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Homeless strategies for benefits

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There's nothing shocking, really, about Houston's new law making it easier for homeless people to be arrested simply for being homeless.

Not when over 100 American cities have effectively criminalized everyday life for the homeless, making crimes of things from sleeping outside to brushing teeth in public. Even as cities become more socially conscious about LGBTQ rights and drug policies, they've become less tolerant of their neediest inhabitants and more comfortable with cops and the justice system sweeping up the human trash, as it were.

City-wide bans on public camping ( PDF) have increased by 69 percent throughout the United States. What used to be seen as an annoyance is now prohibited, forcing fines or jail time on those who certainly can't afford it. The only nationwide nonprofit devoted to studying this, the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, has been tracking these changes since 2006. Their findings? There are a scary number of laws passed that ironically make it costly to be

For example, in 33 of the 100 U.S. cities they studied, it's illegal to publicly camp. In 18, it's illegal to sleep in public. Panhandling is illegal in 27 cities.

In 39 cities, it's illegal to live in vehicles. For extreme sports junkies (like Yosemite climbers who try to live in their cars), this is an inconvenience. For the homeless, it leaves no alternatives, especially if shelters are too far, too full, or too violent (a common problem). For some people, the choice might be between living in a car or sleeping outside-but what if both are criminalized?

This situation is playing out before our averted eyes in Dallas. The police issued over 11,000 citations for sleeping in public from January 2012 to November 2015. That's about 323 citations per month, or around ten per day. These citations generally come with fines, and failure to pay (which is to be expected, given that these people are homeless) comes with worse legal trouble, often snowballing into jail time.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner is taking a similar approach-his anti-encampment ordinance makes it illegal to use "fabric, metal, cardboard, or other materials as a tent or temporary structure for human habitation." This ensures that the Houstonian homeless are vulnerable not just to the elements, but also to the constant threat of the police. Officials cite one of the most common justifications for crackdowns on the homeless: neighborhood safety (a more socially acceptable way of talking about the not-in-my-backyard mentality).

City officials in Houston claim tent cities make it easy to hide illicit activity. If by "illicit activity," they mean drug use, then sure. But as we've learned through the embarrassing failures of the drug war, drug use isn't always as bad as we think and it certainly isn't improved by greater criminalization efforts. Tent cities are often formed to provide some degree of protection from the elements-not just a haven for drug use.

Mayor Turner says he's pairing the ban on tents with a bid to increase the number of shelter beds, and that a new police policy will prioritize issuing warnings and attempting to take violators to receive medical treatment, if needed.

All of this would be good if true, but what the new law really does is give police new power and wide discretion to arrest the vulnerable. As with many marginalized groups-including drug users, sex workers and undocumented immigrants-this means the homeless will increasingly fear the police instead of being able to rely on them for help.

Worst of all, is there anything logical about saddling homeless people with jail time?

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The Laws Cities Use To Make Homelessness a Crime

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There's nothing shocking, really, about Houston's new law making it easier for homeless people to be arrested simply for being homeless. Not when over 100 American cities have effectively criminalized everyday life for the homeless, making crimes of things from sleeping outside to brushing teeth in public.

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A decade ago, Utah set itself an ambitious goal: end chronic homelessness.

As of 2015, the state can just about declare victory: The population of chronically homeless people has dropped by 91 percent.

The state's success story has generated headlines around the country, and even The Daily Show With Jon Stewart looked to Utah to understand how the state achieved its goal.

In fact, Utah still has a substantial homeless problem. The overall homeless population is around 14,000.

I get probably two to five calls a week now, wanting to know how we did it, what's unique about Utah.

The chronically homeless, on the other hand, are a subset of the homeless population that is often the most vulnerable. These are people who have been living on the streets for more than a year, or four times in the past three years, and who have a "disabling condition" that might include serious mental illness, an addiction or a physical disability or illness.

According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, that represents about 20 percent of the national homeless population.

By implementing a model known as Housing First, Utah has reduced that number from nearly 2,000 people in 2005, to fewer than 200 now.
'I'm Gonna Lay In The Bathtub For About A Week'
Kim Evans is one of those few who remains chronically homeless, and his life is about to change.

Right now he lives outside Salt Lake City, in the woods next to a highway.

Amanda Lee and Sanela Piragic, outreach workers from the nonprofit Volunteers of America, regularly visit him at his encampment.

Evans has cleared out a lot of the trees there. He says he likes to think of this place as his own park. He is 54 years old, but looks a lot older.

