From Hobos to Housing: Tracing the Path of Homelessness in California by Lars Arceneaux https://padlet.com/larsarceneaux/6wb3j41921fydc6z And exploring how the carceral state has criminalized the unhoused throughout the history of the United States en-us 2023-05-03 15:41:18 UTC 2023-05-04 04:19:51 UTC hello@padlet.com larsarceneaux https://padlet.com/larsarceneaux/6wb3j41921fydc6z/wish/2577130286 When picturing a hobo, one's mind is drawn to cartoon depictions of dirty train-hoppers in search of a handout, falling prey to comedic run-ins with the police or a scorned housewife that had her pie stolen off the windowsill. The idea of a "traditional" hobo, who moved from town to town to look for work, has died down since World War II, the issue of homelessness and joblessness has not. 

In recent years, discussion of the carceral state in America has been rightly placed on police brutality and budgeting. However, this has shifted the focus away from the ever-present issue of homelessness in the United States.

As of 2020, the United States has over 560,000 people living without a home. California has the highest number of unhoused individuals, and counts for approximately 25% of the homeless population in America (3). 

In this project, we will see how unjust policing has affected the houseless crisis in the United States from the early 19th and 20th century, how it still affects us today, and offer potential solutions to this issue.]]> 2023-05-03 18:02:19 UTC https://padlet.com/larsarceneaux/6wb3j41921fydc6z/wish/2577130286 A Brief History larsarceneaux https://padlet.com/larsarceneaux/6wb3j41921fydc6z/wish/2577130539 While the primary focus of this project will be on homelessness in California, it's important to have an understanding of how policies against the lower class and minority groups throughout the country have influenced modern criminalization by the carceral state.

In this section, we will examine three case studies that provide a brief history of the homelessness and vagrancy crisis in the United States between 1804-1910.]]> 2023-05-03 18:02:32 UTC https://padlet.com/larsarceneaux/6wb3j41921fydc6z/wish/2577130539 Arch State Prison larsarceneaux https://padlet.com/larsarceneaux/6wb3j41921fydc6z/wish/2577131084 From 1804 to 1837, Arch Street Prison was home to the outcasts of society: tramps, debtors, and other lower-class White inmates– with approximately 2/3rds of the inmates being charged by ill defined vagrancy laws. The prisoners were sentenced and separated based on their socioeconomic class, which determined the conditions they would live in (250). 

Prisons during these times were often overcrowded, and the reform movement at the time was to separate petty and hardened criminals from one another so as to not further push incarcerated individuals towards crime again. However, this treatment did not apply to the poor incarcerated who had been targeted for vagrancy or for debt, as they “were viewed almost as hopeless causes, merely to be kept away from the general population,” (251-252) rather than rehabilitation or assistance. 

Ultimately, this level of negligence allowed for a cholera outbreak to kill 1/3rd of the prisoners in 1832 and the prison would be demolished in 1837 as larger facilities were being built. What Arch Street reveals is an “out of sight, out of mind” mentality that is present in incarceration methods for both Black and White prisoners; by removing them from the public view, the rest of ‘proper’ society can go about their lives.]]> 2023-05-03 18:02:59 UTC https://padlet.com/larsarceneaux/6wb3j41921fydc6z/wish/2577131084 Hobos in Heaven larsarceneaux https://padlet.com/larsarceneaux/6wb3j41921fydc6z/wish/2577131321 "Hobos in Heaven" by Kelly Hernandez describes the harsh and exploitative methods used by the elites and city officials of Los Angeles between 1880 and 1910 to build their city through the imprisonment and forced labor of poor white men, Mexican immigrants, African Americans, and Indigenous people. 

The text focuses on the imprisonment of lower-class white men who made up 90% of the Los Angeles prison population by 1880. Hobos and itinerant workers moved to the city during the winter after losing their seasonal jobs, before being deemed undesirable by the middle-class white families and city officials. The city invested in building the largest prison system in the nation and criminalized vagrancy and drunkenness to arrest these men, which was referred to as a "war on tramps." 

