New Study: Criminalizing Homelessness Doesn’t Reduce Homelessness
A recent study shows that encampment bans and other policies that criminalize homelessness don’t keep people from living on the street. The analysis did not find any reduction in homelessness in any of the cities studied as a result of such ordinances.
The study examined the effect of ordinances enacted between 2000 and 2021 across the 100 most populous U.S. cities, using data pulled from Continuums of Care — local entities that administer federal homelessness funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The study, published in May in the Policy Studies Journal, looked beyond camping bans and included laws criminalizing public drunkenness, urination or other actions that are criminalized when conducted in public but not behind closed doors.