At one point-in-time in a public meeting, District 1 Mesa City Councilmember Mark Freeman, ensconced comfortably in his own family compound-enclave, reacted to seeing the homeless on public transit as 'the awfulness'.
In one of the first reactions to the extension of lightrail service into downtown Mesa, city officials wanted a police bike patrol first of all.
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* Posts on this blog: There are more than a few - see 1, 2 and 3 below
1
14 November 2018Ending Veteran Endlessness? NO > The Actual Numbers of Homeless Vets Across The Valley Has INCREASED in The Last 5 Years
KJZZ takes a look at a program called H3 in a two-part special report “Homes for the Brave,” to try to explore why.
Published: Tuesday, November 13, 2018 - 11:50am
Updated: Wednesday, November 14, 2018 - 9:23am
(For some reason the writer uses former Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton as the whipping-post, but Mesa Mayor John Giles also declared publicly that vet homelessness is 'effectively zero')
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Mesa mayor tells conference there are no homeless in city
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https://azceh.wildapricot.org/project-h3-vets
According to KJZZ's report, those working on-the-ground have a less-than-rosy view
of what either politician boasted about hyping-up a success story when they need one
2
17 September 2018
Map to the right are locations for unsheltered homeless:
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
This article describes the state of nuisance laws among Arizona municipalities and offers examples of California lawsuits as cautionary tales.
< What’s Going on in Arizona?
< 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
________________________________________________________________________________________________________To decrease homelessness, a successful approach has been the Housing First model.
> 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
________________________________________________________________________________________________________To decrease homelessness, a successful approach has been the Housing First model.
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25 June 2017
Published on Nov 23, 2015
Views: 545,167
Duration: 12:54
A growing number of American cities are ticketing or arresting homeless people for essentially being homeless. The new laws ban behavior commonly associated with homelessness like reclining in public, sharing food or sitting on a sidewalk.
Supporters argue these measures are necessary to push homeless people into the shelter system and maintain public safety. Critics say the laws violate the rights of homeless people and ignore the more complicated drivers of homelessness like mental illness
Supporters argue these measures are necessary to push homeless people into the shelter system and maintain public safety. Critics say the laws violate the rights of homeless people and ignore the more complicated drivers of homelessness like mental illness
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* From HUD:
HUD’s national estimate is based upon data reported by approximately 3,000 cities and counties across the nation. Every year on a single night in January, planning agencies called ‘Continuums of Care,” along with tens of thousands of volunteers, seek to identify the number of individuals and families living in emergency shelters, transitional housing programs and in unsheltered settings. These one-night ‘snapshot’ counts, as well as full-year counts and data from other sources (U.S. Housing Survey, Department of Education), are crucial in understanding the scope of homelessness and measuring progress toward reducing it. . .
Here in the Phoenix East Valley, homelessness has increased!
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4 days ago this press release from the U'S. Department Housing & Urban Development:
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development – Ben Carson, Secretary
Office of Public Affairs, Washington, DC 20410
HUD No. 18-147
Brian Sullivan
https://www.hud.gov/press [this takes about 30 minutes to save/download]
HUD REPORTS HOMELESSNESS UNCHANGED IN U.S. IN 2018 WITH NOTABLE DECLINES AMONG VETERANS AND FAMILIES WITH CHILDREN
WASHINGTON – Homelessness in the U.S. remained largely unchanged in 2018, according to the latest national estimate by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). HUD’s 2018 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress found that 552,830 persons experienced homelessness on a single night in 2018, an increase of 0.3 percent since last year. Meanwhile, homelessness among veterans fell 5.4 percent and homelessness experienced by families with children declined 2.7 percent nationwide since 2017.
As in previous years, there is significant local variation in the data reported from different parts of the country. Thirty-one (31) states and the District of Columbia reported decreases in homelessness between 2017 and 2018 while 19 states reported increases in the number of persons experiencing homelessness.
“Our state and local partners are increasingly focused on finding lasting solutions to homelessness even as they struggle against the headwinds of rising rents,” said HUD Secretary Ben Carson. “Much progress is being made and much work remains to be done but I have great hope that communities all across our nation are intent on preventing and ending homelessness.”
“Communities across the country are getting better and better at making sure that people exit homelessness quickly through Housing First approaches,” said Matthew Doherty, executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. “We know, however, that a lack of housing that people can afford is the fundamental obstacle to making further progress in many communities.” . .
Research demonstrates that for those experiencing chronic homelessness, providing permanent housing, coupled with appropriate low-barrier supportive services, is the most effective solution for ending homelessness. This ‘housing first’ approach also saves the taxpayer considerable money by interrupting a costly cycle of emergency room and hospital, detox, and even jail visits.
2018 AHAR: Part 1 - PIT Estimates of Homelessness in the U.S.
Date Published: December 2018
Description
This report outlines the key findings of the 2018 Point-In-Time (PIT) count and Housing Inventory Count (HIC) conducted in January 2018.
Specifically, this report provides 2018 national, state, and CoC-level PIT and HIC estimates of homelessness, as well as estimates of chronically homeless persons, homeless veterans, and homeless children and youth.
Keywords: 2018 PIT; 2018 HIC;
Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress
Resource Links