The city's motive for engaging in such behavior was to prevent the spread of their condition and to provide a labor force for public and private projects. These men were mistreated exploited for their labor while in over-crowded prisons. By the outbreak of the First World War, the city shifted its attention to targeting Mexican immigrants and increasing efforts to keep the city segregated and control the Mexican population. 

Overall, the text depicts how white American settlers developed a community of socio-economic exclusion through the prison system in California in order to build a racial paradise.]]> 2023-05-03 18:03:10 UTC https://padlet.com/larsarceneaux/6wb3j41921fydc6z/wish/2577131321 Vagrancy Laws & Convict Leasing larsarceneaux https://padlet.com/larsarceneaux/6wb3j41921fydc6z/wish/2577131538 Following the end of the Civil War and the ratification of the 13th Amendment, Southern elites, dissatisfied with losing their unpaid labor, were quick to create legislation that criminalized Black behavior under Jim Crow and vagrancy laws in order to maintain the antebellum racial hierarchy and cheap labor through the system of convict leasing (2, 18). 

Used throughout the south, convict leasing allowed for prisons and jails to lease out their prisoners to private companies for work such as: mining, railroad construction, and plantation work. Approximately nine out of ten of these convicts were Black, revealing how white supremacist legislation was put into place in order to regain the lost labor of slavery while also acting as a form of racial control by preventing African Americans from pursuing economic and civil growth (2, 24).

The rise of Jim Crow laws affected Black populations by allowing for police discretion that directly targeted African Americans rather than all races which maintained the racial hierarchy and fed the prisons with more convicts to exploit for profit.]]> 2023-05-03 18:03:21 UTC https://padlet.com/larsarceneaux/6wb3j41921fydc6z/wish/2577131538 Living Homeless in the Desert larsarceneaux https://padlet.com/larsarceneaux/6wb3j41921fydc6z/wish/2577219231 This 2022 video by VICE News highlights a number of homeless encampments in the middle of the Mojave Desert just north of Los Angeles and Lancaster.

One resident, Gary, has lived out in the desert for over 9 years after being forced out of the city by the police or continue to be harassed by them. Other houseless people talked about how encampments destroyed and bulldozed within city limits.

In Lancaster, homelessness makes up 1% of the population but 25% of citations and are labeled as “criminals and thugs” by city officials. They're often cited for camping, loitering, and panhandling despite "their only crime is not having enough income to afford [a home].”]]> 2023-05-03 19:16:41 UTC https://padlet.com/larsarceneaux/6wb3j41921fydc6z/wish/2577219231 References larsarceneaux https://padlet.com/larsarceneaux/6wb3j41921fydc6z/wish/2577411239 1. ABA. “Combatting Poverty and Decriminalizing Homelessness Through a Race Equity Lens.” Americanbar.org, 2020. https://www.americanbar.org/groups/public_interest/homelessness_poverty/race-equity-decriminalization-homelessness/.

2. Berger, Dan, and Toussaint Losier. “Roots: Challenging Prison Slavery & Political Repression” Chapter in Rethinking the American Prison Movement. New York, NY: Routledge, 2018, 15-31). 

3. Amos, Dave. How Can Cities End Homelessness? YouTube. YouTube, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L41peAlrkGw. 

4. Hernández, Kelly Lytle. “Hobos in Heaven.” City of Inmates, 2017, 410–46. https://doi.org/10.5149/northcarolina/9781469631189.003.0003. 

5. Kerman, Scott. “Homeless, Houseless, and Unhoused: A Glossary of Terms Used to Talk about Homelessness.” Blanchet House, August 30, 2022. https://blanchethouse.org/homeless-houseless-unhoused-glossary-about-homelessness/#:~:text=In%20recent%20years%20advocates%20and,experiencing%20homelessness%20or%20housing%20insecurity. 

6. NAEH. “Alternatives to Criminalization.” National Alliance to End Homelessness, June 3, 2021. https://endhomelessness.org/blog/alternatives-to-criminalization/. 

