Already blighted by their homeless status, destitute people are disenfranchised even more by a criminal record. Employment, housing and loans, while barely attainable before, become impossible after multiple stints in jail. Cycling people in and out of jails exacerbates the problem it purports to solve. It can be different. Utah began giving away apartments to homeless individuals after realizing how much money could be saved. Policymakers realized that, on average, it costs about $16,670 a year to jail a person and $11,000 a year to set him or her up with an apartment and social work. Since a program called Housing First was launched in 2006, homelessness in Utah has decreased 78 percent, despite a recession-fueled plunge in median income. The state estimates that all Utahans will be housed by next year. So as New York, Florida, California, Connecticut and other states continue to criminalize the homeless, wasting taxpayer money, Utah actually assists them, saving money in the process. How socialist and effective of you, Utah. Instead of just criminalizing and thereby ignoring the root problem of homelessness, Utah may be on to how to provide a solution to this growing problem. Hopefully, other states (especially New York, where there are more billionaires and more homeless than ever before) will learn from this. Criminalization of poverty only creates more problems and makes it more impossible for individuals to re-enter society or worse, unable to get the mental health care they often need and shelter they deserve.
Posted on: Tue, 14 Oct 2014 15:11:22 +0000
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