They Want The Homeless To Go Away
By James Donahue
Homelessness has become a major national problem in America. But instead of trying to do something about it, some city officials, worried that people sitting and sleeping on public streets will hurt business, are passing laws designed to make it illegal to be homeless.
The callousness of this kind of thinking boggles the mind. The laws are compounding the homeless problem in unimaginable ways. The quest for money appears to be driving everybody insane.
During the years I spent covering city governments and city elections I became aware that most of the people who sit on these high seats of government are the people who own and operate the downtown business places. Thus it is easy to understand their motives for passing the kinds of ordinances they have put on the books.
And to be fair, some towns have opened homeless shelters and places for the poor and homeless to get at least one hot meal a day. But the shelders are too few and too far between and they fall short of meeting the growing needs of the poverty stricken. Did we ever think this could happen in the United States, once considered a great land of opportunity?
Many cities have performed shamelessly in their efforts to clear their streets of the poor and downtrodden. Some of their arguments sound valid. They say that the poor and homeless not only camp in public places, but they leave their personal belongings laying around, they beg for money from downtown shoppers, and they use public toilet facilities for daily cosmetics. Many resort to crimes because of hunger and human need.
Thus out of pure frustration, some councils have gone so far as to make homelessness illegal. The laws make it illegal to camp on streets or public places without a permit, make it illegal to cover yourself with a blanket in a public place, use public restrooms for washing the face, and panhandling. This tends to be bad for business.
The council in Columbia City, South Carolina, approved an ordinance making homelessness illegal in parts of the city. The ordinance forces anyone caught sleeping outdoors to be sent to a shelter 15 miles outside of the city. The alternative is to spend time in the city jail.
At least in jail there is a warm bed, food and a roof over the head. But there is no freedom to come and go. But prisoners are now charged rent and room and board for the time spent in jail, and fined for whatever "crime" that landed them behind bars. And for the poor and homeless, it is usually impossible to pay these charges. Thus the dilemma. Do they spend even more time in jail?
Police in Portland, Oregon, have been arresting anyone found sleeping in public. There is a city ordinance against camping anywhere in the city. But in Portland, it is a losing battle. There are an estimated 1,700 homeless people living there alone.
People found camping in public in New York face fines of $76. How the poor and homeless manage to pay such fines seems somewhat of a mystery. The alternative, of course, is jail, which the city obviously does not want either.
St. Petersburg, Florida, has established “no panhandling” zones in the downtown shopping areas, within 15 feet of sidewalk cafes, an ATM or bank entrance, at bus stops and on private property. Panhandlers are prohibited between sunset and sunrise. We wonder if signs are posted making it clear where panhandling is allowed and not allowed?
As if these laws aren’t bad enough, USA Today recently reported that at least 50 large cities in the United States have passed laws prohibiting anyone from feeding a poor person.
What would be the legal reasoning for prohibiting the feeding of poor people in homeless shelters? They say it’s because the city can’t assess the salt, fat and fiber content of the food. Also some city ordinances prohibit feeding the public prepared in kitchens lacking standards established by the state health department. When people are starving it seems as if it may not matter which kitchen the food is produced in.
These old ordinances are being used to allow city councils and police to issue harsh treatment of the people that desperately need help.
One report noted that there has been a nationwide increase in criminalization laws against the homeless since 2011, even though there is strong evidence that fines and jail are not an effective method of dealing with this problem.
What is desperately needed is shelter. There is irony in the fact that many of these people are homeless because they were unable to pay high rent or mortgage costs even though they had jobs that paid minimum wage. The homes they once lived in may be sitting empty while they sleep on the street. Because they are homeless, people are losing their ability to work and provide for themselves. Thus we have a catch-22 situation.
There is a simple solution to all of this. It involves just reaching out with a helping hand.
A program called Housing First, which has been slowing taking hold in some cities across the U.S., offers the chronically homeless a permanent place to live with no strings attached. They get free counseling, therapy, health care with no questions asked. The program is open to alcoholics and drug addicts.
The cities that have offered this service have discovered that the cost of providing for the homeless, and the severe mental illness and medical costs that usually go with it, has decreased significantly.
In Denver it was found that emergy room service costs alone dropped by 73 percent for people involved in Housing First. It amounted to a savings of over $31,000 per person.
It just makes sense to treat the homeless like real human beings instead of making criminals out of them.