7. O’Brassill-Kulfan, K. (2019). “Severe punishment for their misfortunes and poverty”: Philadelphia’s Arch Street Prison, 1804–37. The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 143(3), 247-269. https://www.muse.jhu.edu/article/741113.

8. Rowland, Lee. “At Liberty Podcast: The Criminalization of Homelessness”  Interview with Maria Foscarinis. ACLU. Podcast audio. December 13, 2018.  https://www.aclu.org/podcast/criminalization-homelessness-ep-26


9. VICE News. Living Homeless in the Desert. YouTube. YouTube, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzbU-9L1WS4. 

10. VICE News. The Hidden Homelessness Crisis In California . YouTube. YouTube, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wCHtOTxQak. 

11. Waters, Carlos. Why Cities Are Full of Uncomfortable Benches. YouTube. YouTube, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeyLEe1T0yo. 


]]> 2023-05-03 23:50:59 UTC https://padlet.com/larsarceneaux/6wb3j41921fydc6z/wish/2577411239 How Can Cities End Homelessness? larsarceneaux https://padlet.com/larsarceneaux/6wb3j41921fydc6z/wish/2577421764 In this 2020 video, City Beautiful addresses the ongoing homelessness crisis and offers two approaches used by cities to solve it: Housing First, and Treatment First.

The Housing First approach sees homelessness as a crisis facing vulnerable people in need of help and focuses on finding treatment for substance abuse and mental health issues, ensuring adequate housing, reducing time spent homeless, and preventing homelessness from happening in the first place.

The Treatment First approach sees the unhoused as a human blight on the city and seeks to remove homeless people from public view through policing. Programs often withhold housing assistance until people are free from substance abuse issues or are employed, which ultimately fails to address the larger issue at hand.

The video emphasizes that the Housing First model has been successful in other countries like Finland, and would be the most proactive approach in solving the homelessness crisis.
]]> 2023-05-04 00:04:11 UTC https://padlet.com/larsarceneaux/6wb3j41921fydc6z/wish/2577421764 The Hidden Homelessness Crisis In California (HBO) larsarceneaux https://padlet.com/larsarceneaux/6wb3j41921fydc6z/wish/2577423232 This 2018 video by VICE News follows 46 year old homeless single mother, Danielle Williams, as she struggled to live out of her minivan in California. 

Danielle was forced to downsize to her van after being laid off from her accounting job, returning to community college to finish her degree to find a new job. She denounces the negative image of homeless people consisting of drug users or laziness, as many work jobs.

The government doesn’t track homelessness as people living out of vehicles, but it’s estimated that they make 1/3rd or the homeless population in California. The video highlights the benefits and dangers of sleeping in a vehicle, as it can be difficult to find a safe spot to stay in without being harassed by strangers and the police. In response, Safe Parking, a California-based initiative, has emerged to provide safe places to park with lot monitors and porta-potties.

The video stresses that programs like Safe Parking are only temporary solutions, and much more is needed to address the larger problem of homelessness. According to a tweet in 2019, Danielle and her daughter are no longer houseless but remain strong advocates for better government funded programs.

]]> 2023-05-04 00:06:15 UTC https://padlet.com/larsarceneaux/6wb3j41921fydc6z/wish/2577423232 Denver Homeless Veteran on the Criminalization of Homelessness larsarceneaux https://padlet.com/larsarceneaux/6wb3j41921fydc6z/wish/2577423979 In this 2019 interview from the non-profit organization, Invisible People, a houseless marine veteran from Denver named Jerry talks about the criminalization of homelessness in the United States. 

Jerry was evicted by his landlord due to a name mix up, and has lived on the streets for roughly seven months. Jerry, like 60% of the unhoused population in Denver, works part time jobs but is unable to afford a permanent residence.

He relates dealing with the police as being “a job within a job of being homeless,” as they stop and harass unhoused individuals, removing their tents from public places and sometimes into the trash. 

Jerry has personally been ticketed three times for "urban camping," but cannot afford to pay them off. He refers to this broken system as "21st century slavery… they fine you and suspend you and give you 2-4-6 hours of community service, which means you’re working for the city for free," echoing Jim Crow laws and the Hobos in Heaven article. 

