence study of runaway and homeless youth. To date, this study has not been conducted; however, efforts are underway among multiple federal agencies to collect better information on these youth as part of a larger strategy to end youth homelessness by 2020. Details: Washington, DC: Congressional Research Services, 2016. 40p. Source: Internet Resource: CRS Report RL33785: Accessed September 26, 2016 at: https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL33785.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL33785.pdf Shelf Number: 146141 Keywords: Homeless PersonsHomeless YouthHomelessnessRunawaysStatus Offenders |
Author: Stoops, Michael, ed. Title: Vulnerable to Hate: A survey of hate crimes and violence committed against homeless people in 2013 Summary: In the past 15 years (1999-2013), the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH) has documented 1,437 acts of violence against homeless individuals by housed perpetrators. These crimes are believed to have been motivated by the perpetrators' biases against homeless individuals or by their ability to target homeless people with relative ease. VULNERABLE TO HATE: A Survey of Hate Crimes Committed against the Homeless in 2013 is the 15th annual report documenting violence against people experiencing homelessness, including an array of atrocities from murder to beatings, rapes, and even mutilation. NCH found startling data in the number and severity of attacks. However, the reports also acknowledge that, since the homeless community is treated so poorly in our society, many more attacks go unreported. Hate crimes against the homeless community are part of an issue that is in growing need of public attention. Over the last 15 years, NCH has determined the following: • 1,437 reported acts of violence have been committed against homeless individuals • 375 of the victims have lost their lives as a result of the attacks • Reported violence has occurred in 47 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, DC • Perpetrators of these attacks were generally male and under the age 30; most commonly they were teenage boys. Specifically, in 2013: • 85% of all perpetrators were under the age of 30 • 93% of all perpetrators were male • 65% of all victims were 40 years old or older • 90% of all victims were male • 18% of the attacks resulted in death VULNERABLE TO HATE: A Survey of Hate Crimes Committed against the Homeless in 2013 documents the known cases of violence against individuals experiencing homelessness by housed individuals in 2013. The report includes descriptions of the cases, current and pending legislation that would help protect homeless people, and recommendations for advocates to help prevent violence against homeless individuals. Details: Washington, DC: National Coalition for the Homeless, 2014. 56p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 1, 2016 at: http://nationalhomeless.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Hate-Crimes-2013-1.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://nationalhomeless.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Hate-Crimes-2013-1.pdf Shelf Number: 145783 Keywords: Bias-Related CrimesHate CrimesHomeless PersonsHomelessness |
Author: Frankel, Allison Title: "Forced into breaking the Law": The Criminalization of Homelessness in Connecticut Summary: The report examines how Connecticut’s homeless residents face the threat of criminal sanctions for simply existing. The report also documents how Connecticut city ordinances, such as those prohibiting loitering, panhandling, and sleeping in public, punish people for performing necessary, life-sustaining functions, which effectively criminalizes homelessness itself. It further outlines how the criminalization of homelessness violates state, federal, and international law. The release of the report coincides with National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week and the launch of the national "Housing Not Handcuffs" campaign, organized by National Coalition for the Homeless and the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, which aims to end the criminalization of homelessness. The criminal justice system often escalates and results in a downward spiral, students said. If people are too poor to pay their fine, they must contest the ticket in court. But those interviewed for the report faced high barriers to showing up on their court date. For instance, many people never received notice of their court dates because they did not have an address or lacked transportation to get to court. Failure to pay the fine or go to court can result in arrest and incarceration, making it even more difficult to obtain housing and employment. In this way, the criminalization of homelessness further entrenches a cycle of homelessness, poverty, and criminalization, the report argues. Details: New Haven, CT: Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic at Yale Law School, 2016. 70p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 21, 2016 at: https://www.law.yale.edu/system/files/documents/pdf/news/criminalization_of_homelessness_report_for_web_full_report.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: https://www.law.yale.edu/system/files/documents/pdf/news/criminalization_of_homelessness_report_for_web_full_report.pdf Shelf Number: 140217 Keywords: Homeless PersonsHomelessnessLoiteringPanhandlingVagrancy LawVagrants |
Author: Mungin, Douglas Title: There's a Skid Row Everywhere and This is Just the Headquarters: Impacts of Urban Revitalization Policies in the Homeless Community of Skid Row Summary: This dissertation tracks the historical shift from containment strategies for managing homeless populations in Skid Row to current strategies of using police and the penal system to periodically sweep the street of these unwanted bodies. This shift hinges on the construction of homelessness as a crisis requiring immediate and ongoing intervention. First, the state produces and reproduces homelessness as a state of crisis by withdrawing or denying support and public services and disallowing alternative, subsistence modes of survival. Then, it issues the performative utterance of the area as unclean or unsanitary. Developers and city officials mobilize the police to erase a visible presence of homeless bodies from the area. The "crisis" of homelessness, variously constructed as an issue of urban aesthetics, public health, and crime, enables public policy to be made on the fly. These policies have uniformly favored economic development at the expense of the needs of homeless persons and communities. The performative state needs the homeless to legitimate state intervention on behalf of developers. In this dissertation, I demonstrate how the racialized rhetorics of thanatology and revitalization have been used to construct homelessness as a crisis for the city in a manner that positions the homeless as threats to the life of the city. According to this rhetoric, it is cities that have economic vitality worth protecting and homeless people who act as an unwanted and degenerate economic species threatening their financial fitness, health, and well-being. I argue that the performative state produces homelessness as a material state of crisis and rhetorically constructs homelessness as a crisis legitimating intervention on the part of the state. The dissertation is organized according to the various ways in which homelessness has been constructed as a crisis warranting intervention: urban aesthetics, homelessness and practices of poverty as an eyesore (Chapter 2), public safety and crime prevention à la the broken windows theory (Chapter 3), and the economic vitality of the international city (Chapter 4). This dissertation seeks to explore the stakes across various constructions of the existence of the homeless population and their practices of poverty. Details: Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University, 2016. 250p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed March 7, 2017 at: http://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2692&context=gradschool_dissertations Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: http://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2692&context=gradschool_dissertations Shelf Number: 141370 Keywords: Homeless PersonsHomelessnessPovertySkid RowUrban Areas and Crime |
