-Caveat Lector- >From wsws.org WSWS : News & Analysis : North America "Out of Sight, Out of Mind?" Report on the Criminalization of the homeless in the US By Andrea Grant-Friedman 22 January 1999 In 50 major cities in the United States--in places as distant as Fresno, California and Buffalo, New York--for the past several years city legislators have expended concentrated efforts to mobilize the legal system in the service of various "urban renewal" projects. One goal of such activity has been the attempt to physically remove a very visual urban "blight"--the homeless. Yet coming in a period dominated by the gutting of social services for the poor, what has resulted can only be described as the victimization of the most impoverished segment of the population in a manner reminiscent of a Dickens novel. The January 1999 report released by the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, "Out of Sight, Out of Mind?" documents this process of criminalization in 50 urban centers across the US. In terms of housing provisions alone, virtually none of the cities surveyed come close to providing enough emergency shelter beds or transitional housing slots to accommodate the homeless populations. For example, in New York City there are an estimated 27,000 to 81,000 homeless. At the end of 1998, however, shelters provided only 5,500 beds. In the face of nonexistent resources, the homeless population literally has no place to go other than the streets. Yet it is on the streets that city officials nationwide are waging the most ruthless campaign against the homeless, a campaign that aims to stamp out homelessness by stamping out the homeless themselves. The NLC report identifies a series of processes occurring throughout the country placing restrictions on necessary life activities such as sleeping or sitting in public places, extensive limitations on panhandling, using police "sweeps" in order to remove enclaves of homeless people from certain areas, as well as specifically targeting homeless people for the infraction of laws that are generally applicable to the population at large. Take, for example, the recent situation in Chicago. "In December 1997, police did a sweep of Lower Wacker Drive when President Clinton visited the city, during which the police threw away the property of many homeless people. Since that sweep, police continue to sweep Lower Wacker Drive, acting under the guise of cleaning, and simply take and destroy the property of any homeless people in the area. In the past they gave warnings that the area was going to be cleaned, but since December they have given no warnings." This situation is by no means limited to this Midwestern city. The NLC reports on conditions in Cincinnati, Ohio: "City officials see homelessness as a situation brought about by the person himself or herself rather than by economic circumstances beyond their control. Cincinnati has designated the Rhine community as an exclusion zone which targets homeless and other poor people. If you are simply charged with a crime in the exclusion zone, not even convicted, you are not allowed to go back to the zone unless you are a resident, including residents of the homeless shelter, of that zone." Traveling to Austin, Texas one would find that the fine for camping in public increased during the past two years from $200 to $2,000. How exactly individuals who cannot afford to eat on a daily basis are expected to pay fines in a sum greater than a month's earnings at the minimum wage is difficult to imagine. However it is such policies, coupled with outright jail sentences for other infractions, that lead a substantial portion of the homeless population to make their way through the criminal justice system. The NLC report is quick to point out that there is no environment less suited to deal with problems of the homeless than city jails. "In addition to the fact that the criminal justice system does not, and possibly cannot, provide adequate treatment and rehabilitation opportunities, police officers are not adequately trained to address problems that arise." The problems of homelessness are extending into the population of the working poor as a whole. In the 50 cities studied in "Out of Sight, Out of Mind?" between 17 and 37 percent of the population are unable to afford the fair market rent for an efficiency apartment based on guidelines set by the federal government. In addition, while the US government continually upholds the past year's historically low unemployment rates as a sign of economic and social success, researchers found that individuals employed on a 40-hour a week basis earning the minimum wage would still be unable to afford the most rudimentary housing in any of the cities covered by the report. The same reality holds true for the elderly and the physically or mentally disabled subsisting on Social Security and welfare benefits. The situation described in the NLC report is one that can broadly fall under the heading of "blaming the victim." It is a logic whose intricacies have long been addressed and refuted in volumes of sociological writing. Without delving into the depths of this material, the conclusion reached by the NLC report itself aptly surmises the inherent nature of the double-barreled offensive against the homeless: "The criminalization of homelessness is ineffective, counterproductive, and inhumane. All of the proposed justifications for criminalizing homelessness generally neglect to address the fact that penalizing people for engaging in behavior such as sleeping in public, sitting on public sidewalks, or begging, will not reduce the incidence of such behaviors, or keep public places clear of homeless people, when people are doing so because they have no alternative place to sleep or sit, or no other means of subsistence." See Also: San Francisco's homeless dying at record rate [19 December 1998] Homelessness and hunger in Ontario [23 October 1998] Welfare cuts increase hunger and homelessness [6 March 1998] Top of page Readers: The WSWS invites your comments. Please send e-mail. