What Communities Need to Know About the Criminalization of Homelessness

All over the country, an organized effort is seeking to criminalize homelessness while attacking best practices like Housing First. Several states have already enacted bills along these lines, with more expected in the 2024 legislative session. This page contains resources and tools to ensure that every community understands this harmful trend.

TAKE ACTION AGAINST THE CRIMINALIZATION OF HOMELESSNESS

Read: “The Supreme Court Rules on Homelessness: What it All Means”

Resources to Fight Criminalization in Your State

Combat State-Level Punitive Bills

Unlock the Full Potential of Housing First

Scale Services to Meet Peoples Needs

More Resources from the National Homelessness Law Center

WATCH: Housing First Webinar Series

Track Legislation that Seeks to Criminalize Homelessness

Why Criminalization Doesn’t Work

Read “THE WRONG APPROACH TO HOMELESSNESS”

Source: National Low Income Housing Coalition

Blog Posts:

Learn more about how investing in homeless services is a better approach

Criminalization Video Series

Why Lawmakers Get It Wrong When They Criminalize Homelessness	Hiding a Problem Never Works: Encampment Raids Don’t End Homelessness
Encampment Raids Are Traumatizing	Don’t Want Homeless Encampments? Support Housing.

In the News:

Supreme Court to decide if ban on homeless encampments is ‘cruel and unusual’ (ABC News, April 2024)
Criminalizing Homelessness Won’t Make It Go Away (New York Times and Invisible People, April 2024)
The Supreme Court Takes Up Homelessness (New York Times, April 2024)
How far can cities go to clear homeless camps? The U.S. Supreme Court will decide (NPR, February 2024)
Can cities clear homeless camps without offering an alternative? (Route Fifty, January 2024)
The right’s war on ‘housing first’ lands in Middle America (Washington Post, December 2023)
Inside the push to criminalize homelessness (Marketplace, May 2023)