San Diego’s Serving Seniors has joined leading nonprofit organizations and housing experts addressing the nation’s homelessness crisis in signing on to an amicus brief in a case being heard on April 22 before the U.S. Supreme Court.
The case, City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Gloria Johnson, will determine whether local governments can make it a crime to involuntarily live outside and unsheltered, when adequate shelter is not available. The Supreme Court will review the decision of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled states are not allowed to make it a crime to sleep outside if no inside space is available, based on Eighth Amendment protections against “cruel and unusual punishment.”
Officials in Grants Pass and elsewhere including the San Diego seek the ability to arrest and jail unsheltered people. Organizations like Serving Seniors which work with people experiencing homelessness understand the frustration of residents negatively impacted by our region’s homelessness crisis.
But turning people without a roof over their heads into criminals will not solve the problem. It will only divert our time and resources toward the criminal justice system, rather than turning our efforts including funding toward creating more affordable supportive housing. We should be spending money on developing housing, not paying for jails.
This is why Serving Seniors and many of our colleagues across the U.S. strongly advocate for the ruling in the Grants Pass case to stay in place.
Debunking Myths Around Homelessness
Our amicus brief dispels common myths about homelessness. Homelessness is not a matter of choice. It is a complex issue tied in large part to the lack of affordable housing.
The brief points out the fallacy in the argument that homelessness can be resolved through criminalization. There is a proven correlation between the scarcity of affordable housing and high rates of homelessness, especially in cities like San Diego with a high cost of living.
Our brief brings the high court’s attention to a harmful cycle. When people end up with a criminal record merely for lacking a roof over their heads, their path out of homeless becomes even more challenging.
Criminalization Is Counterproductive
Our brief outlines the legal, social, and economic ramifications of criminalizing homelessness. There is enough data from years of studying homelessness to prove such measures are not only ineffective, but also make the problem worse. The self-reinforcing cycle of homelessness and incarceration hurts individuals and imposes significant financial burdens on society.
When we divert financial resources from potential solutions to paying for incarceration and criminal justice processes, we fail to address and solve the root causes of homelessness.
Economic Implications and Alternative Solutions
Our coalition of experts prefers to focus on practical solutions. At the simplest level, it costs far less to build and support housing than it does to build and support jails. Supportive housing helps break the cycle of homelessness while generating considerable cost savings by reducing the need for emergency services, shelters, jails and hospitals.
This practical approach alleviates the burden on public resources. It also alleviates the real human cost of expecting people experiencing homelessness to somehow pull themselves up by their bootstraps, get a job, or move out of San Diego.
Thirty percent of the people experiencing homeless in San Diego are over age 55. Many would love to work but suffer from ageism or paperwork barriers — or can’t get hired because they have an arrest record. Others are disabled or have significant health issues. Social Security payments don’t come close to covering average rent costs. Affordable housing offers a more humane and effective solution to homelessness.
Serving Seniors A Model of Success
Serving Seniors demonstrates how supportive housing and other services can make a profound change. By providing older adults with stable housing, coupled with healthcare, meals, and social programs, Serving Seniors changes lives and offers a path to a solution that is both cost-effective and humane.
Our coalition’s amicus brief presents a compelling argument for reevaluating the approach to homelessness in the United States. We urge the U.S. Supreme Court to support the shift both in public policy and public perception represented by the Grants Pass ruling by the Ninth Circuit.
It’s time to end the criminalization of homelessness and instead put our efforts toward investment in supportive housing as the only sustainable solution. Serving Seniors and our counterparts from across the U.S. have collective experience and success addressing homelessness as a housing problem, not a criminal justice issue.
Turning those who cannot afford housing due to causes largely beyond their control will not solve this vexing problem. Instead, it will only increase serious social and economic costs for our communities.
Paul Downey is CEO of Serving Seniors, a San Diego-based nonprofit that helps seniors in poverty live healthy and fulfilling lives.