Homelessness & Its Challenges

"Homelessness is a profound assault on dignity, social inclusion and the right to life. It is a prima facie violation of the right to housing and violates a number of other human rights in addition to the right to life, including non-discrimination, health, water and sanitation, security of the person and freedom from cruel, degrading and inhuman treatment."
 

Homelessness in America: Overview of Data and Causes:

The National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty currently estimates that each year at least 2.5 to 3.5 million Americans sleep in shelters, transitional housing, and public places not meant for human habitation. At least an additional 7.4 million have lost their own homes and are doubled-up with others due to economic necessity. But data related to homelessness are far from exact. Part of the difficulty is that there are different definitions of homelessness now in use. For example, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban development (HUD) uses a narrow definition largely limited to people living in shelters, in transitional housing and in public places. (1) The U.S. Department of Education (DoE) uses a broader definition that includes families who are doubled-up with others due to economic necessity. Another difficulty concerns methodology. HUD reports annual “Point-in-Time” counts of the “unsheltered” homeless population; however, the methodology used to collect those numbers varies by community and is often deeply flawed. (2) HUD also reports annual counts of the sheltered population; this number varies with shelter capacity, which depends on variables such as available funding. (3)

This summer, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion in Grants Pass v. Johnson, which upheld laws in the city of Grants Pass, Oregon, that prohibit people from sleeping outside on public property even when there are no available shelter beds. This disappointing and harmful decision allows cities to enforce civil and criminal penalties against individuals who have no choice but to sleep outside, despite the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. As Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in her dissent, the court’s ruling abandoned “its role in safeguarding constitutional liberties for the most vulnerable among us” by allowing the enforcement of laws that criminalize the status of being homeless.

The United Nations (UN) has criticized the criminalization of homelessness in the United States, calling it a violation of human rights and an inefficient approach to addressing social issues:   

UN panel: In 2014, a UN panel criticized the criminalization of homelessness in the United States, noting that it includes laws that prohibit activities like sleeping, camping, begging, and lying in public spaces.

Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights. A study by the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights and the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing argues that criminalization of homelessness: 

• Perpetuates discrimination and exclusion 
• Entrenches discrimination and stigmatization 
• Is an unsuitable, inefficient, and costly approach to address social issues