(C) Iowa Capital Dispatch
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Lawmakers consider bill redirecting state funds to homeless camps, parking lots [1]
['Robin Opsahl', 'More From Author', '- February']
Date: 2024-02-13
Advocates for homelessness, mental health and domestic violence resources said Tuesday that a bill redirecting state funding toward short-term solutions and criminalizing camping or sleeping in public spaces would not help address homelessness in Iowa.
At a subcommittee meeting Tuesday morning, speakers with the Cicero Institute, a nonprofit based in Austin, Texas, promoted the legislation. They told lawmakers that the long-term housing solutions recommended by federal law through “Housing First” policies do not address rising rates of unsheltered homelessness – people living outdoors, not using shelters.
Jacob Dupuis with the Cicero Institute said the legislation, Senate Study Bill 3175, specifically addresses rising rates of unsheltered homeless populations. He said unsheltered people were at high risk for being perpetrators and victims of crime, encountering health complications as well as struggling with mental health and substance abuse disorders.
“The needs of Iowa’s homeless have changed, and the solutions of a decade ago are not equipped to handle its current crisis,” he said.
Unauthorized camping, sleeping or long-term shelter on public property would be a simple misdemeanor charge under the bill, with law enforcement first providing a warning and offering services or shelter. Dupuis said this measure is needed as a “last resort discouragement for homeless individuals who resist treatment, services and shelter offered by outreach workers.”
The bill would require the Iowa Finance Authority to provide state funds through grants to local governments for the creation of parking lots, camping facilities and shelters for homeless people in the area. Organizations in charge of these campgrounds would be immune from liability for civil claims related to the operation, management and control of the property, outside of acts or omissions related to negligence, recklessness or intentional misconduct.
State funds would be restricted from going to political subdivisions like cities and counties that have a higher per capita rate of homelessness than the state average until the area reduces its rate.
“This structure will ensure that state funds flow most efficiently to services and rewards those providers for measurable improvements,” Dupuis said.
Speakers with Iowa homelessness services and other support networks said problems with homelessness come from inadequate funding and resources, not from an excessive focus on permanent housing.
Luke Elzinga, policy and advocacy manager at Des Moines Area Religious Council, said that the bill “would create far more problems than it solves.” He said creating campgrounds or parking lots designated for homeless populations would not help unsheltered people find stable living conditions, and could further entrench them in the criminal justice system.
“There’s nothing in the bill that outlines anything about policies regarding maximum duration of stay at these parking lots or camps, or what happens if someone’s kicked out,” Elzinga said. “What’s their option, then? Again, we’re talking about forcing unhoused people who have specifically avoided others — to the extent that they’re living in a car or tent instead of a shelter — to either live communally or get slapped with a misdemeanor, a fine they likely can’t pay and ultimately, probably some jail time.”
Elzinga pointed to a 2022 Drake University study on unsheltered homelessness in Des Moines that found many unhoused people who avoid shelters do so because of safety concerns and to avoid negative interactions with other residents and shelter staff.
Elizabeth Talbert, one of the authors of the study, spoke at the subcommittee meeting. Her team surveyed 143 people experiencing homelessness. When asked where they would like to live, 141 “mentioned something other than a tent,” she said.
“People don’t want to live in tents,” Talbert said. “They also don’t want to live in shelters, because shelter isn’t home. So I want you to just know that one of the biggest findings from this study, talking to people who would directly be affected by this, is that shelter isn’t home. Home is home, and permanent supportive housing is really where we need to be.”
Multiple advocates said that permanent housing solutions like those recommended through “Housing First” policies have proven effective in Iowa and nationwide, and that issues within this solution come from the lack of stable, affordable housing available.
Nick Laning, a lobbyist representing groups including the Brain Injury Alliance of Iowa, Iowa Housing Partnership and veterans groups like the American Legion of Iowa, said that while many organizations are still reviewing the bill, there were questions about the provision restricting funding for cities and counties with higher rates of homelessness.
“It looks like, in reading the bill, that we are going to penalize communities with high homeless populations by taking away funding,” Laning said. “When, to us, that seems kind of counterintuitive. You have a higher problem, why are we removing the funding?”
Elzinga also criticized the funding provision, saying it would effectively be “punishing areas that offer greater levels of shelter services.”
The bill advanced through subcommittee with the support of Republican Sens. Jesse Green and Scott Webster. Both lawmakers said they saw the need for changes in the legislation, but wanted to keep the possibility of action on the issue open as lawmakers approach the first funnel deadline.
Most policy bills need approval of a full committee in either the House or Senate this week to remain eligible for debate this session. However, the bill was not discussed in the Senate Local Government Committee meeting later Tuesday.
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