As someone who has worked in homeless services in Montgomery County for the last ten years, I often get asked: How do we solve homelessness?
Candidly, the people asking that question are often thinking that there’s a silver bullet, a quick solution that hasn’t been tried before.
I understand why: in all areas of the country, there are more and more people visibly living outdoors. The more we see people experiencing homelessness in parks, in front of municipal buildings, or around parking lots, the more we feel a sense of urgency that something must be done.
I can say one thing for sure: The solution to homelessness is not arrests.
Yet, that’s a solution that some communities are trying to use. In fact, today the Supreme Court will hear the case Grants Pass v. Johnson, which asks whether it is unconstitutional to arrest someone experiencing homelessness when no other housing or shelter exists for them.
From all viewpoints, arrests are a terrible solution. First, it’s counterproductive. Arrests exacerbate underlying issues that contribute to a person’s homelessness, such as lack of a steady income or domestic violence. Recent data has shown that nearly all people are not unsheltered by choice but because they lack safe, affordable housing; appropriate healthcare; or safe shelter. Arrests, jail time, and fines make it harder for them to regain housing, not easier.
Second, arresting people experiencing homelessness is expensive. Data has shown that providing affordable housing paired with supportive services is more cost effective than allowing people to live unsheltered and cycle through criminal justice systems and emergency rooms endlessly.
So why do local authorities continue to push this ineffective, expensive “solution”?
The reason is because in this country, we can be our own worst enemy when it comes to solving the problem of homelessness.
In my years working on this issue, what I’ve learned is this: The only common denominator among people experiencing homelessness is the need for housing they can afford. The only solution to homelessness is to provide ample affordable housing, and in the short term, temporary housing with supports while people find a more permanent care plan.
Unfortunately, we’ve seen significant opposition across Montgomery County against both these solutions to homelessness. It has been two years since the only temporary living space for single adults closed. In that time, groups of residents have stalled efforts to open a supportive housing site that would offer health services and temporary housing for people who have lost their homes. These groups are citing false and misleading reasons for opposing this plan.
At the same time, groups of residents have organized against most affordable housing developments in various municipalities, even housing developments where just a small percentage of the total homes are dedicated to lower and moderate-income workers.
We want to have our cake and eat it, too. We don’t want to see homelessness, but we also don’t want to create the kind of community where homelessness can be solved.
And so without real solutions available, we’re left with ones that don’t work, like arresting people who have nowhere to sleep.
As residents, neighbors, as people who want to see our communities thrive, we can take action together to solve homelessness. It’s no silver bullet, but it is something we haven’t tried before:
Call your local council person to say that you want to see solutions to homelessness in your own community. Write an email to your town manager asking how your municipality is bringing more affordable housing into your neighborhood. Show up to zoning hearings in support of affordable housing proposals. And begin talking to your neighbors about how diverse housing in our communities is fair, cost effective, and simply the right thing to do.
We can end homelessness in Montgomery County, but not with handcuffs.
Emma Hertz is the president and CEO of HealthSpark Foundation. She served as co-chair of the Moving Montco Forward Advisory Committee on Affordable Housing and Homelessness. She has previously worked as the administrator of the Montgomery County Office of Housing and Community Development.