He has a tent with a fence around it made of wood, piles of tarp and grocery carts full of stuff he collects. He wears a good new winter coat, which was donated. He says he's been living outside for five years.

"Too long," says Amanda Lee, one of the outreach workers.

Evans agrees.

He has a bad back injury and has struggled with drugs and alcohol. When he talks, he's a little hard to understand. He said he's had a stroke and is missing some teeth.

But any day now, he's about to get his own apartment, mostly paid for by the federal government. He says he doesn't want to spend another winter in the woods.

"Now that the trees are thinner, it's even colder," Evans says. "I'm gonna lay in the bathtub for about a week."

Under a previous anti-homelessness model, Kim Evans would've had to prove he was sober and drug-free before he could get housing and take that warm bath. Or he might have just stayed homeless.

Under Utah's Housing First approach, he'll get housed with few questions asked.
A Doubter Becomes Director Of Housing First Efforts
The idea of Housing First is that housing comes first, services later. Clients do have to pay some rent - either 30 percent of income or up to $50 a month, whichever is greater.

A similar approach was first tried in Los Angeles in the late 1980s and New York City in the early 1990s.

Later, the Bush administration adopted the model, and cities and states started writing 10-year plans to end chronic homelessness.

"And I said you guys are smoking something, because there's no way on this earth that you're going to end homelessness," says Lloyd Pendleton, who at the time ran humanitarian services for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

He says as a conservative, he didn't think the government should simply give people a place to live.

"Because I was raised as a cowboy in the west desert," Pendleton says, "and I have said over the years, 'You lazy bums, get a job, pull yourself up by the bootstraps.'"

Then in 2003, Lloyd Pendleton went to a conference on homelessness in Chicago.

At that conference, a founder of the Housing First philosophy, Sam Tsemberis, told him that chronically homeless people cost the government a lot of money when they're living on the street, because of services like emergency room visits and jail time.

HUD estimates that annual cost as between $30,000 and $50,000 per person.

Housing them simply costs a lot less.

On the way home Pendleton says he sat in a window seat on the plane.

"And as we flew out and we flew through the clouds," Pendleton says, "I can remember looking out at the clouds and saying, 'Lloyd if there's any state in the union that can accomplish this, it's the state of Utah.'"

Back in Utah, he helped launch a pilot project in Salt Lake City that housed 17 of the hardest cases and provided them with services. Almost two years later, Pendleton says, all those people remained housed.

"Political people became believers, because it worked in Salt Lake City," Pendleton says.

Pendleton eventually became the director of the state's Homeless Task Force. And he got everybody all the way up to the governor on board.

According to Pathways to Housing National, Utah was the first to take the Housing First model statewide.

And even though many cities in the U.S. have also been doing this for a while, they still come to Utah to study why it's working so well here.

"I get probably two to five calls a week now, wanting to know how we did it, what's unique about Utah," says Pendleton, "because it can be done."
What Powered Utah's Success
Advocates and officials say a few factors helped Utah near its goal of ending chronic homelessness.

For one, Utah is small. Ten years ago, when the efforts first started, there were nearly 2,000 chronically homeless people in Utah. By comparison, there are currently more than 29,000 chronically homeless individuals in California.

Second, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which has significant influence in Utah, was a big supporter of Housing First.

As well, Utah had a champion in Lloyd Pendleton - someone who believed in the idea and was willing to push politicians and advocates to go along.

And finally, most of the advocates and agencies in Utah know each other and work well with each other. They also know most of the homeless people by name.
Matching The Homeless With Homes
Every Tuesday in Salt Lake City, people in all the organizations that work with the chronically homeless gather in a small meeting room at a nonprofit called The Road Home.

On a recent Tuesday, Kevin Austin, the group's housing supervisor, looks through a list of 86 chronically homeless people in the Salt Lake region who qualify for housing.

Even though Utah is committed to Housing First, there still isn't enough housing for every one of the chronically homeless. And so the group has to assess need, and match the right apartment opening with the right person.

(For privacy reasons, NPR is not revealing clients' names.)

For instance, there's an opening at a group living site with shared bathrooms. Austin notes they need a candidate who is male and "plays semi-nice with others."

One person recommends a name from the list. And just before the group is ready to finalize that decision and move on, Ed Snoddy, who does medical outreach for Volunteers of America, a faith-based nonprofit, speaks up.

"He is notoriously dealing (drugs) right now," says Snoddy.

