Criminalization Of Homelessness

According to this estimate, a greater percentage of inmates have been previously homeless, (5% of general population versus 15% of incarcerated population with history of homelessness), which illustrates that homelessness often triggers incarceration. (Metraux S, Culhane , 2006.) Individuals with past incarceration face great barriers attempting to exit homelessness due to such policies which disqualify them from most federal housing assistance programs due to their criminal records. One of the federal housing assistance programs of the community is through the Great Falls Housing Authority, also known as “Section 8 Housing”. This program offers privage landlords contrated with the Housing Authority which approves the home for Housing Quality Standards and subsidizes the rent for the client which pays approximately 30% of their adjusted income as rent. Due to people with previous felonies of sorts being disqualified from such programs, these individuals may feel it necessary to engage in criminal activities to attempt to break the cycle of homelessness, only in turn perpetuationg the viscious cycle of homelessness, and being

Homelessness in the United States is a multifaceted problem, there are many factors to consider when examining this homelessness including access to health care, economic conditions and public policy as well as a host of other issues. Problems with homelessness that need addressed are the stigmatizations of being homeless and how this perception has led to anti-homeless policies, how reforming anti-homeless policies can lead to shifting society’s perception of the issue of homelessness, and finally why social workers must be at the forefront of the campaign to facilitate meaningful change to reduce the human suffering

A homeless person is an individual without a permanent, stable housing situation who either spends his or her nights on the streets or in temporary facilities, such as shelters and abandoned buildings. Throughout history, society has been “holding the poor, rape or incest victims, minorities, or the handicapped responsible for their misfortunes” (Zur). Society has been blaming the homeless for being in the position they are in. However, upon closer inspection, it must be noted that “children under the age of 18 accounts for 39% of the homeless population…battered women who live in poverty are often forced to choose between abusive relationships and homelessness…[and] 40% of homeless men have served in the armed forces” (Who Is Homeless?). It is clear that those who are homeless are not

Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights asserts that housing is a fundamental component to a decent standard of living, yet few city governments--even in the most developed economies--have proven themselves capable of ensuring such a basic right to their constituents (United Nations, General Assembly). Ranked 49th among the 50 U.S. states for its number of housing units per capita, California has notoriously struggled with chronic shortages in its urban housing market. With 118,142 homeless people recorded in 2016, California holds almost 22% of the nation’s homeless population (Fact Sheet: Homelessness in California 1).

Adoption of laws and policies that punish homeless people rather than addressing the problems that cause homelessness is an ineffective approach. Penalizing people for engaging in innocent behavior – such as sleeping in public, sitting on the sidewalk, or begging – will not reduce the occurrence of these activities or keep homeless people out of public spaces when they have no other place to sleep or sit or no other means of living. With insufficient resources for shelter and services for homeless people, enforce punishment for unavoidable activities is not only pointless, it is inhumane (Brown,1999, July/August). Relying on law enforcement officials and jails to address homelessness and related issues, such as mental illness and substance abuse, that are more appropriately handled by service providers, causes problems and widespread frustrations within the criminal justice system. Police officers are not adequately trained to respond to the situations that arise, the criminal justice system does not provide the necessary treatment

In the United States the homeless population continues to grow rapidly. Homelessness has been a public health issue for many decades. Often times these individuals feel as though society has turned a blind eye to them. This at risk population is seen by society as lazy or chose to live a life on the streets, but if one would examine this population closely would see that there is more to this at risk population than what society has labeled them as. The forces, which affect homelessness, are multifaceted. Social forces such as family breakdown, addictions, and mental illnesses are in combined with structural forces such as lack of low-cost housing, insufficient health services, and poor economic conditions. Many would

Homelessness has been a consistent concern since the colonization of the United States and the separation from England. However, despite the desire for new beginnings once arriving in the States, old circumstances remained and an adoption of previous solutions was implemented. The term used for those homeless has transitioned throughout the decades; however, the beginning expression used was vagrants (Levinson & Ross, 2007). This term was given due to the connotation of being “…wanderers without a home, but also likely to participate in criminal activity” (Levinson & Ross, p. 1, 2007). Though this terminology is not as prevalent today, the negative association between homelessness and crime still exists.