Author: Murphy, Laura T. Title: Labor and Sex Trafficking Among Homeless Youth: A Ten-City Study Summary: Human trafficking - the exploitation of a person's labor through force, fraud, or coercion - is a crime whose victims tend to be society's most vulnerable. People who are homeless, lack a support system, or are desperate for work are susceptible to the promises of people who would exploit them for labor and for sex. Recently, homeless youth providers in the United States and Canada have become aware that their clients are particularly at risk of trafficking and research has begun to uncover the extent and contours of the problem within that community. Between February 2014 and June 2016, researchers from Loyola University New Orleans's Modern Slavery Research Project (MSRP) were invited by Covenant House International and ten of their individual sites in the United States and Canada to serve as external experts to study the prevalence and nature of human trafficking among homeless youth aged 17 to 25. MSRP researchers interviewed 641 homeless and runaway youth who access services through Covenant House's network of shelters, transitional living and apartment programs, and drop-in centers. Youth were invited to participate, on a voluntary basis, in a point-in-time study about work experience. Semi-structured interviews were conducted using the Human Trafficking Interview and Assessment Measure (HTIAM-14) to assess whether youth had been trafficked for sex or labor in their lifetimes. Details: New Orleans: Loyola University New Orleans, 2017. 48p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 31, 2017 at: http://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/73f135_ca561f855f2b47519683ccf342074d6d.pdf Year: 2017 Country: United States URL: http://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/73f135_ca561f855f2b47519683ccf342074d6d.pdf Shelf Number: 146624 Keywords: Forced LaborHomeless PersonsHomelessnessHuman TraffickingModern SlaverySex Trafficking |
Author: Texas Appleseed Title: Young, Alone, and Homeless in the Lone Star State: Policy Solutions to End Youth Homelessness in Texas Summary: Texas Appleseed became interested in systemic problems that fuel youth homelessness as a result of its work on other child- and youth-focused projects. We frequently saw children and young people whose juvenile justice involvement or problems at school were the result of homelessness or housing instability. We met former foster youth who reported that they were inadequately prepared for adulthood when they aged out and, consequently, ended up on the streets for some period of time. And our fair housing work has revealed to us the difficulties that communities and families across the state struggle with caused by the lack of affordable and safe housing. Our interest led to a partnership with the Texas Network of Youth Services (TNOYS), an organization that also has a long history of advocating for young people in Texas. Their membership of service providers and partnership with the state on Youth Count Texas!, a statewide look at youth homelessness mandated by the 84th Texas Legislature, make them experts in the issue. In the summer of 2016, Texas Appleseed and TNOYS began our research for this report, assisted by pro bono partners Vinson & Elkins LLP. Our research included: - Over 100 interviews with young people who had experienced or were experiencing homelessness in Texas. - More than 50 interviews conducted by Vinson & Elkins' team of pro bono volunteers with school homeless liaisons, juvenile justice stakeholders, members of law enforcement, foster care stakeholders, and service providers. - Data requests to Texas agencies that serve youth or touch on issues related to youth homelessness. - Research around existing programs and best practices. What we discovered over the course of this research is that the issue of youth homelessness is one that is called by different names depending on the system the youth touches. If a Texas youth is on the street, is picked up by law enforcement, and is under the age of 17, she is a "runaway," a status offender who is referred to the juvenile justice system for rehabilitation. If the youth instead appears in a shelter and the shelter contacts the child welfare system, she may be deemed a victim of abuse or neglect and placed in the foster care system for protection. Thus the same youth, depending on which system she encounters first, is either a victim or an offender. If a young person is not living on the street but is "doubled up" and living with friends or relatives, whether or not she is deemed homeless depends on which system of services she tries to access. Her school would count her as homeless, entitling her to educational services and protections, but the community organization her school might refer her to for services may not, making her ineligible for their help. The same youth is in one setting "homeless" and in another is not. This is perhaps one of the clearest findings from the hours of interviews, data analysis, and exhaustive research flowing from this report: A disjointed policy and funding approach to youth who are without a home results in disjointed services. Reducing or resolving the issue of youth homelessness and improving outcomes for young people is going to require a cohesive approach that brings all child-serving systems together to provide a full continuum of services. Finding solutions is critical. Research shows that young people who encounter homelessness are at high risk of poor outcomes, including: - Educational failure. Youth experiencing homelessness are more likely to be retained a grade or drop out altogether. - Juvenile or criminal justice contact. Criminalization of homelessness and survival behavior may lead to justice system contact, which heightens the risk for ongoing homelessness. - Victimization. Youth experiencing homelessness are at high risk for becoming victims of crime, including human trafficking. - Health and mental health problems. The goal of this report is to identify multi-system policy solutions that could prevent youth homelessness or provide better interventions to ensure youth who encounter homelessness get back on their feet quickly. We hope to shed light on what C.F. asked us to consider: how policymakers and stakeholders, understanding the reality that homelessness could happen to any one of us, can better open ourselves to compassionate, caring responses that are not only better for young people but better for our communities as a whole. Details: Austin, TX: Texas Appleseed and Texas Network of Youth Services, 2017. 186p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 17, 2017 at: https://www.texasappleseed.org/sites/default/files/YoungAloneHomeless_FullReport_fin.pdf Year: 2017 Country: United States URL: https://www.texasappleseed.org/sites/default/files/YoungAloneHomeless_FullReport_fin.pdf Shelf Number: 148501 Keywords: At-Risk YouthHomeless PersonsHomelessnessRunawaysStatus Offenders |