"Yeah, let's not do that then," says Austin.

The group agrees that this individual does not play nice with others, and isn't right for this particular apartment. For now, his name stays on the list.

The group works through a few more openings, trying to balance the needs of people living on the street with the housing available.

After the meeting, Austin says those decisions are tough.

"When we comb through and we're picking out three people from this list of 86," Austin says, "it does kind of suck to know that we left 83 people on that list that don't have an option - or at least a permanent option right now. But (for) those three people, that's their lifeblood."
Adjusting To A New Home, New Life
Grace Mary Manor is a two-story building with hallways lined with doors to studio apartments. It's one place in Salt Lake City where chronically homeless people are placed in housing, and it provides services like counseling on site.

Joe Ortega has been living at Grace Mary Manor for six months.

He has a 1,000-piece puzzle laid out in his room.

"It's my new addiction," says Ortega. "You know, it takes my mind off the old addiction."

Ortega used to drink a lot and do drugs. He says it's how he dealt with life on the streets. He was homeless for 20 years. For the past two years he lived under a bridge.

Then one day he started losing movement in his arms and losing his balance. He went to a doctor who told him to get sober.

"That was my first challenge," says Ortega. "Getting sober was the hardest."

It was right around this time that outreach workers started telling him that his name had come up, and that he was next on that list to be housed.

But Ortega didn't believe it. He says he kind of liked living in the streets.

"You think it's fun, when you first get out there," says Ortega. "It is fun to an extent. Because you're like, 'I've got freedom, and I don't have to answer to a landlord, and don't have to pay the light bill.' ... And that's what kind of keeps you out there."

Eventually the outreach team convinced him that the offer of housing was real.

"I was in shock at first," says Ortega "It was a little scary. I was scared. And I was like, 'What am I gonna do alone? I gotta find things to take up my time.'"

This is one challenge with housing the chronically homeless. Advocates say it takes time for people to get used to the fact that they have a home. Some people will sleep in tents, inside their apartments. Some will even go sleep on the streets a few nights a week.

For Joe Ortega, it means getting used to not having to hustle for everything - and getting used to being alone.

Ortega says he spends his days with puzzles or watching documentaries on TV.

"I make the best of every day," he says.

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Utah Reduced Chronic Homelessness By 91 Percent; Here's How

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Over the past decade, Utah's toughest cases of homeless people dropped to fewer than 200, from nearly 2,000. Utah's size and support from Mormon leaders are among the reasons for its success.

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Memphis, TN Homeless Shelters, Halfway Houses

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Shelter Listings in Memphis, TN, housing for low income

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Community Snapshot of Memphis-Shelby County
From 2012 to 2014, overall homelessness in Memphis-Shelby County, Tennessee decreased by 21 percent and chronic homelessness among individuals decreased by 39 percent. And, the number of homeless families decreased by 30 percent, from 214 families in 2012 to 149 families in 2014.
The city of Memphis is located in Shelby County, Tennessee's geographically largest and most populated county. Memphis is Tennessee's biggest city and second largest metropolitan area, with a population of 655,155 people in 2012. At 31.7 percent, the 2012 rate of homelessness per 10,000 people in Memphis-Shelby County exceeded the state rate of 15 percent.

In 2011, the Mayors' Committee to End Homelessness, led by the City and County Mayors, entered the implementation phase of its ten year plan to end homelessness. The plan included 18 strategies focused on preventing and ending chronic homelessness, family and youth homelessness, and veteran homelessness, and providing a pathway out of homelessness for all. With new Memphis and Shelby County mayors and a seasoned housing authority director staffing the Mayors' Committee, the plan to end homelessness had political support and gained traction.

Key Initiatives

Increase Permanent Supportive Housing Supply.

Since implementing the Mayors' Action Plan, the community has built on relationships with the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) and with the Memphis-Shelby County network of non-profit and faith-based homeless assistance providers to expand the supply of permanent supportive housing units. The VA Supportive Housing (VASH) program has increased housing dedicated to homeless veterans by 275 beds. Many other new permanent supportive housing programs have become available during the Action Plan implementation phase. In total, Memphis-Shelby County has increased its supply of permanent supportive housing by 44 percent, from 562 beds in 2011 to 803 beds in 2013.

Community Profile

Ms. B was found when she was 6 months pregnant and she and her four year-old son were living in the park. She had been involved in a family violence situation and the Department of Children's Services was investigating. The child she carried weighed only one pound and the doctors felt the baby would likely not survive. In addition to being homeless, she and her son were literally starving and not surprisingly, her son was having a tough time in school.

