Moving the goal posts on homelessness

[unhappycamper]

http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/editorials/2015/09/24/moving-goal-posts-homelessness/BoOy8BPSPQw1tpPdmpI12I/story.html



A man exited a tent at McKeon Park in Hyannis.

Moving the goal posts on homelessness
By Joan Vennochi Globe Columnist September 24, 2015

It Is Billed as a CRUSADE against homelessness. But it feels more like one against the homeless, or at least against the cost of subsidizing them.

Governor Charlie Baker just came up with a plan to reduce the number of families living in hotels and motels at state expense because they have nowhere else to go.

It’s simple: Toughen eligibility requirements for gaining access to such housing and, like magic, the numbers will go down.

Where would those families go? The Baker administration said it will commit $5 million to help find more permanent living situations. That sounds good. Except that shelters are full, rental voucher programs are tapped out, and affordable housing is essentially nonexistent — which is why families become homeless in the first place. So without an accompanying plan to provide more affordable, permanent housing, the $5 million means little or nothing. Meanwhile, restricting eligibility just makes it harder for families in need of assistance.

--

Our right-wing Gov is squeezing poor people and homeless the way Republican governors do.

Stop it, Mr. Baker.

[daleanime]

1. They simply don't care...

[TNNurse]

6. And they think they are using Christian values.

They are simply people who have got theirs (many by birth) and do not think others deserve any help from them.

They think if you were worthy, you would be OK.

[unhappycamper]

2. House speaker scuttles Baker plan on homelessness

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/09/25/house-speaker-scuttles-baker-plan-homelessness/pYAcwdxuIyJ84cgQPjEEHI/story.html



House Speaker Robert DeLeo

House speaker scuttles Baker plan on homelessness
By Joshua Miller Globe Staff September 25, 2015

House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo has essentially scuttled Governor Charlie Baker’s plan to narrow eligibility for homeless families seeking state-funded emergency housing.

DeLeo said in an interview Friday he had spoken with the chairman of the House budget committee, and they both agreed that “narrowing the eligibility requirements was not a good thing” and “would not be in the best interest of the homeless.” He said the provision will not be part of a key bill poised for a vote next week.

~snip~

Advocates for homeless families, who had sharply criticized the Baker proposal, immediately celebrated the news.

“We’re really grateful that the Legislature has examined this issue and realized that restricting access to shelter for the most vulnerable families isn’t a way to end homelessness,” said Kelly Turley, director of legislative advocacy at the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless.

[JDPriestly]

3. K&R.

The Homeless and Hungry Games.
.

[babylonsister]

4. This could make him change his tune...

http://www.occupydemocrats.com/obama-administration-set-to-take-away-money-from-cities-that-criminalize-homelessness/


Obama Administration Set To Take Away Money From Cities That Criminalize Homelessness
by James DeVinnie • September 24, 2015


In an important step for the rights of the homeless, the Obama administration has announced that federal funding to combat homelessness will be tied to municipalities cracking down on criminalization of the homeless. The move comes after the administration argued last month in federal court that local ordinances criminalizing homelessness – an pressing issue given the recent uptick in homelessness in many cities – are a violation of the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

The change in policy comes at a time when inhumane laws criminalizing the homeless have proliferated at an astounding rate. A recent report by UC Berkeley, for example, identified more than 500 such laws on the books in only 58 cities in California, where the homeless population has reached epidemic proportions and efforts to address it have generally ranged from the misguided to the totally inhumane. Such laws, typically shrouded in language identifying them as “quality-of-life,” or – without any irony regarding the similarity to Reconstruction-era Black Codes – “anti-vagrancy” laws, make it illegal to do things like sit down on a sidewalk, panhandle, or sleep in public places. Given the shameful inadequacy of most cities’ shelter programs and their often-inhumane conditions, these new laws have left the homeless, many of whom are working, with very few options to live a law-abiding existence.

The administration’s move applies specifically to almost $2 billion of Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grants that are provided to localities annually to combat homelessness in public-private partnerships. Under the Fed’s new rules, in order to qualify for the grants cities must describe the efforts they are making to combat the criminalization of the homeless through working with law enforcement and promoting new, more humane ordinances. Homeless advocates hope the policy will have a similar effect to an earlier Obama administration initiative, Race to the Top, that tied the provision of federal education funding to local districts raising their standards. Maria Foscarinis, Executive Director of the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, praised the move, saying: “We welcome the federal government’s direction of tax limited dollars to the places that will most effectively use that money to address homelessness.

Besides the obvious human rights benefit of directing sparse homelessness funding to beneficial rather than combative initiatives, the new policy will save money for both taxpayers and municipalities given that criminalization initiatives have been found to be counterproductive and leaving the homeless on the streets – as criminalization without funding for support ensures – costs more than three times as much as providing basic housing and services to the homeless population. The Obama administration deserves to be commended for its efforts to support the homeless, who often seem to exist in a marginalized and disadvantaged world outside the aegis of the rights and freedoms that most of us take for granted.

[unhappycamper]

5. I certainly hope so.

Gov. Baker seems interested most in:

privatizing public schools
privatizing the MBTA
casinos
new Execelon gas lines
stopping wind power

Did I mention privatizing public schools?

[fasttense]

7. What is it with these RepubliCONS that pretend to be Christian?

The one thing that is absolutely certain about Christ is that he wanted to help the poor. Pick up any version of the bible and read his words, you are left with no uncertainty about his desire to help the poor. And RepubliCONS everywhere proclaim themselves Christian and go to work immediately making the poor suffer. That's like me declaring I'm a Christian then claiming I don't believe in Jesus.

[kairos12]

8. America prefers gated communities, not shelters for the homeless. It's truly shameful.

[valerief]

9. Fuckin' assface GOP governor. How the fuck did this shitstain get elected? I sure as hell

didn't vote for him.