December 6, 2021, Washington, D.C. – Rates of unsheltered homelessness, including the number of people living in encampments, is a national disgrace. The National Alliance to End Homelessness recommends urgently prioritizing this population for housing and services. Considerable new federal resources have been made available for this purpose via the CARES Act and the American Rescue Plan Act, and more may become available with passage of the Build Back Better bill.
The process of housing people living in encampments and other unsheltered locations is underway in communities across the nation, but is not to scale. In the meantime, thousands of people around the country, and hundreds in Washington, D.C., remain unsheltered and must be supported and protected until housing solutions are available to all of them. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that encampments and their residents be assisted on site, and that encampments not be disrupted unless there is housing available.
Taking down encampments without indoor accommodations and support that that is suitable and acceptable to the prospective tenants violates CDC’s guidance; requires people living in encampments to find new, outdoor accommodation with no sense of security that their new location will not also be violated; and is traumatizing and disruptive to people living in encampments.
Best practice for these situations is to provide assistance to people in the encampments while helping them to access permanent indoor accommodation and services as quickly as possible without unnecessary preconditions.
About the National Alliance to End Homelessness
The National Alliance to End Homelessness is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization committed to preventing and ending homelessness in the United States. As a leading voice on the issue of homelessness, the Alliance analyzes policy and develops pragmatic, cost-effective solutions; works collaboratively with the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to build state and local capacity; and provides data and research to policymakers and elected officials in order to inform policy debates and educate the public and opinion leaders nationwide.
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