The U.S. Supreme Court issued today its decision in City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson, allowing jurisdictions to arrest and ticket unhoused people for sleeping outside, even when adequate shelter or housing is not available. The Court’s decision is a setback for unhoused people and communities nationwide working to solve homelessness, giving cover to misguided politicians to use outdated, cruel, and counterproductive measures that will only worsen homelessness. Read NLIHC’s statement on the decision.
Your elected officials need to hear from you!
Join us in urging elected officials to reject ineffective and inhumane measures that punish unhoused people for not having a home and to instead utilize and invest in proven solutions.
Take Action
You can make your voice heard by:
- Urging your elected officials to support real solutions to homelessness, not cruel and counterproductive measures – like arrests and fines – that make homelessness worse. Use this advocacy toolkit to educate policymakers. While the toolkit was published before the court issued its ruling, it includes key resources that will be helpful to advocates, such as talking points and information on needed long-term solutions, including federal legislation.
- Showing your support for proven solutions on social media. Check out this social media toolkit from our partners at the National Housing Law Center (NHLC) to craft your messages.
- Learning more about why arrests and fines do not solve homelessness. Find new resources from our partners at the National Alliance to End Homelessness to help you oppose criminalization efforts in your communities.
Background
Decades of research, learning, and bipartisan support show that the most effective strategy to address homelessness is to provide unhoused people with access to affordable housing and voluntary supportive services. Arrests and fines, on the other hand, are not solutions to homelessness and instead make it more difficult for people to access the affordable housing, health services, and employment necessary to become rehoused.
To end America’s affordable housing and homelessness crisis, Congress must invest in solutions to make housing universal, safe, and affordable for all, like those being advanced by NLIHC’s national HoUSed campaign policy agenda, which has been endorsed by nearly 2,000 national, state, and local organizations, and those in the “Fund Housing, End Homelessness” initiative led by NHLC and supported by NLIHC.
The solutions to homelessness start with: bridging the gap between incomes and housing costs through universal rental assistance; building and preserving homes affordable to people with the lowest incomes through investments in public housing and the national Housing Trust Fund; preventing evictions and homelessness by stabilizing families in crisis; and strengthening and enforcing renter protections.
Thank you for your advocacy!