She was enrolled in the Strong Families Initiative that permanently houses homeless, child welfare involved families. With her new housing and stability, she successfully carried her baby to term and delivered a healthy 8 pound baby girl. She describes the huge relief she feels knowing that she has a safe place for herself and her children. Although tackling tough issues that would challenge any of us, these issues are more surmountable with a supportive team from Strong Families and her neighbors, now friends.

Prioritize Ending Chronic Homelessness.

Participation in the 100,000 Homes Campaign catapulted the community's outreach efforts. Using a Housing First approach, Memphis-Shelby County has been conducting aggressive outreach to identify chronically homeless persons and connect them with permanent supportive housing. Providers use the Vulnerability Index and the Vulnerability Assessment Tool to identify chronically homeless, high barrier persons then connect them with permanent supportive housing. Since October 2012, 78 of the most vulnerable, chronically homeless persons have been placed in permanent supportive housing beds. Supportive services are coordinated using an approach similar to Assertive Community Treatment. Outreach partners meet twice monthly to review the vulnerability list and match those individuals with an appropriate housing provider.

Over 50 community partners also gather at Project Homeless Connect bi-annually to conduct outreach and engagement targeted toward
unsheltered, chronically homeless individuals. At the fourth Project Homeless Connect event in September 2013, a total of 833 homeless individuals, including 101 veterans, were provided with resources such as housing as well as employment and/or medical services.

Convert Transitional Housing.

A core focus of addressing homelessness has been decreasing the community's reliance on transitional housing. The Community Alliance for the Homeless has focused on orienting providers to opportunities to convert transitional housing units, including providing cost and outcome comparisons between transitional housing and rapid re-housing.

Non-profit and faith-based providers throughout the community have helped reduce transitional housing by 46 percent (118 units) and are using those resources for rapid re-housing, which will serve at least 150 households annually, and 84 new units of permanent supportive housing. Metropolitan Interfaith Association (MIFA), for example, repurposed its HUD grants that operated 71 units of transitional housing, and is now using the funds to provide rapid re-housing. Simultaneously, MIFA donated the former transitional housing properties to Promise Development Corporation, another non-profit, to create permanent supportive housing for child welfare-involved homeless families.

Outcomes

From 2012 to 2014, overall ho melessness in Memphis-Shelby County decreased by 21 percent and chronic homelessness among individuals decreased by 39 percent. The number of families experiencing homelessness decreased from 214 in 2012 to 149 in 2014 (30 percent) and the number of people in homeless families decreased by 24 percent (from 690 people to 526 people). Memphis-Shelby County's public and private resources for homeless programs have shifted to provide permanent housing to families and individuals and to prioritize those most vulnerable.

Looking Forward

Like many communities, Memphis faces threats to its resources as sequestration has resulted in cuts to nearly every homeless program in the community. Planned projects that relied on Housing Choice Vouchers have been put on hold, and funding for supportive services has been cut by about a third.

Despite these challenges, there is reason to be optimistic about the future of homeless assistance in the Memphis-Shelby County community. Memphis was recently selected as one of five pilot sites to test supportive housing for child welfare-involved families. Catholic Charities of Memphis and Memphis Area Legal Services also received funding to implement a Supportive Housing for Veteran Families (SSVF) program to provide rapid re-housing services to approximately 160 families and individuals throughout Shelby County. Memphis' homeless assistance system continues to forge relationships with other systems, such as VA, the Workforce Investment Network, and Department of Children's Services, and foster collaboration among publicly and privately funded homeless providers throughout the community.

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Community Snapshot of Memphis-Shelby County - National Alliance to End Homelessness

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This Community Snapshot of Memphis-Shelby County, Tennessee provides an overview of the community's progress on ending homelessness. From 2012 to 2014, overall homelessness in Memphis-Shelby County, Tennessee decreased by 21 percent and chronic homelessness among individuals decreased by 39 percent. And, the number of homeless families decreased by 30 percent, from 214 families in 2012 to 149 families in 2014.

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In response to complaints from business owners, Burlington City Council is considering an ordinance that would restrict camping throughout the city on public and private property. The "unlawful camping" ordinance would prohibit campers from residing in city parks or public places that aren't otherwise designated for camping, as well as outlaw camping in a tent, camper, or recreational vehicle on private property for more than 48 hours.

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Prohibition on homeless living in cities

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UofM website

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UofM website