Author: MacDonald, Denise Title: Panhandlers and Winnipeg's By-Law: Perceptions and Realities Summary: This exploratory qualitative research examines the impact of panhandling by-laws on panhandlers in downtown Winnipeg. Panhandlers' descriptions of their experiences make it clear that Winnipeg's Obstructive Solicitation By-Law and captive audience clause amendment in 2005 have affected them negatively. The by-law excludes panhandlers from the definition of community and reinforces the myth that all who beg for money in the streets are there by choice and are thus immoral and not worthwhile members of society. While attempting to protect people in Winnipeg's downtown, the by-law actually places panhandlers at further risk of violence. In addition, through the implementation mechanism of the enforcers - police, Winnipeg Cadets and Business Improvement Zone patrols - the legislation has a great impact on panhandlers' lives but this population knows little of its contents. Details: Winnipeg: University of Winnipeg, Institute of Urban Studies, 2013. 40p. Source: Internet Resource: Student Paper #29: Accessed February 9, 2018 at: http://winnspace.uwinnipeg.ca/handle/10680/578 Year: 2013 Country: Canada URL: http://winnspace.uwinnipeg.ca/handle/10680/578 Shelf Number: 149080 Keywords: Begging Homeless PersonsPanhandling |
Author: Johnsen, Sarah Title: The reconnection of rough sleepers within the UK: an evaluation Summary: Key points - Reconnection, defined in policy as 'the process by which people sleeping rough who have a connection to another area ... are supported to return to this area in a planned way' has become an increasingly prevalent feature of rough sleeping strategies in England in recent years, albeit largely in the absence of robust evidence regarding the impacts on rough sleepers. Evidence regarding reconnection outcomes is, at present, very weak. - Inter-city reconnections, that is, the reconnection of British nationals from one urban centre to another within the UK, comprise the majority of reconnections from some areas. In London, these are outnumbered by international reconnections (involving moves abroad) and intra-city reconnections (from one borough to another). This study focused on within-UK (inter-city and intra-city) reconnections only. - Reconnection is an umbrella term used to refer to a wide range of approaches, including: 'reconnection (proper)' which supports rough sleepers to return to somewhere they have an established link; 'diversion' which supports them to access services somewhere else where they do not have a connection; and 'deflection' wherein they are advised to return 'home' but are not provided with support to do so. - National guidance outlining agreed good practice exists, but implementation often deviates from this quite substantially. Resource and time pressures dictate that assessments of rough sleepers' connections and support needs are often extremely limited. Furthermore, support is in some cases intensive and tailored; but in the greater majority of cases is minimal. - In practice, connections are almost always assessed in terms of the Homelessness Code of Guidance for Local Authorities 'local connection' criteria. In some places, the last place of settled residence (where someone has lived for six out of the last 12 months or three out of the last five years) is regarded as 'trumps' and other criteria have little influence; in others weighting is given to other forms of local connection (e.g. having adult family members living in the area). - Outcomes are only recorded in a small minority of cases. The limited data available suggest that reconnection experiences and outcomes vary dramatically, from positive (e.g. accessing accommodation and re-engaging with support services) to negative (e.g. sleeping rough in the recipient area because the services offered are of poor quality or time limited). - Practitioners generally agree that reconnection is wholly appropriate and potentially beneficial in some circumstances, most notably where rough sleepers have made an unplanned move and abandoned 'live' supportive connections or services in so doing. Positive outcomes are more likely when good practice principles are adhered to, but are by no means guaranteed. - The limits and risks associated with reconnection raise significant ethical questions, especially as regards: denial of services to rough sleepers with no recognised local connection anywhere in the UK; uncertainty regarding the legitimacy and/or severity of risk to rough sleepers in recipient areas (especially when no proof in the form of police records exist); inadequate service responses in some recipient areas; and the fragility or lack of support networks in recipient areas. - These ethical dilemmas are most acute when reconnection is employed as a 'single service offer', wherein rough sleepers who refuse to comply are denied access to homelessness services in the identifying area. - These issues are profoundly important given indications that some local authorities are beginning to regard all single homeless people (not just rough sleepers) as potential reconnection cases and/or are tightening local connection criteria. If such trends are indicative of a more widespread 'raising of drawbridges' under localism it may become increasingly difficult for single homeless people to provide evidence of connections and access services. Details: London: Crisis, 2015. 88p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 19, 2018 at: https://www.crisis.org.uk/media/237144/the_reconnection_of_rough_sleepers_within_the_uk_an-_evaluation_2015.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://www.crisis.org.uk/media/237144/the_reconnection_of_rough_sleepers_within_the_uk_an-_evaluation_2015.pdf Shelf Number: 149510 Keywords: Anti-Social Behavior Homeless Persons Homelessness Nuisance Behaviors and DisorderRough Sleepers |
