Communities everywhere are struggling to address homelessness, untreated mental health, and substance use. CSH works with partners across the country who work tirelessly to address them while standing firmly on the principle that housing and community-based services are the foundation for recovery, stability, and public safety.
The Executive Order released yesterday, Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets, undermines the legal rights and just treatment of people experiencing homelessness and people with disabilities.
While we agree wholeheartedly that people desperately need services that support recovery, the Executive Order is centered on a false premise that communities have services like substance use treatment and psychiatric care on demand for those who need them, and that mandating participation will solve the problem. It will not.
Decades ago, the Reagan administration closed state psychiatric hospitals because they were financially unsustainable and because experts noted that with the right supports people could live more fruitful lives in the community. Congress, however, failed to fund the necessary housing and supports leading to overcrowded jails, emergency rooms, and shelters.
The Executive Order’s emphasis on long-term institutional settings and policing as the primary solutions to homelessness turns back to failed policy ideas that contradict decades of evidence-based practice. Mandating treatment without housing fails to address the root causes of homelessness, ignores the overwhelming data on our housing shortage, and will once again prove to be a financial burden for states and localities.
The Executive Order also promotes engaging the federal police force and detention centers to clear encampments, which would cause lasting harm to already vulnerable people – human beings who are parents, siblings, and loved ones who could otherwise thrive with the right support and a place to live.
CSH remains committed to working with all levels of government to advance practical and innovative solutions that lead to real and lasting change.
