The Wisconsin Balance of State staff is here to support you in conversations with local leadership and partners. Please see the below toolkit for aid in this conversation. If you have other arguments you would like support or data for, please contact [email protected].
I don't like seeing people living outside
Something we hear all the time from community members: "I don't like seeing people living outside"
The response: I hear you, none of us want to see people living outside. Part of this work is advocating for long-term solutions, so people have access to housing their whole lives.
The response: I hear you, none of us want to see people living outside. Part of this work is advocating for long-term solutions, so people have access to housing their whole lives.
- Criminalizing homelessness is often a short-term solution that does not result in a person getting off the street long-term. Housing First is an intervention that leads to long-term housing stability.
- It is cheaper for us as a system to house people first instead of using our public safety resources and law enforcement again and again
- We as a homeless service system can't solve every problem. We know that housing is what solves a homelessness crisis. Boosting housing resources and availability will help us make sure no one ever has to sleep outside.
are people living outside dangerous
It’s a common misconception that people sleeping outside are dangerous and are criminals. However, people who are homeless are no more likely to be a criminal than a person who is not homeless.
- Studies have shown that those experiencing homelessness are more at risk of being victims of a crime. This specific study found that homeless individuals are at an increased risk of experiencing violence, especially if you are a woman, older, and have been homeless for more than 2 years. Housing brings safety. This study, which followed homeless individuals throughout their experiences of homelessness, found that the risk of being exposed to violence dropped by half once they were housed.
- With the false idea that homeless individuals are criminals, it brings about more efforts to criminalize homelessness. Making things such as sleeping outside illegal creates unnecessary barriers for those experiencing homeless, and makes it more difficult to escape the unfortunate circumstances they find themselves in. People experiencing homelessness should not be considered criminals for surviving.
Why criminalization is bad
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Criminalizing homelessness is harmful for many reasons, including:
*Increases risk of violence
Criminalization can lead to increased victimization and violence for people experiencing homelessness.
*Increases health risks
Evicting people from encampments can increase the likelihood of overdoses for those who use injection drugs. It can also trigger youth to start using drugs.
*Increases cost
Criminalization is expensive and ineffective, wasting public resources. Research shows that providing housing is the most affordable long-term option.
*Creates barriers to housing and employment
Criminal records can make it difficult to get or keep housing, employment, or public benefits.
*Violates constitutional rights
Laws that criminalize homelessness can violate the Eighth Amendment (freedom from cruel and unusual punishment) and Fourteenth Amendment (right to due process of law).
*Perpetuates cycle of homelessness
Sending police and prosecutors to deal with homelessness instead of support services perpetuates the cycle of homelessness.
LINK:
Housing not Handcuffs - HNH-Crim-One-Pager.pdf (housingnothandcuffs.org)
The Wrong Approach to Homelessness (nlihc.org)
How do you respond to neighbor's concerns about encampments and calls for criminalization and closures and build public support for their strategy?
Denver: Encampment complaints are managed through calls or text messages to 311. These calls are analyzed and considered for response from our street outreach teams.
Hennepin County: Most concerns about encampments go to the city of Minneapolis’ 311 line. If Hennepin County receives direct inquiries about people experiencing unsheltered homelessness, our response is to dispatch our Streets to Housing team to ensure the people in question are connected to services and the homelessness response system. Streets to Housing can respond to concerns raised across 45 cities in Hennepin County to ensure full geographic coverage.
How can smaller but non-rural communities expand their resources?
USICH: Homelessness can look different in rural areas than in cities. There are no one-size-fits-all solutions, and no community has all the solutions—or the resources to implement solutions that meet the need. For examples of federal funding opportunities to address encampments, view the chart on Pages 22-24 of USICH’s 19 strategies. To meaningfully and sustainably address this crisis, especially in smaller but non-rural areas, systems must work together to identify possible resources and individually acknowledge their role in contributing to and solving homelessness. In USICH’s new Community Spotlight series, the small community of Las Cruces, New Mexico, explains how it leverages housed neighbors, businesses, schools, and other local organizations to expand their resources for people experiencing homelessness.
How do you coordinate with law enforcement agencies to promote and ensure positive and productive relationships with people living in encampments?
Denver: The Denver mayor’s office holds multiple calls each week with law enforcement leaders to ensure strategic and operational alignment around addressing encampments. We work to ensure that first touches with encampments are outreach focused and targeted towards getting people indoors.
What role (beyond Coordinated Entry) should Continuums of Care play in encampment response?
USICH: People living in encampments often develop strong connections with each other. When possible, CoCs should consider simultaneously connecting everyone residing in the encampment to the same shelter or housing locations. In addition, CoCs should generally advocate for people without a home by organizing service providers and pushing the community to use best practices.
What role (beyond Coordinated Entry) should Continuums of Care play in encampment response?