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright 1998-99 World Socialist Web Site All rights reserved ~~~~~~~~~~~~ And from the National Law Centre on Homelessness & Poverty http://www.tomco.net/~nlchp/nimrel.htm Press Release: News Advisory ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Return to Main Page Scrooges Oppose Needed Homeless Services For Immediate Release December 16, 1997 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ New Report Finds Private Homeless Facilities Often Thwarted Washington, D.C. -- Every night more than 700,000 women, men and children are homeless in the U.S. Yet when private groups attempt to create new housing, shelter or services they often confront opposition from community Scrooges, according to an investigative report released at a press conference today by the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty (NLCHP). "At a time when the social safety net has been weakened, it is essential that private groups attempting to fill the gap are able to offer badly needed housing and services," said Maria Foscarinis, NLCHP Executive Director. The NLCHP report entitled Access Delayed, Access Denied is based on a survey of 92 transitional housing providers in 71 cities and towns awarded grants in the 1994 HUD Supportive Housing Program Competition. Programs are selected by HUD after a tough national competition and on the basis of demonstrated ability to operate programs for homeless persons. According to the report, in 100% of the surveyed cities and towns for which information was available the supply of affordable housing is insufficient to meet the need. Among the 59 cities for which such information was available, 76% have a shortage of emergency shelter beds and transitional housing slots to accommodate their homeless residents. However, communities continue to send the message "good will to all, but not in my backyard". Prospective neighbors or local governments attempted to obstruct the siting of 41 % of the private transitional housing programs that responded to the survey. Governments are increasingly turning to the revision of their zoning laws as a means of excluding facilities that serve homeless and other poor people from their jurisdictions or particular parts of them At least 8 cities have recently enacted new laws or amended existing ones to increase restrictions on siting housing or service facilities for homeless people or are considering doing so. Residents and business owners used a variety of methods to exclude providers, such as: voicing opposition at a public meeting or hearing in 82% of the cases voicing opposition to elected officials in 58% of the cases voicing opposition to the media in 30% of the cases signing petitions to prevent the program from opening in their neighborhood in 21% of the cases Reasons for concern and opposition listed by survey respondents were: a decrease in property values (64%) an increase in crime (61%) an increase in traffic or parking problems (39%) the facility would be unsightly or unattractive (18%) "Efforts to exclude housing and service providers are counterproductive and inhumane," Catherine Bendor, NLCHP Staff Attorney, said. "They deprive homeless people opportunities to attain self sufficiency and waste already scarce resources." Among programs that reported Not In My BackYard (NIMBY) opposition, NIMBYism: delayed the opening of the programs up to a year and six months in 39% of the cases increased the cost of establishing the housing program in 17% of the cases forced 28% of the programs to move to a different site than the one originally selected The report also discusses the underlying reasons for NIMBY opposition and provides examples of effective solutions to NIMBY conflict. As a result of the report, the Law Center called for: Congress to reject pending legislation designed to limit the scope of protections provided homeless people under the federal Fair Housing Act, Congress and HUD to increase the accountability on the part of local governments that receive funding, HUD to use its position as an important source of funds to discourage exclusionary zoning and other NIMBY efforts. "We urge local governments, housing and service providers, and community members to take constructive approaches to resolve siting conflicts," Foscarinis said. For more information, please contact Maria Foscarinis or April Logan of the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty at 202/638-2535. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ A<>E<>R The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Forwarded as information only; no endorsement to be presumed + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. 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