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US cities can now punish homelessness. Will it help or hurt a crisis? "I still have 20 more minutes before I have to move," Anthony yelled from his green tent on a Hollywood sidewalk as he heard footsteps approaching. Officials in Los Angeles had come by earlier to warn him that he could face arrest if he didn't move his belongings. They told him about the recent Supreme Court opinion that opened the door for cities and states across the US to punish anyone sleeping outdoors — the most significant ruling on homelessness since at least the 1980s, when many experts say the modern US homeless crisis began. It's added to the lengthy list of worries Anthony says he already has. "I’m just trying to survive,” he told the BBC while lying down in his tent, using a blue backpack as a pillow. A black trash bag sits inside, filled with what belongings he can carry as he moves from one area to the next. “Some nights I don’t get no sleep,” he said. “I’ve been tired all day. I just want to lay somewhere comfortable and get a good nap in. And that’s it. I am not bothering nobody.” Moments later, Anthony packed up his tent and went looking for a new place to call home. The high court’s ruling is already having a ripple effect on cities across the country, which have been emboldened to take harsher measures to clear out homeless camps that have grown in the aftermath of the pandemic. Many US cities have been wrestling with how to combat the growing crisis. The issue has been at the heart of recent election cycles on the West Coast, where officials have poured record amounts of money into creating shelters and building affordable housing. Leaders face mounting pressure as long-term solutions - from housing and shelters to voluntary treatment services and eviction help - take time. “It’s not easy and it will take a time to put into place solutions that work, so there’s a little bit of political theatre going on here," Scout Katovich, an attorney who focuses on these issues for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), told the BBC. "Politicians want to be able to say they’re doing something,” The problem, Ms Katovich and other advocates say, is arresting or fining the homeless will only worsen the problem. “This tactic simply kicks the can down the road. Sure, you might clean up a street but the people you arrest will surely be back.” https://lnkd.in/gKxd_PCc

Some Cities Facing Homelessness Crisis Applaud Supreme Court Decision, While Others Push Back. San Francisco’s mayor says the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court allowing cities to enforce bans on sleeping outside in public spaces will allow the city to begin clearing homeless encampments that have plagued the city. https://lnkd.in/gjii8255

Supreme Court OKs Local Crackdowns on Homelessness, as Advocates Warn of Chaos Advocates for homeless people predict the high court's ruling will lead to more sickness and death. https://lnkd.in/gqWDyNiR

8 Homeless Moms in San Francisco Struggled for Help. Now, They're Learning to Advocate for Others Eight San Francisco women are part of a pilot program by a local nonprofit to engage more homeless parents in advocacy as family homelessness surges in the U.S. The mothers spent six months with Compass Family Services learning about the city's budget process and the homeless services system. https://lnkd.in/g8c22yDa

Homeless San Diegans are dying at higher rates than a decade ago: What’s behind it. The countywide rise mirrors a national surge in homeless mortality identified in a recently-published study. SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — It has become nearly four times more deadly to experience homelessness in San Diego County over the last decade, according to data shared with FOX 5 from a new study examining mortality rates in unhoused communities across the country. The study, which was published last month in the health policy journal Health Affairs and is believed to be the first broad look at homeless mortality, underscores the astronomical stakes of elected officials’ efforts to tackle the ever-worsening homelessness crisis: people’s lives. “People experiencing homelessness are much more likely to die in all of the localities that we’ve studied over the past 10 years,” said Matthew Fowle, a co-author of the study and postdoctoral researcher with the University of Pennsylvania. “There’s a really consistent increase and I don’t think it is something we’ve observed in the past.” Full story: https://lnkd.in/g7biTDjW

Florida set to ban homeless from sleeping on public property. Florida will ban thousands of homeless people from setting up camp or sleeping on public property under a bill lawmakers sent to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who supports the idea. Full story: https://lnkd.in/gH7tgnAF

Intimate partner violence is a precursor to homelessness, study finds. One in five women who become homeless in California flee their homes to escape violence and escalating abuse by an intimate partner. Full story: https://lnkd.in/gb5R7u6H

Ohio pastor charged for housing the homeless in his church sues city in federal lawsuit The suit filed Monday accuses the city and its officials of launching a harassment campaign against Dad's Place, a church in Bryan, Ohio, for keeping its doors open 24/7 for the homeless. https://lnkd.in/geerw8cD

Homeless in America: How bad is the crisis right now? The U.S. experienced a dramatic 12% increase in homelessness in 2023, making last year's homeless population the highest ever recorded. By Stepheny Price Full story: https://lnkd.in/gGhkvcte

More than 200 Spokane churches were asked to open their doors to homeless people during dangerously cold weather — four agreed A dangerous cold snap is forecast. Hundreds of unhoused people are in danger of freezing to death, and there isn't a clear plan to keep them warm. With the clock ticking, the city scrambles. Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown criticized the city's perpetual lack of planning during her run for office last year, and pledged to put a better system in place. But when a blast of arctic air descended on Spokane and brought temperatures below zero during her second week in office, she, too, was forced to scramble at the last minute. "The system my administration inherited is not as coordinated as we would like it to be," Brown said during a Thursday meeting to discuss emergency warming plans with City Council members. Brown declared a state of emergency and said 183 additional beds would be available during the dangerously cold weather. The city's Trent Resource and Assistance Center and other local shelters squeezed in more beds. Compassionate Addiction Treatment also opened its South Division Street location as an emergency shelter. On Friday, the city reopened the Cannon Street Shelter, which closed last May because of funding issues. https://lnkd.in/geNqU3DS