Author: Worwood, Erin B. Title: Evaluation of the Homeless Outreach Service Team (HOST) Program Summary: According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 610,042 people were homeless in the United States on a single night in January 2013 (HUD 2013). In Utah, state officials estimate that 15,093 individuals were homeless in January 2013, a 9.5 percent decrease from the previous year (Wrathall et al. 2013). When individuals experiencing homelessness lack the resources to gain adequate housing and key behavioral and support systems, they occupy public places that often create conflict with other community members. Communities may perceive homeless individuals to be a threat to community safety or a disruption to the functioning of businesses and public spaces. As a result, many communities have turned to their local law enforcement agencies and criminal justice systems to address these issues (NCH and NLCHP 2006). Law enforcement policies typically respond to such problems by restricting where homeless individuals can congregate and issuing citations for misdemeanor offenses and infractions that are specific to their status as homeless (e.g., public intoxication, urination in public, open container, trespassing, jaywalking) (American Bar Association 2006; U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness 2012; NCH and NLCHP 2006). The homeless gain entry into the criminal justice system when they are cited for misdemeanor offenses or infractions, fail to appear in court, or are booked into the jail on a court-ordered warrant (J. Baxter, pers. comm., September 10, 2012). Unfortunately, reliance on the criminal justice system as a means of managing homeless populations places an expensive burden on a system that is not equipped to address the underlying issues contributing to homelessness (Roman and Travis 2004). Salt Lake City's Homeless Outreach Service Team (HOST) program was developed in April 2011 as a collaborative effort between law enforcement and homeless service providers to disrupt this cycle and address the underlying issues of homelessness (M. Ross, pers. comm., October 2, 2012). The original purpose of the HOST program was to bring Salt Lake City police officers and community outreach workers together to identify homeless individuals who frequently panhandle or engage in other types of public nuisance activities in downtown Salt Lake City and to connect them to community resources. The main objectives of this program were to (1) encourage police to make referrals to services rather than issue citations to the homeless and (2) decrease the prevalence of panhandling by encouraging the public to give money to homeless service providers rather than directly to panhandlers. In 2012, the Salt Lake City (Utah) Police Department (SLCPD) received an award from the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) to expand the HOST program. The goals of the COPS Office HOST award were to fund a public awareness campaign, coordinate strategic planning efforts, and recruit and train formerly homeless individuals as volunteers to assist with outreach efforts. Salt Lake City has contracted with the Utah Criminal Justice Center (UCJC) to examine the impact of the award on services offered and the perceptions, roles, and responsibilities of personnel and key stakeholders involved with the HOST program. This report covers the three primary components of the HOST program: donations to homeless service providers, the homeless support group, and collaborative street outreach. Details: Washington, DC: Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, 2016. 52p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 27, 2018 at: https://ric-zai-inc.com/Publications/cops-w0814-pub.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: https://ric-zai-inc.com/Publications/cops-w0814-pub.pdf Shelf Number: 149588 Keywords: Anti-Social behaviorCollaborationHomeless PersonsHomelessnessOutreach ServicesPanhandling |
Author: MacDonald, Sue-Ann Title: Mental Health Courts: Processes, Outcomes and Impact on Homelessness Summary: MacDonald et al. examined the impact of a Mental Health Court (MHC) on preventing and reducing homelessness for those with mental health issues. In particular, using the MHC in Montreal as a case study, which is officially known as the Programme d'accompagnement Justice - Sante mentale (PAJ-SM), the project provided a profile of participants and assessed how the court functions to address their mental health and homelessness challenges. Despite the growing interest in adopting mental health courts, there are relatively few studies conducted on the topic. The report provides an opportunity to fill that knowledge gap and provides information to support the adoption of promising practices by MHCs across Canada. Details: Montreal: University of Montreal, 2014. 57p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 28, 2018 at: http://www.homelesshub.ca/sites/default/files/HKDFinalReport_2014.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Canada URL: http://www.homelesshub.ca/sites/default/files/HKDFinalReport_2014.pdf Shelf Number: 149598 Keywords: Homeless PersonsHomelessnessMental Health CourtsMental Health TreatmentMentally Ill OffendersProblem-Solving Courts |
Author: Hardy, Steven Title: Street involved drug use, social dynamics and interactions with police in Ottawa Summary: Homeless populations are frequently associated with drug consumption. Drug use by homeless people is more visible leading to the assumption that homeless or street involved populations use drugs more frequently or differently than other segments of the population. In this paper, I challenge this idea and consider how homeless and street involved populations consume drugs and how they understand their drug consumption. In 15 semi-structured, open-ended interviews I explored how homeless and street involved men consume drugs and how they view their drug use. Their drug use is within the broader societal context that impacts their understandings and views of drug consumption. Using Peta Malins' definition of the "junkie", I explore the impact of this idea on how drugs are consumed by homeless and street involved populations. Drawing on the idea of subjectivities, this paper looks at how these individuals understand what it means to be a "junkie" and how they understand their own drug consumption in response. Police have an impact on the daily lives of street involved drug users. This paper explores how police interact with street involved drug users and how street involved drug users understand these interactions. Finally, I consider how the "junkie" subjectivity impacts interactions between street involved users and police. Details: Ottawa: Carleton University, 2017. 139p. Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed April 26, 2018 at: https://curve.carleton.ca/system/files/etd/24a686ce-eeb5-491c-a514-93574703aabb/etd_pdf/7a795ab822b8c41077f62cb17b54ddc3/hardy-streetinvolveddrugusesocialdynamicsandinteractions.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Canada URL: https://curve.carleton.ca/system/files/etd/24a686ce-eeb5-491c-a514-93574703aabb/etd_pdf/7a795ab822b8c41077f62cb17b54ddc3/hardy-streetinvolveddrugusesocialdynamicsandinteractions.pdf Shelf Number: 149900 Keywords: Drug Abuse and AddictionDrug OffendersHomeless PersonsPolice-Citizen Interactions |