The video reminds us that "unhoused people are no different than housed people… except one thing, they don’t have a place to call their own," and that the government should allocate more funds to address the roots of the issue rather than policing.]]> 2023-05-04 00:07:12 UTC https://padlet.com/larsarceneaux/6wb3j41921fydc6z/wish/2577423979 The Criminalization of Homelessness larsarceneaux https://padlet.com/larsarceneaux/6wb3j41921fydc6z/wish/2577424457 In this 2018 podcast, Lee Rowland interviews Maria Foscarinis, the founder and executive director of the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, to discuss the systemic obstacles to "address the needs of homeless people" in the United States.

The podcast argues that current anti-homeless laws and policing go against the 8th Amendment's prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment against the unhoused. Cities and businesses promote these habits in order to remove the unhoused from public view, and throws them into an underfunded and overcrowded shelter system. Lee makes notes how these laws seem like relics from the 18th and 19th century, but are still alive and well today. 

Activists and advocacy programs campaign for "housing not handcuffs," but require more substantial legislation to be passed in order to solve the homelessness crisis.]]> 2023-05-04 00:07:49 UTC https://padlet.com/larsarceneaux/6wb3j41921fydc6z/wish/2577424457 Homeless, Houseless, and Unhoused: A Glossary of Terms Used to Talk about Homelessness larsarceneaux https://padlet.com/larsarceneaux/6wb3j41921fydc6z/wish/2577446643 Before diving into the discussion on houselessness, it's important to define our terms which this article from the Blanchet House helps provide.

"In recent years advocates and activists have begun to use the word unhoused or houseless to describe individuals without a physical address... Government agencies and research institutions continue to use the word homeless when reporting on people experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity."

This project will use the terms "homeless(ness)" and "houseless(ness)" interchangeably, however it is important to recognize that words have the ability to empower or diminish a person's humanity.

Terms

Homeless: having no home or permanent place of residence

Houseless: used in place of homeless, people described as homeless are not necessarily without homes

Home: the personal community in which people live

House: a physical structure where people live]]> 2023-05-04 00:29:10 UTC https://padlet.com/larsarceneaux/6wb3j41921fydc6z/wish/2577446643 Why Cities Are Full Of Uncomfortable Benches larsarceneaux https://padlet.com/larsarceneaux/6wb3j41921fydc6z/wish/2577466433 All around the United States, cities are installing uncomfortable benches and "leaning bars" in order to prevent people from sleeping on them. This is known as hostile architecture, and is purposefully designed for discomfort. 

Defensive design limits the way in which objects/spaces can be used by the public and includes: security cameras, turnstiles, bars and spikes, knobs, sprinklers, sidewalk barriers and planters, streetlights to deter, primarily houseless, people from staying in public spaces overnight.

These efforts affect both houseless individuals along with people with disabilities as they navigate cities.]]> 2023-05-04 00:47:13 UTC https://padlet.com/larsarceneaux/6wb3j41921fydc6z/wish/2577466433 Alternatives To Criminalization larsarceneaux https://padlet.com/larsarceneaux/6wb3j41921fydc6z/wish/2577476595 This article from the NAEH explains how criminalizing homelessness is ineffective and inhumane, and suggests that providing housing and supportive services is a more effective solution.

The article emphasizes the importance of collaboration between different agencies and organizations to effectively address homelessness, and provides examples of successful programs and initiatives that have implemented these approaches.

Connecticut: public services are helping assure that people experiencing chronic homelessness will not be charged for minor offenses, reducing harassment from law enforcement.

Portland: the first homeless community liaison to communicate and coordinate with unhoused people to create a response plan and "address the underlying root causes of police contact."

New York: the Corporation for Supportive Housing's FUSE initiative provides houseless individuals with supportive housing to eventually find permanent housing, greatly reducing the number of people on the streets.

