NLIHC’s Housing Policy Forum 2023: Onward to Housing Justice, taking place on March 21-23 at the Hilton Washington DC Capitol Hill Hotel in Washington, D.C., will feature a wide range of breakout sessions, including a session on how to counter the criminalization of homelessness.
In communities across the country, misguided policymakers are responding to growing rates of homelessness by advancing dangerous rhetoric and harmful, dehumanizing measures that will make it even more difficult for people to exit homelessness. One of the clearest threats is the alarming rise in legislation that seeks to criminalize homelessness by jailing or fining individuals for sleeping outside when they have nowhere else to go.
The breakout session, “Countering the Criminalization of Homelessness,” will address state and local efforts to criminalize homelessness; explore how advocates, people with lived experience, and homeless service providers are pushing back against these stigmatizing and counterproductive bills; and examine the impact of criminalization on people experiencing homelessness.
The session will be held on Wednesday, March 22, from 3:45 to 5 pm, and will be moderated by NLIHC Senior Vice President of Public Policy and Field Organizing Sarah Saadian. The session will feature the following speakers:
- Carlton Martin, Pro Bono Director, National Homelessness Law Center
- Donald Whitehead Jr., Executive Director, National Coalition for the Homeless
- Lisa Glow, Chief Executive Officer, Central Arizona Shelter Services
- Marqueia Watson, Executive Director, Greater Kansas City Coalition to End Homelessness
In addition to breakout sessions like “Countering the Criminalization of Homelessness,” the 2023 Forum will feature discussions with Congresswoman and Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), U.S. Department of the Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo, and Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Sandra Thompson about the path forward for ensuring tenant protections and affordable housing for those most in need in America. The Forum will also feature two keynote addresses: one by renowned scholar and social activist Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, and the other by acclaimed sociologist and author Matthew Desmond, who will also celebrate the launch of his new book Poverty, by America at this year’s Forum. Register to attend NLIHC’s 2023 Housing Policy Forum!