Hansi Lo Wang of National Public Radio reports that as of nine months ago, New York City’s homelessness rates have reached record-breaking heights. Reading his report, I was not surprised by the trend; the real-estate market has no regard for low-income families and individuals, and according to Wang’s report, this is especially true in New York. (Wang) The Coalition for the Homeless describes housing affordability in the city as a crisis, disproportionately affecting African-American and Latino people. Children have been hit the hardest by the rising homelessness rates. (Markee) What I hadn’t expected to learn while researching New York’s situation is this: the city’s crime rate is lower than it was last year by 5.6%. (Wang) I was inspired to examine why I, along with residents of New York City, jumped straight to the conclusion that higher homelessness rates would coincide with higher crime rates. I became alarmed by the assumption that homeless people would make the city “menacing and unlivable”, as the New York Post suggests, and how quickly I had come to it. (Post) According to surveys, New Yorkers believe that their city of declining crime rates is actually becoming more dangerous. (Wang) My opinion on the situation in New York quickly developed from that point on in my reading. Criminalizing homeless people will not

People drive or walk past a homeless person almost every day without thinking twice about the plight of that person or they may even unconsciously turn their heads the other way in disgust. Homelessness simply put, means without a home - therefore homelessness is an equal opportunity state that can happen to anyone. Even though we have seen some economic prosperity over the years, statistics show that the number of homeless remains very high. With this in mind, communities need to come together at the state, city, and individual level to come up with solutions to mitigate the spreading of this problem.

One of the most discussed topics around the world is homelessness. Each and everyday more and more people become homeless. People around the world have tried numerous times to resolve this dilemma. This situation is growing and it 's starting to spiral out of control. One solution that 's getting popular the more we let this situation grow is that criminalizing the homeless is good. People cannot criminalize the homeless. Homeless people should not be criminalized because they have nowhere to go, they have it hard enough, and putting them in jail will solve nothing.

Homelessness in the United States can be ended, not just maintained. Allot of cities now have plans to eradicate homelessness. Homelessness and housing instability are large issues that afflict a diverse demographic such as: Families, youth, veterans, and chronically homeless single male adults. Ending homelessness may require specialized solutions that are specific to individual needs. Factors like these make defeating homelessness a difficult task. Although solutions exist for some of the demographics, such as housing for chronically homeless adults, scaling up best practices remains a challenge. For other subpopulations, such as transitional aged youth, evidence-based interventions need to be developed. In this paper we argue that ending homelessness is a Grand Challenge that is big, important, and compelling—one that the profession of social work should be adopt. Meeting this challenge will require a focused, organized response from social work researchers, clinicians, and policymakers. Ending homelessness will require innovation and interdisciplinary or cross-sector collaboration. Key words: Housing First, Permanent Supportive Housing, rapid re-housing, prevention, poverty. The notion that homelessness in the United States can be ended, rather than managed (Mangano, 2002; National Alliance to End Homelessness, 2012), represents a fundamental shift in expectations from the 1980s and ’90s. Since the early 2000s, researchers, policymakers, advocates,

Homelessness is much more than not having a home. Most of the time, homelessness is not having any hope and chance. It is a crisis that continues to impact millions of American people every day. A crisis that gives them no choice but to sit on the streets and try to survive each day with extreme optimism. However, they are being criminally punished for such actions that they have no choice but to do it. The innocuous action of sitting on the streets and sleeping on the streets somehow is viewed as a criminal act. A number of resources wasted for criminalizing such harmless action are gratuitous. The government has two branches of law regarding homelessness in the United States. One branch is helping the homeless people to access shelter, food, and etc. The other branch is outlined to criminalize homeless people. Homeless people who do not have any place to go are forced to live on the streets in order to survive. Criminalizing homeless people reveals that it is actually quite inefficient, expensive, and most importantly it infringes the rights that they are entitled to.

Incarceration of the homeless is mainly due to petty, non-violent crimes which enable them to subsist. It is estimated that “thirty-three percent of the reported convictions for the homeless incarcerated were due to homeless-related offenses” (Covin, 2012). Of those thirty-three percent convicted for homeless-related crimes, seventy-nine percent of the committed offenses were non-violent in nature (Covin, 2012). There are estimates that up to fifty percent of homeless adults have had a stint of incarceration (Tsai, Rosenheck,

Communities often make more of an effort to chase out or hide the homeless rather than take steps that might eliminate the causes of homelessness. Laws usually include prohibiting loitering in public areas such as parks and train stations. Police officers sometimes take aggressive actions against homeless individuals to enforce homeless regulations (“Dealing With” 8-9). Communities that try to regulate the homeless have a negative impact on public support for rehabilitation programs. Laws that target the homeless support the view that it is not homelessness that is the problem but the people who are affected by it. Money that could be used to fund homeless agencies is instead used to bring homeless citizens to

Many people who are homeless use jail as an alternative to sleeping outside especially during the winter months. They jump between shelters and jail because it is the only place for them to go. A survey conducted with 363 prisoners that have spent 5 or more consecutive nights in jail in the greater Toronto area showed that 22.9 percent of the prisoners were homeless9. When looking at all the homeless that were incarcerated 30% of them that were questioned admitted to committing a petty crime in order to get off the streets10. One fifth avoided bail to ensure that they would be in jail for as long as possible10. Before being discharged 85% of the homeless anticipated being homeless again9. This restarts the cycle which leads them to going back to jail for a few nights of food and medical service. This is not a solution to the problem as nothing is solved and people remain homeless.