By James Donahue
Homelessness has become a major national problem in America. But instead of trying to do something about it, some city officials, worried that people sitting and sleeping on public streets will hurt business, are passing laws designed to make it illegal to be homeless.
The callousness of this kind of thinking boggles the mind. The laws are compounding the homeless problem in unimaginable ways. The quest for money appears to be driving everybody insane.
During the years I spent covering city governments and city elections I became aware that most of the people who sit on these high seats of government are the people who own and operate the downtown business places. Thus it is easy to understand their motives for passing the kinds of ordinances they have put on the books.
And to be fair, some towns have opened homeless shelters and places for the poor and homeless to get at least one hot meal a day. But the shelders are too few and too far between and they fall short of meeting the growing needs of the poverty stricken. Did we ever think this could happen in the United States, once considered a great land of opportunity?
Many cities have performed shamelessly in their efforts to clear their streets of the poor and downtrodden. Some of their arguments sound valid. They say that the poor and homeless not only camp in public places, but they leave their personal belongings laying around, they beg for money from downtown shoppers, and they use public toilet facilities for daily cosmetics. Many resort to crimes because of hunger and human need.
Thus out of pure frustration, some councils have gone so far as to make homelessness illegal. The laws make it illegal to camp on streets or public places without a permit, make it illegal to cover yourself with a blanket in a public place, use public restrooms for washing the face, and panhandling. This tends to be bad for business.
The council in Columbia City, South Carolina, approved an ordinance making homelessness illegal in parts of the city. The ordinance forces anyone caught sleeping outdoors to be sent to a shelter 15 miles outside of the city. The alternative is to spend time in the city jail.
At least in jail there is a warm bed, food and a roof over the head. But there is no freedom to come and go. But prisoners are now charged rent and room and board for the time spent in jail, and fined for whatever "crime" that landed them behind bars. And for the poor and homeless, it is usually impossible to pay these charges. Thus the dilemma. Do they spend even more time in jail?
Police in Portland, Oregon, have been arresting anyone found sleeping in public. There is a city ordinance against camping anywhere in the city. But in Portland, it is a losing battle. There are an estimated 1,700 homeless people living there alone.
People found camping in public in New York face fines of $76. How the poor and homeless manage to pay such fines seems somewhat of a mystery. The alternative, of course, is jail, which the city obviously does not want either.
St. Petersburg, Florida, has established “no panhandling” zones in the downtown shopping areas, within 15 feet of sidewalk cafes, an ATM or bank entrance, at bus stops and on private property. Panhandlers are prohibited between sunset and sunrise. We wonder if signs are posted making it clear where panhandling is allowed and not allowed?
As if these laws aren’t bad enough, USA Today recently reported that at least 50 large cities in the United States have passed laws prohibiting anyone from feeding a poor person.
What would be the legal reasoning for prohibiting the feeding of poor people in homeless shelters? They say it’s because the city can’t assess the salt, fat and fiber content of the food. Also some city ordinances prohibit feeding the public prepared in kitchens lacking standards established by the state health department. When people are starving it seems as if it may not matter which kitchen the food is produced in.
These old ordinances are being used to allow city councils and police to issue harsh treatment of the people that desperately need help.
One report noted that there has been a nationwide increase in criminalization laws against the homeless since 2011, even though there is strong evidence that fines and jail are not an effective method of dealing with this problem.
What is desperately needed is shelter. There is irony in the fact that many of these people are homeless because they were unable to pay high rent or mortgage costs even though they had jobs that paid minimum wage. The homes they once lived in may be sitting empty while they sleep on the street. Because they are homeless, people are losing their ability to work and provide for themselves. Thus we have a catch-22 situation.
There is a simple solution to all of this. It involves just reaching out with a helping hand.
A program called Housing First, which has been slowing taking hold in some cities across the U.S., offers the chronically homeless a permanent place to live with no strings attached. They get free counseling, therapy, health care with no questions asked. The program is open to alcoholics and drug addicts.
The cities that have offered this service have discovered that the cost of providing for the homeless, and the severe mental illness and medical costs that usually go with it, has decreased significantly.
In Denver it was found that emergy room service costs alone dropped by 73 percent for people involved in Housing First. It amounted to a savings of over $31,000 per person.
It just makes sense to treat the homeless like real human beings instead of making criminals out of them.