As states turn to healthcare systems to help tackle homelessness, experiments in housing and other social services aimed at getting people healthier and off the streets are facing new and aggressive crackdowns – with some cities stepping up enforcement of the laws anti-campers and others crossed new boundaries.

From Florida to California, elected officials and law enforcement agencies have launched widespread operations targeting the homeless following a U.S. Supreme Court decision in June that made it easier for states, cities and counties to fine and arrest those living outdoors – even if not there is shelter. or housing is available.

“These tactics cause chaos, not order. This is not a solution to homelessness, and in fact, it will make the problem worse,” he said Ann OlivaCEO of National Alliance to End Homelessness.

These sweeps are a response to growing community frustration over the proliferation of homeless encampments and the public health dangers that often accompany them.

But increasing evidence shows that housing and health services can help people get off the streets while stabilizing their health. What to do about homelessness has become a rising political issue.

“Voters believe that mental health and physical health services are an important part of the solution,” he said Celinda Lakenational pollster Democratic Party. “They feel if you just arrest people and move them, you’re only going to make the situation worse. Voters want real solutions. That’s what we’re hearing from Minnesota to Tulsa, to Omaha, Nebraska, and even Great Falls, Montana.”

Politicians respond to homelessness by clearing out encampments, but in doing so, they undermine efforts to stabilize communities and make them healthier.

The sweeps severed critical relationships with street treatment providers, housing navigators, and case managers funded by Medicaid and through other state and national programs, including federal programs. Health Care for the Homeless program launched in 1987 to improve the health of those living outside.

As law enforcement operations expand, health care providers on the ground say the efforts are making people sicker. Homeless people miss medical appointments, lose medication, and have ID cards, birth certificates and other important documents thrown away, slowing efforts to get them into homes.

Health and social service providers in cities in Western countries, where there is an increase in the number of people living outdoors, also report an increase in drug use, suicidal thoughts, and other mental health problems such as anxiety and depression among homeless.

“There’s a lot of health care funding that goes into stabilizing people and getting them to places where they can get health, but if they’re constantly forced to move, we can’t find them,” said Beth Rittenhouse-DhesiSan Francisco’s longtime provider of street medicine.

“People lose their medications or throw them away, and suddenly, conditions like diabetes, hypertension, HIV, asthma, opioid use… get much worse,” because of the lack of treatment.


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