Why a Good Plan Matters

Later this week, the Obama Administration will release its new plan to end and prevent homelessness. By law, the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness is charged with developing this plan and presenting it to Congress no later than May 20, 2010. This requirement, contained in the HEARTH Act, was something that the Law Center and other advocates pushed for.

But a plan, no matter how powerful, will not house a single homeless person. So, does it really matter?

Yes, but part of why it does depends on us. The plan will be the Obama Administration's official policy position on homelessness. It will give direction to the federal agencies and guidance to state and local governments. If the plan is written as we expect, it will set measurable goals and targets and encourage cross-agency collaboration. This will be crucial to reforming federal systems.

But above all, the plan is about creating accountability. Last March, President Obama said: "I'm heartbroken that any child in America is homeless.... it is not acceptable for children and families to be without a roof over their heads in a country as wealthy as ours." Amen. But what will he do about it? The forthcoming plan is the Administration's chance to spell this out.

Our recommendations to the Administration included many specifics endorsed by the Law Center and by many other advocates, centered on these key issues: housing, income, health care, education and civil rights. We also emphasized the importance of affirming that housing is a basic human right: If in fact the Administration believes that homelessness is not "acceptable," as the President said, it should have no trouble making this explicit statement in its plan to end homelessness.

When the plan is released, it will be up to advocates to do two things. First, to tell it like it is: Will the plan do the job? (To see our recommendations to the ICH on the Plan, click here.) Second, to make sure it happens. Even the best plan will mean nothing if it's not implemented.

A plan, alone, will not end homelessness. But a good plan will be an important step in the right direction.

Last week, the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty joined other civil and human rights organizations in the Arizona boycott. The boycott was precipitated by Arizona's adoption of a new law that imposes harsh requirements on immigrants and gives police authority to stop and demand documents from anyone they have reason to suspect might be an illegal immigrant. But the issues at stake go beyond immigration, and the links to homelessness and poverty are pretty direct.

The law imposes requirements that are difficult or even impossible for many poor people to meet--regardless of immigration status. Driven by the foreclosure crisis and the recession, the diverse and overwhelming homeless population continues to grow. As it is a population that consists disproportionately of people of color, the fear of racial profiling associated with the Arizona law can have exponential effects on the homeless.

Worse, people who have lost their homes will be much less able to produce the documents that the new law now allows police to require. Once lost, some documents can be literally impossible to replace. Without a government identification document, for example, it can be impossible to gain entry to a government building--and to apply to replace the missing document.

The possible ramifications of the Arizona law will not simply affect its illegal immigrants. While it implies possible civil rights violations, it most importantly ignores the interests of those who are already marginalized because of poverty, immigrant status, color, or all of the above.

The above is an excerpt from Maria Foscarinis's Huffington Post blog on May 11. To read the full article click here.

On April 28, the Law Center provided a web training on human rights and homelessness for a small group of advocates in Salt Lake City, Utah at the request of Bill Tibbits, from Crossroads Urban Center. The training focused on issues of the criminalization of homelessness, where homeless people are ticketed for actions like sleeping, sitting, or eating in public places.

After the training, advocates decided to conduct a "sleep-in" in a public park, receiving excellent press coverage, emphasizing the human rights perspective that sleeping is a necessity of life, and when a person does not have a private place to do that, to deny them the ability to sleep is to deny their right to live as a human being. Sleeping in the park is no one's idea of a permanent solution, but until there is enough affordable housing available for all, cities should not violate the human rights of homeless people just because they have nowhere else to go.

Following the sleep-in, the Chief of Police invited Tibbits to a press conference where he thanked him for drawing his attention to this issue, stated that he intended to halt enforcement of the City's anti-camping ordinance and that he planned to ask the Council to make some revisions to the ordinances.

The Law Center will continue to work with local advocates to advance the human rights of homeless persons in Utah and across the country.

For more information regarding Constitutional and human rights problems with anti-sleeping laws, click here.

