Addressing the Criminalization of Homelessness

We should not make it harder for people suffering on our streets to simply survive. 

From ticketing and arresting to banning and sweeping people from broad swaths of our community, punitive approaches to homelessness only criminalize the victims of our housing crisis and disproportionately impact people of color. These approaches are costly, ineffective and inhumane, perpetuating cycles of homelessness and pushing us further away from solving this dire community challenge. Handcuffs do not get anyone closer to housing.

Nationwide research found that 72% of people opposed plans to arrest, ticket, or fine people for sleeping outside without shelter. But despite their unpopularity, leaders here in Silicon Valley and beyond are pushing for short-sighted criminalizing tactics.

The Consequences of Criminalizing Homelessness

Criminalizing homelessness doesn’t solve the problem—it deepens it. Arrests and fines create insurmountable barriers to housing, employment, and financial stability, trapping individuals in cycles of poverty and forcing them to remain on the streets longer. Even minor infractions, like a trespassing charge, can escalate into heavy penalties and incarceration, further hindering access to housing and essential benefits. 

There is no evidence that criminalizing homelessness reduces its occurrence. In fact, these policies have been tested for decades with little impact on reducing unsheltered homelessness, while significantly draining municipal budgets. 

These tactics only prolong people’s experience of homelessness. Sweeps disrupt support networks, destroy vital documents, and force people to sever ties with social service providers, making it harder for them to access housing and services. They also pose a serious threat to the health of homeless individuals, as they lose emergency supplies and essential documents needed to access care.

Many have reported losing vital documents like IDs and social security cards, as well as medical supplies, irreplaceable memories of loved ones, and survival tools during sweeps. They are forced to start again from zero ultimately delaying the timeline for them to be able to get off the streets. 

Via: ProPublica

Fear of punishment forces people experiencing homelessness into more dangerous and isolated places, making them even more vulnerable and less likely to seek help. Encampment removals tear apart crucial communities of support and safety, further restricting access to life-saving resources and critical emotional support from neighbors. We need solutions that show compassion, not ones that put our homeless neighbors in even more danger.

How We’re Combatting Criminalization

Destination: Home is committed to helping our community forge the most effective and humane path forward to resolving homelessness. Informed by ongoing engagement with stakeholders, we’re digging into three key areas of focus:

Developing Best Practices for Local Jurisdictions:

Through training and technical assistance, we’re offering government partners alternative strategies to address homelessness without criminalization.

Providing Legal Support & Resources to Unhoused Individuals:

We’re partnering with experts to provide legal defense clinics, representation, and other direct assistance to unhoused individuals facing criminal cases and other punitive measures (i.e. fines/infraction).

Advocating for Thoughtful Public Policy Decisions:

We’re building on this work to inform our own policy stances, speak out in support of sound proposals that protect against criminalization, while also rallying against short-sighted measures that will only move us backwards.

Learn more about how we’re taking action to prevent the criminalization of homelessness in our webinar with Homebase‘s Criminal Legal System Initiative (CLSI).

See the explainer documents provided by Homebase below for more information:

Pushing Our Community to Invest in Solutions That Work

We know that access to a safe, stable, and affordable home is the only lasting solution to our homelessness crisis. Efforts should focus on creating more affordable housing and supportive services instead of ineffective and costly punitive measures. 

We must ensure that any action we take:

• Is grounded in equity, dignity and compassion for people experiencing homelessness;
• Is narrowly-crafted to avoid exacerbating the challenges faced by people experiencing homelessness;
• Avoids conflating the experience of homelessness with criminal activity;
• Provides the same level of protection and concern for the health and safety of our unhoused neighbors as that of our housed community;
• Prioritizes outreach and assistance before enforcement;
• Does not create additional barriers to accessing services and housing assistance; and
• Incorporates the perspectives of people with lived experience.

It’s possible to concurrently advance ALL of these important objectives as we continue ending and preventing homelessness.