An interesting development that makes a lot of sense has cropped up. Several federal departments and agencies are stepping up and pushing back against cities and local governments that outlaw homelessness. We have all probably heard about or seen our own cities ban things like loitering, sleeping outdoors, feeding homeless people in public and several others that directly affect homeless individuals.
For example, in one certain city they were confiscating micro homes specifically built for homeless people that had wheels to allow the micro house to be moved out of the way during the day. Or the family that was penalized, fined and threatened with jail time for regularly feeding homeless people. In several cities homeless encampments were torn down even though there was no reasonable or safe place for the residents to move to.
One of the federal agencies specifically involved is HUD or The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. They provide much of the funding to assist local homeless service agencies, such as the shelters and the local homeless coalitions, to provide housing and other assistance for homeless individuals. One of the ways HUD decides how to divide up the federal funding designated for homeless assistance is a rather lengthy questionnaire that all recipients of HUD funding for the homeless must complete. What has or is going to happen is the questionnaire will have some additional questions regarding whether there are ordinances or laws in the local area that make some form of or homelessness in general illegal. By asking these questions they will then adjust the local HUD allocation.
Even the Department of Justice has stepped in. One instance had the DOJ stating that it was unconstitutional to prohibit outdoor sleeping thereby forcing a certain city to reconsider it's ordinance against homeless people sleeping outdoors. In this case, I'm not sure where they are in the legal process or if the city in question will be willing to repeal the ordinance without a fight.
Some other federal agencies or departments who are stepping up in pushing back against local governments making homelessness illegal are the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S, Interagency Council on Homelessness.
It is good to see that our country's leadership is beginning to make a definitive move towards combating homeless even if it means they have to tell local communities how to administer to the local homelessness problem. On the other hand having the federal government involved can assist in the implementation of actual working programs such as "Housing First" on a far larger scale and the creation of more affordable housing.
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