Millersville University

19/08/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 20/08/2024 01:24

Being Homeless in America

The Supreme Court issued its opinion in Grants Pass v. Johnson earlier this summer. The ruling makes it easier for communities nationwide to fine, ticket or arrest people living unsheltered, even when adequate shelter is not available.

Dr. Jennifer Frank, an associate professor in the School of Social Work at Millersville University, watched the case closely. Because of her many years of work and research on homelessness in the U.S., she was invited to review and sign an amicus brief, a document intended to offer information and expertise on a subject.

After the ruling, we sat down with Dr. Frank to talk about the case.

The Supreme Court's decision on homelessness was a huge disappointment for many. Are there any immediate consequences for the homeless in Lancaster? In other areas?
I suppose we will need to wait and see exactly how this plays out in Lancaster. Even before this decision, a disregard for our unhoused neighbors persisted, evidenced by a $100K fence around the county building pushing vulnerable people further into the elements, coupled with the closure of emergency shelter beds. At the same time, however, many citizens and social service providers have shown disdain for the county government's actions and continue to care deeply for the homeless.

How will you discuss this in your classes at Millersville?
The Grants Pass decision allows for the criminalization of homelessness even when no shelter beds are available. This is a prime example of how society attempts to further disenfranchise the already marginalized. We need to care for our neighbors with empathy and compassion. The reality is that homelessness can happen to anyone given the right mix of unfortunate events. We need more compassion as a community. Criminalizing people for sleeping outside only adds more insult to injury. Breaking up encampments also can lead to increased rates of mortality (Barocas et al., 2023).

What does this mean for social workers? Does it put more burden on them?
Yes, it does. And social workers are already strained. Plus, their salaries are not competitive with those of social workers in neighboring counties and states. In Lancaster, we recently lost emergency shelter beds and instead added outreach workers. While more outreach workers are good for human connection, if they have no shelter beds to direct people to, it seems futile. We need the political will to care and put money into caring for people by developing sustainable and permanent solutions to house everyone.

Do you think this could deter people from going into social work?
Nope. It will invigorate them! Social workers are in the practice of care and concern for the marginalized. If anything, it means that our work is not done here and we need morepeople to go into social work, particularly macro work of social advocacy and social change. In fact, our Master of Social Work program, both our in-person and online options, are highly in demand.

What do you think the overall consequences will be of the court's decision?
Overall, I think people will be harmed, and mortality among our community neighbors who are unhoused will increase. Criminalizing homelessness like this gives political officials and the greater population the wrong idea about what homelessness is even about. Having swaths of residents without housing represents an extreme version of poverty where you have fallen out of the bottom of whatever social safety net exists. Because we do not have an adequate social safety net or affordable housing options for people, we have unsheltered homelessness. Criminalizing sleeping outside does nothing to fix any of the issues that caused people to become homeless in the first place, which could be loss of job, family issues, mental health concerns, and medical problems.

In fact, criminalizing homelessness makes it just even that much more difficult for people to stabilize as they will be disconnected from any social network that they might have had and, if incarcerated, will have a criminal record and fines, which are additional barriers to employment and housing. The decision is morally and ethically unjustifiable.

How will arresting homeless people impact our jails?
We will pay more to house our neighbors in jail than we would by supplying housing. If we are in the market for for-profit jails (privatizing jails and prisons for the profit of the elite), then maybe they see this as a new market. We already have more people incarcerated (1,767,200) than any other country in the world (World Prison Brief, 2024).

How will being jailed impact homeless people?
Incarceration is hard for anyone. For this population, incarceration will make life worse for them for a number of reasons, including a criminal record, fines, and disconnection from social networks and resources. Many landlords will not rent to people with a criminal record, so we are setting our community members up for further challenges.

Is there anything citizens can do about this?
Of course! Policies and practices can change with residents speaking up and speaking out. It is never too late to get engaged in any policy issue. Yes, please write to your congresspeople, including local officials. Letters to the editor are a good idea. And get engaged online via TikTok, Instagram, Threads, and other media!

Why is there such a shortage of homeless shelters?
We get what we pay for. The political will for adequate resources, shelter beds as well as affordable housing for the lowest-income renters, is necessary. We just lost 80 low-barrier shelter beds in Lancaster, leaving people with fewer options for where to get shelter. The shelters that do exist often have many barriers and requirements that do not allow them to meet the needs of all of our unhoused neighbors. It is expensive and challenging to operate low-barrier shelters (and it is desperately needed). We need county officials to allocate adequate funds to social service agencies that will operate such facilities.

If a homeless shelter is full, do homeless people have any other options?
According to the Grants Pass decision, people can be arrested for sleeping outside even if no shelter beds are available. So, I would say no, they don't have other options. It is terribly unfortunate. I spoke to a homeless man recently who noted that he really doesn't sleep. Instead, he walks around all night so that he won't get arrested.