Oakland: funding "community-based alternatives to policing" with mental health response teams

Overall, the article advocates for more compassionate and effective solutions to homelessness that prioritize housing and services over criminalization and policing. ]]> 2023-05-04 00:56:38 UTC https://padlet.com/larsarceneaux/6wb3j41921fydc6z/wish/2577476595 Conclusion larsarceneaux https://padlet.com/larsarceneaux/6wb3j41921fydc6z/wish/2577497181 By examining how past and present criminalization of the unhoused has not solved the homelessness crisis, it's imperative to look for better ways to address the situation. Pulling from these sources are some solutions that could begin to tackle the homelessness crisis in California and the United States, including: 

  • Integrating domestic violence support with homelessness support networks can help people find housing before turning towards the streets
  • Providing grants to have people avoid evictions, preventing homelessness in the first place
  • Increasing government funded affordable housing, the lack of which is especially prevalent in California
  • Joining non-profit organizations with government funded programs to best tackle the issue
  • Minimize police interactions with unhoused individuals in favor of trained social workers
  • Allocate funds away from policing for housing first programs
  • Treat the unhoused as people rather than obstacles


]]> 2023-05-04 01:15:49 UTC https://padlet.com/larsarceneaux/6wb3j41921fydc6z/wish/2577497181 Combatting Poverty and Decriminalizing Homelessness Through a Race Equity Lens larsarceneaux https://padlet.com/larsarceneaux/6wb3j41921fydc6z/wish/2577500890 This webpage by the American Bar Association discusses the intersectionality of race and homelessness and the impact of criminalization policies. They explain how people of color are disproportionately impacted by homelessness and criminalization policies, and how these policies perpetuate systemic racism and inequality.

The ABA also provides Blueprints for Action, which addresses how the housing market, food inadequacies, and lack of educational resources contribute towards the houselessness crisis. 

The ABA suggests alternative approaches to addressing homelessness that prioritize housing and supportive services, as well as policy changes to address racial disparities in homelessness and criminalization. 

Lastly, resources and information for lawyers and advocates are included to support decriminalization efforts and promote racial equity in addressing homelessness.

]]> 2023-05-04 01:18:47 UTC https://padlet.com/larsarceneaux/6wb3j41921fydc6z/wish/2577500890 Summary larsarceneaux https://padlet.com/larsarceneaux/6wb3j41921fydc6z/wish/2577624333 It's remarkable to see how the lower-classes, minorities, and homelessness were targets of policing which helped build the carceral state as it is today through forced labor.

Policing in the 19th and 20th century is marked by vague language in laws that allow for the state to exert power unto those seen as troublesome, which often included the unhoused.

It's particularly startling to recognize that California was built on the exploitation of itinerant workers while being denied access to living a full and stable life.]]> 2023-05-04 03:06:31 UTC https://padlet.com/larsarceneaux/6wb3j41921fydc6z/wish/2577624333 Introduction larsarceneaux https://padlet.com/larsarceneaux/6wb3j41921fydc6z/wish/2577632320 Now that we have examined policing practices of the past, we can begin to look at modern issues relating to homelessness.]]> 2023-05-04 03:13:44 UTC https://padlet.com/larsarceneaux/6wb3j41921fydc6z/wish/2577632320 Summary larsarceneaux https://padlet.com/larsarceneaux/6wb3j41921fydc6z/wish/2577641287 Issues of homelessness in California and the rest of the United States are ever-present as lawmakers and police officers continue to target those unhoused through unjust practices that only further perpetuate the problem rather than offer tangible solutions.]]> 2023-05-04 03:23:40 UTC https://padlet.com/larsarceneaux/6wb3j41921fydc6z/wish/2577641287 Introduction larsarceneaux https://padlet.com/larsarceneaux/6wb3j41921fydc6z/wish/2577679845 After looking at contemporary issues and examples of the homelessness crisis, we can begin to turn towards possible solutions to help relieve those experiencing houselessness. ]]> 2023-05-04 04:04:43 UTC https://padlet.com/larsarceneaux/6wb3j41921fydc6z/wish/2577679845