USICH: People living in encampments often develop strong connections with each other. When possible, CoCs should consider simultaneously connecting everyone residing in the encampment to the same shelter or housing locations. In addition, CoCs should generally advocate for people without a home by organizing service providers and pushing the community to use best practices.
What are the facts?
Housing is the solution to a homelessness crisis
The Housing First approach has been proven to work at the large scale and individual level. Click here to learn more about housing programs and their effectiveness. Requiring that someone pursue sobriety, mental health treatment, or employment before housing ignores the fact that people cannot work on goals if they are working so hard to survive. The solution to a housing crisis is not to launch into services and goals that we perceive that the person in front of us needs.
"The fundamental solution to homelessness is housing. When a person is housed, they have a platform to address all their needs, no matter how complex. People are most successful when that housing is paired with the right level of voluntary and accessible support based on their expressed and individualized needs and preferences. To truly bring Housing First to scale for all populations, communities need access to housing and wraparound services and other supports that can be offered to implement this approach with fidelity to the model. The strategies and actions in this section focus on increasing the supply of and equitable access to affordable housing and tailored supports for people at risk of or experiencing homelessness. They are aligned with the Biden-Harris Administration’s Housing Supply Action Plan, 7 National Mental Health Strategy, 5 and National Drug Control Strategy."
Read more from ALL IN The Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness here
Alternatives to criminalization
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how to help someone
As individuals, we can do many things to help someone experiencing homelessness including directly assisting those in need, advocating, and educating ourselves on homelessness.
Directly
Contribute: Provide donations such as clothing, food, and other necessities to organizations that assist those that are homeless. Unfortunately, many people experiencing homelessness lack the necessities that we often take for granted. Donating to organizations that help the homeless will make sure those necessary supplies are given to those who need it.
Volunteer: Local homeless shelters and social service agencies are always looking for volunteers to help in the mission to end homelessness. Volunteering is one of the best ways to learn about homelessness and help meet the immediate needs at the same time.
Be Kind: Kindness is something that is rarely seen for people who are in a traumatic situation such as homelessness. Being kind sheds a bit of humanity, which is something that is not often seen for those experiencing homelessness.
Advocate
Speak Up: Homelessness is a complex issue which is rooted in many different social injustices. Advocating for those experiencing homelessness by promoting trauma-informed support does much to bring their voices to the public sphere.
Follow Local Politics: Attend public meetings within your town/neighborhood and speak in favor of things such as low-income housing, anti-criminalization, housing first practices, and promoting a trauma-informed approach to helping those experiencing homelessness.
Keep up to Date: Sign up for advocacy alerts through the National Alliance to End Homelessness. Here you will get the most up-to-date resources and tools to act on ending homelessness in your community.
Join the Effort: Join the Housing Not Handcuffs campaign which seeks to end homelessness by ending criminalization of those experiencing homelessness.
Educate
There are many organizations and resources nationwide that provide individuals with information and ideas on how to end homelessness in your community and nationwide:
National Alliance to End Homelessness:
https://endhomelessness.org/who-we-are/
National Low Income Housing Coalition
https://nlihc.org/
National Homeless Law Center
http://www.nlchp.org/
Housing Not Handcuffs
https://housingnothandcuffs.org/
United States Interagency Council on Homelessness
https://www.usich.gov/
National Coalition for the Homeless
https://nationalhomeless.org/homelessness-in-the-us/
National Health Care for the Homeless Council
https://nhchc.org/
National Coalition for Homeless Veterans
https://nchv.org/
real life experiences
The Wisconsin Balance of State is engaging in interviews with people with lived expertise of homelessness. This is valuable expertise and should be centered in conversations about homelessness and criminalization.
Some quotes from an interview with a young woman in rural Wisconsin:
"My life has come with many challenges, homelessness only being one of them. I come from a long history of mental health issues and domestic abuse. For most this comes off as not trying and laziness, but often most things that are easy for others can be very difficult for those with trauma and disabilities."
"After getting connected to my advocate, it made a huge impact on me. My advocate worried about the things that would take care of me, I wasn't worried about pleasing everybody else. She had a huge impact on me, my life would be completely different without her."
What do you wish people understood about the youth and young adult experience?
"Everybody is just learning, not everyone knows how to navigate this situation, many people have not experienced this a day in their life. Ask the question 'What do you think you can live with?' That is what life is like; you make the choices you can live with and go from there."
"The more you try to help and give answers, the more you are going to get pushed away. You need to give time for people to make their own choices and give them the ability to make a choice."
Interested in sharing your perspective? Email [email protected] or [email protected] to learn more.
External Resources Highlighting Lived Expertise:
Invisible People
National Alliance to End Homelessness Whitepaper
National Center for Homeless Education
The cost of homelessness
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links
We don't have homelessness here