Author: Willis, Matthew Title: Supported housing for prisoners returning to the community: A review of the literature Summary: Commissioned by Corrections Victoria to inform its future strategies for delivering housing support strategies to people leaving the prison system, this report presents literature that builds on two earlier reviews conducted in 2010 and 2013. Those earlier reviews identified a range of models and approaches to delivering housing support that embodied the key elements of good and promising practice. Since 2013, new literature has become available that builds on this evidence base-reasserting some of the earlier findings, adding clarity to others, and introducing new considerations. Several recent studies have reinforced the need for housing support for people leaving prison. Interviews with police detainees show nearly a quarter were homeless or experienced housing stress in the month before arrest. A study by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute emphasized the role of demographic factors in contributing to homelessness, with 42 percent of homeless people found in just 10 percent of Australian regions. The demographic factors that contribute to homelessness tend to be the same as those that contribute to engagement with the criminal justice system, and there are substantial crossovers between homeless and correctional populations. Other recent studies have highlighted the value of meeting the need for housing support. Studies conducted in the United Kingdom (UK) have shown that the costs of even resourceintensive housing support are substantially less than the costs of imprisonment and the harms that result from reoffending. Other studies have reinforced earlier findings on the association between housing stability and reduced recidivism, with former prisoners in stable housing much less likely to reoffend than those who are homeless or in unstable accommodation. While research has shown that all of the elements used in aftercare programs for ex-prisoners have the potential to be effective, including housing components-together with other aftercare support-enhanced an ex-prisoner's chances of successfully reintegrating into the community. Consistent with the risk principle of correctional programming, housing services produced the most effective outcomes for medium- and high-risk offenders in terms of reduced offending and order revocations. Despite the demonstrated need for, and value of, providing housing support to released prisoners, recent evidence suggests the community is resistant to establishing transitional or other supported housing. A United States (US) survey of attitudes towards re-entry initiatives found a moderate degree of public support for the provision of housing support to offenders. Details: Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology, 2018. 51p. Source: Internet Resource: Research Report 07: Accessed May 7, 2018 at: https://aic.gov.au/publications/rr/rr7 Year: 2018 Country: Australia URL: https://aic.gov.au/publications/rr/rr7 Shelf Number: 150069 Keywords: Homeless PersonsHousingPrisoner Reentry |
Author: Ruan, Nantiya Title: Too High a Price: What Criminalizing Homelessness Costs Colorado Summary: Like most of America, Colorado faces a homeless epidemic. Amidst a stark rise in housing costs and equally sharp drop in available affordable housing, Colorado's cities struggle to address the overwhelming needs of its homeless residents. While professing a dedication to eliminating homelessness through homeless and poverty services, state actors continue to write, pass, and enforce local ordinances that criminalize life-sustaining behaviors. Laws that criminalize panhandling, begging, camping, sitting or lying in public, and vagrancy target and disproportionately impact residents that are homeless for activities they must perform in the course of daily living. This Report examines how laws criminalizing homeless people for being homeless have become widespread in Colorado. Through a comprehensive analysis of the enforcement of anti-homeless laws, this Report also examines the cost-economic and social-anti-homeless laws impose upon all Colorado citizens. In the process of examining trends across branches of government and across the state, we found similarities between the constitutional challenges to anti-homeless laws and other discriminatory legal frameworks that criminalized people for their identities or statuses. Ordinances punishing people without homes for behaviors necessary to their daily lived existence will soon become another chapter in a shameful history of invalidated laws, such as Anti-Okie Laws, Jim Crow Laws, "Ugly Laws," and Sundown Laws. Federal courts have begun to recognize the dubious constitutionality of anti-homeless laws, and, in turn, municipalities like Denver and Boulder have begun re-examining how they enforce anti-homeless ordinances. But the data still reveal a trend: a startling high number of ordinances enforced at an alarming rate which comes with a high price tag for Colorado. To analyze statewide trends, we identified 76 cities in Colorado based on population and geographic diversity, which represent roughly 70% of the state's population. We surveyed these 76 municipal codes and identified numerous anti-homeless ordinances that target those without homes, such as: sitting, sleeping, lying, or storing belongings in public prohibitions; restrictions on begging or panhandling; camping bans; loitering and vagrancy prohibitions; and trespass, park closure, and sanitation laws. Based on this research, we have come to following conclusions: - Colorado's 76 largest cities have 351 anti-homeless ordinances; - Cities criminalize homelessness in a variety of ways; - Adopted ordinances inspire similar ordinances in other municipalities; and - Ordinances lack clarity and obstruct government transparency and accountability From the 76 surveyed cities, we selected 23 cities for more in-depth research using Open Records Requests to examine how anti-homeless ordinances are enforced. We found: - Cities issue citations to homeless residents at a staggering rate. For example, 30% of all citations that Grand Junction issued are pursuant to an anti-homeless ordinance. Fort Collins issues citations to homeless individuals at the rate of two citations per homeless resident per year. Colorado Springs has doubled the rate at which they enforce anti-homeless ordinances between 2010 and 2014. - Many cities aggressively target homeless residents for panhandling and for trespassing. Fewer than half of the cities surveyed have restrictions on begging or panhandling, yet Denver arrested nearly 300 homeless individuals in 2014 for panhandling. Between 2013 and 2014, Denver issued over 2,000 trespass citations to homeless individuals. This represents more than half of all trespass citations in the city even though homeless residents are only 0.05% of the population. - Some cities use camping bans to target homeless residents. Boulder stands out in issuing camping ban citations by issuing 1,767 between 2010 and 2014-as compared with Denver, which issued fifteen in the same time frame, or Durango, which issued zero. Boulder issued camping ban citations at a rate of two citations per homeless resident. Eighty-seven percent of Boulder's camping citations were issued to homeless residents. - Several cities fail to track how anti-homeless citations are enforced against individuals who are homeless-this includes Durango, Pueblo, Colorado Springs, and Aurora. Because most cities also do not track "move on" orders, the data provided by the cities do not address how these widely used policing tactics impact homeless residents' lives. - Cities do not provide sufficient services for their homeless populations. For example, Fort Collins provides 118 shelter beds for over 400 homeless residents. On its best night, Boulder provides 280 beds for 440 homeless residents. Some cities, like Grand Junction, have limited services and publicize their attempts to deter people who are homeless from coming to their city. A major contribution of Too High A Price is that it comprehensively analyzes the cost of anti-homeless ordinances by calculating the cost of policing, adjudication, and incarceration. By studying the enforcement of five anti-homeless ordinances in Denver, we found that in 2014 alone, Denver spent nearly three-quarters of a million dollars ($750,000.00) enforcing these ordinances. We estimate that just six Colorado cities spent