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Date: November 22, 2024 Fri
Time: 12:20 pm
Time: 12:20 pm
Results for homeless people, zero tolerance
1 results foundAuthor: United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Title: Searching Out Solutions: Constructive Alternatives to the Criminalization of Homelessness Summary: In recent years, the United States has seen the proliferation of local measures to criminalize “acts of living” laws that prohibit sleeping, eating, sitting, or panhandling in public spaces. City, town, and county officials are turning to criminalization measures in an effort to broadcast a zero-tolerance approach to street homelessness and to temporarily reduce the visibility of homelessness in their communities. Although individuals experiencing homelessness should be afforded the same dignity, compassion, and support provided to others, criminalization policies further marginalize men and women who are experiencing homelessness, fuel inflammatory attitudes, and may even unduly restrict constitutionally protected liberties. Moreover, there is ample evidence that alternatives to criminalization policies can adequately balance the needs of all parties. Community residents, government agencies, businesses, and men and women who are experiencing homelessness are better served by solutions that do not marginalize people experiencing homelessness, but rather strike at the core factors contributing to homelessness. Criminalization policies are costly and consume substantial state and local resources. In today’s economic climate, it is important for state, county, and local entities to invest in programs that work rather than spend money on activities that are unlikely to achieve the desired result and which may, in some cases, open the jurisdiction to liability. In addition to the increase in public resources used to carry out these criminalization measures, Individuals who are arrested or fined for “act of living” crimes in public spaces now have a criminal record; resulting in barriers to work, and difficulty in receiving mainstream services and housing that often bar individuals with criminal histories. These policies are a temporary solution to street homelessness and create greater barriers for these individuals to exit homelessness successfully, providing neither a permanent or sustainable solution to homelessness. The federal government has an important responsibility to provide leadership, share best practices, and provide technical support to localities in their efforts to find constructive ways of addressing the needs of individuals experiencing homelessness. Specifically, the 2009 HEARTH Act charged the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) with “develop[ing] alternatives to laws and policies that prohibit sleeping, eating, sitting, resting, or lying in public spaces when there are no suitable alternatives, result in the destruction of property belonging to people experiencing homelessness without due process, or are selectively enforced against people experiencing homelessness.” One of the strategies of Opening Doors: Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness is to reduce criminalization of homelessness by defining constructive approaches to address street homelessness and considering incentives to urge cities to adopt these practices. The alternatives to criminalization policies identified in this report have been effective in reducing and preventing homelessness in several cities around the country. These solutions can be relatively inexpensive to implement, result in overall cost-savings, and have a lasting positive impact on the quality of life for individuals experiencing homelessness and the larger community. Details: Washington, DC: United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, 2012. 55p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 16, 2012 at: http://www.usich.gov/resources/uploads/asset_library/RPT_SoS_March2012.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://www.usich.gov/resources/uploads/asset_library/RPT_SoS_March2012.pdf Shelf Number: 125307 Keywords: Anti-Social BehaviorHomeless People, Zero ToleranceHomelessness (U.S.)Housing |