Let's start off with saying that
ENGAGED RESIDENTS MAKE MORE EFFECTIVE GOVERNMENT
Mesa Has A Problem
Here's some data from MAG, the Maricopa Association of Governments, the results of the annual one-night Point In Time homeless count that probably undercounts the actual number of the homeless. The trend, however, is clear - no matter what cities say they are doing or trying to improve, the problem is only getting worse not better here in Maricopa County.
LINK > http://azmag.gov/Programs/Homelessness/Point-In-Time-Homeless-Count
The 2018 Point-In-Time Count identified 6,298 people experiencing homelessness in the region on the night of January 22, 2018. Of this population, 2,618 were unsheltered and 3,680 were in shelter. This is a 12 % increase from the region’s 2017 number of 5,605. While the overall numbers went up, the count also showed that the number of homeless individuals, youth, and families who were not in shelter continues to increase. This year, the number of people living in unsheltered situations was 2,618. This is a 27 percent increase from the 2017 number of 2,059, and a 149 percent increase from the unsheltered number recorded in 2014. Regionally, the number of people living on the streets has more than doubled since 2014.
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Many people here in Mesa might consider the homeless a nuisance. That issue was addressed here in a report from Arizona Attorney Digital Mag
One of the major findings > Working to develop more permanent supportive housing is the true answer.*
Nuisance and Vagrancy Laws: The New Exclusionary Zoning
< What’s Going on in Arizona?
As shown in the table at left, out of six examined Arizona municipalities, all of them ban sleeping in public, and most of them ban begging in particular public places.
Often, economics and public safety are the justifications for passing such ordinances.
> Municipalities implement nuisance and vagrancy laws to address the public safety, economic development, and aesthetics of communities for business owners and residents. Such laws are seen as solutions to problems. But they don’t advance the goal of reducing homelessness, and they often result simply in the displacement of individuals experiencing homelessness to other parts of the city or neighboring cities—which may have harmful effects on their well-being. Moreover, ordinances directed at the homeless can result in local governments spending resources on legal defense of such legislation as well as consequences for businesses.> Another unintended consequence of such ordinances can be the erosion of public spaces. Ordinances that criminalize behavior in public eventually can lead to fewer and fewer people using these public spaces, as well. For instance, some parks have eliminated sitting or reclining in grassy lawns to discourage persons who are homeless from loitering in their parks.
> In addition to public safety resources and time, police involvement in arrests and fines associated with public nuisance laws can lead to an erosion of trust in the police if people feel harassed by law enforcement or feel scared to report criminal activity
. . . Yet people experiencing homelessness do end up in the criminal justice system and can become entangled in a cycle of fines and fees they cannot afford to pay, further deepening their involvement with the justice system.
The Arizona Supreme Court, in its recent report of the Task Force on Fair Justice for All, recognize this cycle and addresses it, stating that bailable defendants “should not have to remain in custody simply because they are poor.”10
Moreover, the consequences to individuals who are homeless can be devastating. Being homeless is extremely difficult—and that’s an understatement —and not having a safe space to rest or sleep can contribute to poor health and poor quality of life.12 City leaders’ discussion and promotion of these ordinances can contribute to a culture in which violence and hatred toward persons who are homeless is acceptable. Staggering fines have multiple effects; a person who pays will have even fewer resources to secure stable housing and basic necessities, and those who cannot pay may face incarceration, which will affect employment and housing opportunities as well as social services.13
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To decrease homelessness, a successful approach has been the Housing First model. Housing First provides permanent supportive housing concurrently with services. In Utah, where the model was implemented statewide, homelessness dramatically decreased by 91 percent. Moreover, results indicated that having stable housing helps residents address other challenges such as addictions, unemployment and health concerns; the model proved to be cost-effective after factoring in ER visits and jail costs associated with persons experiencing chronic homelessness.14 Ordinances that encourage affordable housing development would go further to reduce the numbers of individuals experiencing homelessness and thus the public nuisances. It is a positive development that more Arizona communities are moving toward Housing First.
However, there are barriers to affordable housing that need to be overcome. Developers and local governments need to work with communities to help residents understand that affordable housing can benefit the entire community, including making the streets safer for everyone, helping employers by ensuring their employees have stable housing, and by engendering empathy for less fortunate neighbors. Finally, cities and lawmakers should consider a more complete picture of homelessness—which is a complex, regional crisis that requires compassion and flexible approaches.
MELISSA KOVACS has a Ph.D. in public policy and is the principal and founder of FirstEval, LLC, a data analytics and statistical consulting firm, where she helps her clients find meaning in data. She can be reached at mkovacs@firsteval.com or found on Twitter at @firsteval.
JOANNA LUCIO is an associate professor of urban and public administration in the School of Public Affairs at Arizona State University. She teaches courses on urban studies and conducts research on affordable housing and the rights of low-income residents. She can be reached at joanna.lucio@asu.edu and followed on Twitter @LucioUMS.
The authors thank Lauren Kuby for significant comments and assistance with this piece, and Leonor Camarena for research assistance.