a minimum of five million dollars ($5,000,000.00) enforcing fourteen anti-homeless ordinances over a five-year period. For reasons discussed in the report, this number is significantly under-inclusive. Reducing or eliminating anti-homeless ordinances would achieve governmental goals of reducing ineffective spending; expanding efficient homelessness services and prevention; and reducing collateral consequences and implicit social costs associated with criminalizing homelessness. Too High A Price also includes seven separate City Spotlight Reports that takes a deeper dive into the criminalization of homelessness in the cities of Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs, Durango, Fort Collins, Grand Junction, and Pueblo. With these case studies, this Report also shows that judicial action alone is not enough to stop the unconstitutional criminalization of homeless people. Despite recent court decisions invalidating panhandling ordinances as unconstitutional, Colorado cities enforce other more facially-neutral ordinances in a way that disparately impacts homeless people. Because so many cities have such ordinances, the Colorado state legislature must step in and enact legislation that establishes affirmative rights for homeless individuals at the state level. The Right to Rest Act, Colorado House Bill HB-16-1191, introduced by Representatives Salazar and Melton in February 2016, will help combat the disparate impact of these ordinances in Colorado's communities. Details: Denver: University of Denver Sturm College of Law, 2016. 60p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 9, 2018 at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3169929 Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3169929 Shelf Number: 150125 Keywords: BeggingHomeless PersonsHomelessnessLoiteringPanhandlingVagrants |
Author: Ruan, Nantiya Title: Too High a Price 2: Move on to Where? Summary: Over two years have passed since the University of Denver Sturm College of Law's Homeless Advocacy Policy Project released its report, Too High a Price, detailing the tremendous expenditures Colorado cities make in an effort to criminalize homelessness. As Colorado housing costs continue to skyrocket, its homeless epidemic has grown as well. Unfortunately, state actors continue to write, pass, and enforce ordinances that criminalize some of our most basic, life-sustaining activities. Laws such as camping, sitting or lying in public, begging, and loitering disproportionately target behaviors associated with homelessness, leaving one of the state's most vulnerable populations living in fear. As a follow-up to Too High a Price, this Report details the increased efforts to criminalize homelessness in the state of Colorado. Through an examination of three of Colorado's most prominent cities, Denver, Boulder, and Colorado Springs, this Report highlights the stark rise in enforcement of anti-homeless laws, and the disproportionate and inhumane impact they have on the day-to-day lives of people experiencing homelessness. In the process of examining Colorado's ever-increasing criminalization of homelessness, we found that law enforcement frequently issues "move-on" orders to remove visible poverty from its city streets. A move-on order, also referred to as a police "street check," is a law enforcement technique used to further enforce certain ordinances, including camping bans. In lieu of issuing a citation or making an arrest, officers are directed to instruct homeless individuals, upon contact, to pack up their belongings and "move on" to somewhere else. At first glance, these move-on orders may seem like a viable alternative to outright issuing citations. However, with the extreme decline in affordable housing and the lack of emergency shelter space to accommodate Colorado's growing homeless population, these move-on orders leave homeless people with nowhere to go. Instead, they are merely pushed from one place to the next. To analyze the trends of criminalization of homelessness, we utilized Open Records Requests to obtain data detailing the enforcement of anti-homeless laws in Colorado Springs, Denver, and Boulder. This data revealed that Colorado cities have increased enforcement more than we anticipated. Furthermore, we researched the adverse effects move-on orders have on homeless populations. Based on this research and data, we came to the following conclusions: - The overall number of anti-homelessness ordinances has increased. Between Denver, Colorado Springs, and Boulder, there are at least thirty-seven ordinances that criminalize behaviors associated with people experiencing homelessness. Since Too High a Price was first released, Colorado Springs has added one new anti-homeless ordinance and Denver Law students found four additional ordinances in Denver. - Colorado Springs and Boulder have increased the number of citations issued under camping bans. In 2017, Boulder issued 376 citations under its camping ban ordinance. Of those 376 citations, an incredible 81.9% were issued to homeless individuals. Additionally, Colorado Springs increased its enforcement of its two camping bans by a staggering 545% over the span of three years. - Denver's use of move-on orders has skyrocketed at an alarming rate. In 2016 alone, Denver law enforcement made contact with over 5,000 people in move-on encounters. Denver police increased its contact with homeless individuals through the use of street checks by 475% in the span of three years. - The number of emergency shelter beds cannot accommodate Colorado's homeless population. In all three cities we surveyed, none provide enough beds to meet the needs of its homeless populations. In Colorado Springs, the number of year-round shelter space can only accommodate 38% of El Paso County's homeless population. Boulder has even fewer resources, with only enough beds for roughly 25% of its homeless population. Denver doesn't fare better, with the 2017 Point-in-Time count indicating that on a given night, nearly 1,000 homeless people sleep on the streets. - Move-on orders have overwhelming collateral consequences on homeless populations. The use of move-on orders has grave consequences on people experiencing homeless, including: pushing people to dangerous areas, pushing people farther away from vital resources, and causing adverse health effects. As homeless people are forced into the shadows, extremely harmful consequences usually follow. Beyond the lack of shelter space and affordable housing, and how criminalization makes homelessness harder to escape, the larger issue is this: why are we so uncomfortable with facing homelessness? Our parks are for everyone. Our streets are for public use. Our free speech rights allow for all citizens to ask for what they may need. We should not view visible poverty as something to be avoided at all costs-especially if that cost results in further degradation and ostracism. Despite some city officials acknowledging that issuing citations does nothing to solve the homeless crisis, our research reveals that city actors continue to criminalize homelessness. This Report concludes by offering suggested changes for Colorado cities moving forward. First, only through stopping the criminalization efforts will we begin to alleviate the vicious cycle of homelessness in Colorado. Colorado cities should repeal camping bans that merely criminalize the human necessity to sleep and rest, provide new resources to homeless populations such as twenty-four-hour restrooms, and invest in education efforts that promote the dignity of people in poverty. Trying to make homelessness invisible does nothing more than make homelessness inevitable. Details: Denver: University of Denver Sturm College of Law, Homeless Advocacy Policy Project, 2018. 47p. Source: Internet Resource: U Denver Legal Studies Research Paper No. 18-14: Accessed May 9, 2018 at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3174780 Year: 2018 Country: United States URL: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3174780 Shelf Number: 150126 Keywords: Begging Homeless Persons Homelessness HousingLoiteringPanhandling Vagrants |