On Tuesday, April 21, a letter submitted to the City Council by the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty lead to a mayoral veto of an aggressive panhandling law that would have posed major constitutional and human rights concerns for homeless people in Seattle. C.B. 116807 would have violated First Amendment rights by restricting free speech without an adequate justification for doing so. Vague language in the ordinance could make it difficult to enforce, which would increase the likelihood of criminalizing homelessness.

Though the council did pass the ordinance on a 5-4 vote, the mayoral veto stopped its enactment. The submitted letter suggests that a dedication to programs that promote affordable housing, more accessible health care, or other solutions to homelessness would be a much improved use of Seattle's time and resources than pursuing actions that merely result in civil rights violations

The letter is consistent with previous advocacy by the Law Center, with an emphasis on constructive alternatives to laws like C.B. 116807, which penalize people experiencing homelessness instead of working to improve their situations. Cited examples include Madison, Wis., and Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., where outreach teams have successfully reduced solicitation by connecting homeless people with resources and housing, rather than arresting or ticketing them.

To read the full letter, click here.

On Wednesday, May 12, U.S. Representative Judy Biggert (R-IL) introduced the "Educational Success for Children and Youth Without Homes Act of 2010," H.R. 5285. Rep. Biggert was joined by Rep. Dale Kildee (D-MI), Rep. Todd Platts (R-PA), Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH), and Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA) as original co-sponsors of the legislation.

The bill, like its Senate companion bill, S. 2800, introduced in November 2009, is based in large part on recommendations developed through a broad consultation process with schools, service providers, and homeless individuals by the Law Center and our partners at the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children & Youth (NAEHCY).

The "Educational Success for Children and Youth Without Homes Act of 2010" reauthorizes and amends the McKinney-Vento Act's Education for Homeless Children and Youth program and related laws. The amendments reinforce and expand the McKinney-Vento Act's protections of homeless children's right to attend school, including after natural disasters, and crucially expands funding sources to meet transportation needs. A summary of the legislation is available here.

The Law Center thanks Representatives Biggert, Kildee, Platts, Fudge, and Sestak for their attention to the needs of homeless children and youth, and encourages its readers to call their senators and representatives and ask them to co-sponsor these important pieces of bipartisan legislation. A sample letter is available here.

President Obama is now considering issuing an executive order on human rights. In this time of economic crisis, the executive order would address the human rights obligations of the United States and put concrete action behind President Obama's recognition that human rights begin at home. The Law Center, in partnership with the Human Rights at Home Campaign, has been pressing the Administration to issue a comprehensive executive order that would integrate the U.S.'s human rights commitments into all agencies of the government.

Please consider writing a letter to President Obama to press him to issue an executive order that will bring human rights home. To learn more, and for sample letter text, click here.

On April 19, as a part of the United States' first ever comprehensive human rights review by the United Nations, advocacy groups and service providers nationwide submitted reports examining U.S. compliance with international human rights obligations as required under the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other human rights treaties.

One coalition, lead by the Law Center, focused on U.S. violations of housing rights, and offering concrete steps the government can take toward realizing a human right to housing.

"There is no more clear violation of human rights than the fact that we've got millions of homes and apartments made vacant by the economic crisis, but people are living on the streets," said Eric Tars, the Law Center's human rights program director.

This report was produced by 14 national and local housing organizations, with an additional 54 organizations' sign on. It offers a comprehensive review of housing rights violations in America, and makes recommendations including: 1) expanding federal programs making vacant properties available for use as housing, 2) placing a moratorium on demolitions of public housing and mandate one-for-one replacement on subsidized units, and 3) removing policies that prevent people from accessing existing housing, such as lifetime bans for minor arrests.

This Universal Periodic Review process holds UN member countries accountable to human rights standards by requiring that all members submit reports to the Human Rights Council every four years. This is the United States' first review since the UPR was created in 2006. The U.S. government will submit its own report in August, and the review by the UN will take place on November 5 in Geneva. The Law Center will continue its advocacy with the UN to ensure housing rights concerns are elevated through the process.

To read the report, click here.

The Law Center would like to thank all of the generous donors who contributed in response to our spring fundraising appeal. Your gifts change lives.

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