Homeless Supreme Court case

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Originally Posted by jp1

And if none of those options is available to the person it’s ok if the city makes it illegal for them to sleep?

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I doubt this entire issue has anything to do with the occasional one off situation where someone sleeps in a public park one night. I'm sure if one evening you found someone sleeping in the HOA maintained space just outside your back door you'd probably not make an issue of it, but once it became every night and they started bringing in tents or other makeshift housing, making a fire pit for those frigid nights and start relieving themselves in your yard you'd probably start requesting someone do something about it.

I think that's the situation a lot of cities are finding themselves needing to address. It's too bad various activist types have taken the stewards of these public spaces to task for attempting to deal with the situation. If I'm not mistaken, that's why it's before the Supremes now.

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Originally Posted by Alan

I doubt this entire issue has anything to do with the occasional one off situation where someone sleeps in a public park one night. I'm sure if one evening you found someone sleeping in the HOA maintained space just outside your back door you'd probably not make an issue of it, but once it became every night and they started bringing in tents or other makeshift housing, making a fire pit for those frigid nights and start relieving themselves in your yard you'd probably start requesting someone do something about it.

I think that's the situation a lot of cities are finding themselves needing to address. It's too bad various activist types have taken the stewards of these public spaces to task for attempting to deal with the situation. If I'm not mistaken, that's why it's before the Supremes now.

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exactly. It’s about setting up camps.

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Originally Posted by Alan

I doubt this entire issue has anything to do with the occasional one off situation where someone sleeps in a public park one night. I'm sure if one evening you found someone sleeping in the HOA maintained space just outside your back door you'd probably not make an issue of it, but once it became every night and they started bringing in tents or other makeshift housing, making a fire pit for those frigid nights and start relieving themselves in your yard you'd probably start requesting someone do something about it.

I think that's the situation a lot of cities are finding themselves needing to address. It's too bad various activist types have taken the stewards of these public spaces to task for attempting to deal with the situation. If I'm not mistaken, that's why it's before the Supremes now.

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It's unlikely that homeless people are going to start camping on the hill behind our house. They already have places to camp. People with RV's camp on the road leading to the general aviation airport, and people without RV's camp in the park next to the main library. The RV encampment has county assistance with things like sewage pumpout to protect the wetlands that abut the road, and the park camp has porta potties and portable showers and such. There are also social service workers and such working to find everyone better housing at both locations.

https://www.marinij.com/2023/07/30/n...-camp-at-park/

https://www.marinij.com/2023/08/25/m...ato-road-camp/

At the end of the day the correct thing to do, at least in my opinion, is help these people find stable housing. Not criminalize their existence and then send them to jail when they can't solve their housing problem on their own.

Meanwhile, in Finland:

https://www.huduser.gov/portal/pdred...ic-071123.html

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Originally Posted by bae

Meanwhile, in Finland:

https://www.huduser.gov/portal/pdred...ic-071123.html

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Shinn and Khadduri point to the success of the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program as an example of an effective implementation of the Housing First approach in the United States. The program, which is designed to house veterans experiencing homelessness, has contributed to an 11 percent decline in homelessness rates among U.S. veterans since early 2020 (based on a 2022 Point-in-Time Count). Specifically, data show that on a single night in January 2022, a total of 33,136 veterans were experiencing homelessness in the United States, down from 37,252 in 2020. This decline represents a 55.3 percent reduction in the number of veterans experiencing homelessness since 2010.

Housing First makes sense. My brother suffered from alcoholism his whole life--bouncing around from place to place living in cheap motels when he had the money and when he didn't who knows where he stayed.. But he was able to acquire his own apartment on the campus of a VA hospital, with all the regular support services he needed to kick the alcoholism. Last week he celebrated his 3rd year of sobriety. One of the motivating factors he has told me about in staying sober is the knowledge that if he picks up a drink, he has a LOT to lose. He feel stable and happy for the first time probably in his life.

As for the biggest roadblock in Housing First, you have to have the housing to offer. The homeless in Burlington are on a 1-2 year waiting list, even for one of the new pods that are featured in the link I posted above.