Author: New York City Department of Investigation Title: Illicit Activities at Hotels Used by the Department of Homeless Services To Provide Shelter to Homeless Families with Children Summary: In early 2017 the Department of Investigation (DOI) began examining the Department of Homeless Services' (DHS) commercial hotel procurement process in connection to a complaint of illicit activities occurring at the Bronx Days Inn, a commercial hotel used by DHS to house homeless families with children. DOI's inquiry subsequently extended to the Bronx Super 8 Hotel because it is operated by the same entity as the Bronx Days Inn and is also used by DHS to house homeless families with children. During the period examined, DOI found homeless families with children to have shared the same hotel facilities as prostitution enterprises at the Bronx Days Inn and at the Bronx Super 8 Hotel. Such proximity to criminal enterprises introduces risks to an already vulnerable population, including violence associated with prostitution enterprises, and the recruitment of DHS clients into the same criminal enterprises. In the course of the investigation, DOI also examined and found that DHS did not consider criminal activity or other indicators of possible criminality at prospective hotels prior to placing families with children at the hotels. DOI recognizes that the temporary use of commercial hotel rooms is integral to DHS' strategy to end cluster sites1 and increase the number of contracted shelters, but DHS must develop and use indicators of potential criminality in its placement decisions to ensure families with children are housed safely. DOI recommends DHS enhance its hotel selection process to identify those prospective hotels that may harbor illegal and dangerous activities and implement a strategy to mitigate the risks associated with illegal and dangerous activities, including having DHS clients occupy the entire hotel when possible to lower the risk of exposure to illegal and dangerous activities, as has been done in the case of the two Bronx hotels. DHS has reviewed and accepted DOI's specific recommendations, set forth at the end of this Report. DOI notes DHS' ongoing cooperation in this matter and believes that these steps by DHS, when implemented, will significantly reduce the risks noted in this Report. As with all accepted agency recommendations, DOI will conduct a follow-up review of implementation. Details: New York: The Department, 2018. 13p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 11, 2018 at: http://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doi/reports/pdf/2018/Jan/01CommercialHotels010418wrpt_UL.pdf Year: 2018 Country: United States URL: http://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doi/reports/pdf/2018/Jan/01CommercialHotels010418wrpt_UL.pdf Shelf Number: 150161 Keywords: Homeless PersonsHotel SecurityHotels and CrimeIllicit ActivitiesProstitution |
Author: John Howard Association of Illinois Title: Punishment That Doesn't Fit the Crime: Stories of People Living on the Margins Summary: This report examines stories of marginalized individuals in relation to criminal justice systems over the course of their lives-in being stopped, searched, arrested, fined, jailed or incarcerated for low level offenses. These stories unmask the cumulative impact that criminal justice involvement, coupled with economic and racial inequalities, has on the life trajectories, happiness, and quality of life of marginalized individuals, their families and communities. Through these stories, the static and ineffective roles of many system actors became clear. Our jails and prisons have become the sole response to a myriad of system failures, including miscarriages in mental health treatment, racial and economic inequality, education, child and family welfare support, community infrastructure, housing and employment opportunities. A complex web of interrelated social failures and ills cannot be effectively cured by simply increasing the reach of police, sanctions, criminal courts, jails, and prisons over the lives of American citizens. As inequalities in the justice system are invisible, cumulative, inter-generational, and deeply concentrated in a small fraction of the population, the experiences of this population are traditionally left out of public discourse on criminal justice. In order to foster more democratic communities by continually challenging dominant narratives, we present these lived experiences as a way to rethink our common histories and public policy in light of each other's stories. Details: Chicago: John Howard Association of Illinois, 2018. 50p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 13, 2018 at: http://www.thejha.org/sites/default/files/JHA%20Report%20Punishment%20That%20Doesn%27t%20Fit%20the%20Crime%20Stories%20of%20People%20Living%20on%20the%20Margins%20Part%201.pdf Year: 2018 Country: United States URL: http://www.thejha.org/sites/default/files/JHA%20Report%20Punishment%20That%20Doesn%27t%20Fit%20the%20Crime%20Stories%20of%20People%20Living%20on%20the%20Margins%20Part%201.pdf Shelf Number: 151114 Keywords: Disadvantaged PersonsHomeless PersonsHomelessnessPovertyRacial DisparitiesVagrants |
Author: Harman, Jennifer J. Title: A Study of Homelessness in Seven Colorado Jails Summary: "A Study of Homelessness in Seven Colorado Jails" surveyed 507 inmates in jails in Arapahoe County, the City and County of Denver, El Paso County, Larimer County, Mesa County, and Pueblo County. The sites were chosen because they represent a good cross-section of jurisdictions in Colorado that experience the impacts of homeless populations. The Division of Criminal Justice commissioned Eris Enterprises to conduct the study to provide data that may help answer questions being raised by law enforcement, legislators and community members in relation to a reported increase in the homeless population in major Colorado jails and in Colorado in general. The study examined the prevalence of risk factors associated with homelessness, the types and number of crimes committed, home state origin, why non-native inmates moved to Colorado, and what services inmates need to transition out of jail. In particular, the study sought to provide insight on one frequently posed question: is Colorado seeing an increase in homeless people moving to Colorado for legal marijuana and then committing crimes? SUMMARY OF RESULTS The study found that the majority of homeless who ended up in Colorado jails moved here prior to legalization of marijuana, and most moved here to escape a problem or be with family. More than one third of the homeless who moved to Colorado after legalization in 2012 reported legal marijuana as a reason that drew them to Colorado. However, only two individuals selected legal marjiuana as the only factor that drew them to Colorado. The study also found that homeless inmates reported higher rates of mental illness and were charged with significantly fewer violent crimes but significantly more drug and trespassing crimes than non-homeless inmates. Details: Denver: ColoradoDivision of Criminal Justice, 2018. 45p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 14, 2018 at:; https://cdpsdocs.state.co.us/ors/docs/reports/2018_Jail_Homelessness_Study.pdf Year: 2018 Country: United States URL: https://cdpsdocs.state.co.us/ors/docs/reports/2018_Jail_Homelessness_Study.pdf Shelf Number: 151128 Keywords: Homeless PersonsHomelessnessHousingJail InmatesJailsLoiteringMentally Ill PersonsPanhandling Vagrants |
Author: Women's Resource Centre Title: Promising practice from the frontline: Exploring gendered approaches to supporting women experiencing homelessness and multiple disadvantage Summary: This scoping research is a collaboration between Homeless Link and the Women's Resource Centre (WRC) to explore gendered support available in England to women who experience homelessness and multiple disadvantage. Summary of key findings -- The factors that services are seeing most frequently Survey data suggests that women experiencing multiple disadvantage are presenting to a broad range of community services including those that are designed to support women with multiple disadvantage and services that are not. Over two thirds of the survey respondents (69%) reported they had seen an increase in the numbers of women with multiple disadvantage presenting to their service over the last two years. When asked to report the types of multiple disadvantage that women present to services with, the findings demonstrate that services are supporting women with a broad range of experiences: - All the survey respondents said that they 'sometimes' of 'often' support women who experience homelessness - 97% of respondents reported that they are either 'sometimes' or 'often' supporting women with experience of mental ill-health - 94% of respondents reported that they 'sometimes' or 'often' support women with problematic substance use - 93% of respondents reported that they 'sometimes' or 'often' support women who experience domestic violence. 65% of the survey respondents said that they support women with all the following either 'sometimes' or 'often': homelessness, domestic violence, sexual violence, involvement in prostitution, problematic drugs and alcohol use, mental ill health and involvement in the criminal justice system. The research also explored the way in which women experience homelessness and their journey to services: - Domestic and sexual violence as well as changes in welfare leading to an inability to cover housing costs were reported to be the main triggers for women's homelessness - To avoid violence and exploitation when sleeping rough women either stay with family and friends or resorting to using public transport or A&E waiting rooms - Women who experience domestic violence and present to the local authority were reported to often receive an inadequate response and are not deemed priority need. - When women do sleep rough, they may stay on the move all night to avoid the risks of more violence and exploitation - Traditional support provided through the homelessness pathway tends to be mixed provision which risks exposing women to further violence and exploitation. Staff rarely have the skills and experience to understand the types of support women need as a result of the continuum of violence they have experienced. Support available for homeless women who experience multiple disadvantage Of the 90 respondents to the survey, the majority (62%) were from homelessness and housing services, but a wide range of other community support projects were represented including violence and abuse support services, criminal justice support services, substance use, drop-in advice services and specialist women's services. Almost half of the services that responded to the survey (48%) reported that they were designed to work specifically with women facing multiple disadvantage, 46% reporting that they are not and 6% answered 'not sure'. 19 respondents explicitly stated that their service was a dedicated woman only organisation. Responses varied significantly in the extent to which services implement policies, practices and training to inform their support for this group of women, suggesting that services need to be strengthened to incorporate gender informed policies, practices and training. Effective support for homeless women facing multiple disadvantage Building on previous research this project identified common factors that are reported to enhance the effectiveness of support for women experiencing multiple disadvantage: - Organisational commitment to work from an understanding of women's lived experience of inequality - Service design which incorporates gendered approaches - incorporating the understanding of the impacts of VAWG and how to respond appropriately - Organisational structures: policies, staff recruitment training and support - implementing policies which embed a gendered approach, recruiting knowledgeable, empathic, compassionate and resilient staff that are trained on violence against women. Examples of promising practice where services have incorporated the elements illustrated above have been documented in a series of good practice case studies in the full report. Barriers and enablers to providing effective support The primary barriers facing services include: - A lack of strategic, gender informed funding approaches from commissioners. - Structural barriers relating to an overall lack of availability of safe, appropriate housing options. - A lack of resources resulting from widespread social care sector spending cuts, particularly for women with no recourse to public funds. - A lack of systematic evidence relating to women's homelessness which delays their access to support. As such, those providing gender informed and gender specific approaches are facing an uphill struggle in making the case for and levering in resources to do their work. Suggestions were noted that would enhance support for women: - Increasing joint commissioning approaches to encourage services to work together rather than in silos - The Housing First model adapted to work specifically with women - Specific expertise, time and resource available to advocate for migrant women to access their rights, entitlements and legal advice - Changes to how women's homelessness is categorised including the need for changes to the verification process which can miss out women who do not sleep rough and those who hide themselves whilst rough sleeping Assertive outreach models to more effectively locate, identify and engage women. Details: London: Homeless Link and Women's Resource Centre, 2019. 55p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 15, 2019 at: https://www.homeless.org.uk/sites/default/files/site-attachments/Women%27s%20research_March%2019_0.pdf Year: 2019 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://www.homeless.org.uk/sites/default/files/site-attachments/Women%27s%20research_March%2019_0.pdf Shelf Number: 154981 Keywords: Disadvantaged PersonsDomestic ViolenceGender-Based IssuesHomeless PersonsHomeless WomenHousingRough SleepingVictim ServicesViolence Against Women |