Church denounces legislation that would criminalize homelessness

The Catholic Church is among numerous advocates opposing an eleventh-hour effort at the Statehouse to re-introduce legislation criminalizing homelessness in Indiana.

After a similar, more comprehensive bill died earlier in the legislative session amid fierce opposition, some of its language was revived and inserted as an amendment to an unrelated measure April 7 with no opportunity for public testimony. The amended Senate Bill 197 would make sleeping or camping on public property a Class C misdemeanor punishable by a $500 fine or 60 days in jail if a first warning from a law enforcement officer goes unheeded.

Advocates for the homeless, including those who operate Holy Family Shelter in Indianapolis, say this approach is misguided and morally indefensible.

“From a direct provider’s perspective, criminalizing homelessness is the last thing you would want to do,” said Bill Bickel, associate director of Catholic Charities Indianapolis and the administrator of Holy Family Shelter, which has served homeless families for more than 40 years. “It exacerbates the issue, and it makes it harder for other jurisdictions and service providers and law enforcement to actually focus on solutions to end homelessness.

“To criminalize someone who is homeless, you’ve now added another barrier to their ability to find long-term, stable housing,” Bickel continued. “You will have a revolving door situation between homelessness and jail, and more barriers for people to get connected to housing and services. Jails and law enforcement are simply not equipped to play this role.”

The proposed legislation is similar to laws that recently have been passed in Florida, Georgia and Texas banning homeless encampments. These legislative efforts are backed by a Texas-based think tank, the Cicero Institute, which maintains that the primary causes of homelessness are substance abuse and mental illness rather than a lack of available housing.

Under the amendment to Senate Bill 197, a law enforcement officer would be required to give a person camping on public property a warning first, along with an offer to transport him or her to a service provider or shelter within a five-mile radius. But those opposing the legislation point to the lack of such resources statewide – both in rural areas as well as in major cities.

“I don’t know what city they’re talking about,” Bickel said. “Indianapolis is at capacity above and beyond. Somebody didn’t do their homework.”

Holy Family Shelter, located on the near-westside of Indianapolis, is consistently at full capacity with a long waiting list. Each year, it serves between 250 and 300 homeless families, offering essential support during times of crisis.

Due to space limitations, many families are supported in alternative emergency housing outside the shelter. A government housing voucher program – a lifeline for homeless families, according to Bickel – soon will be temporarily paused by the Indianapolis Housing Authority, further complicating efforts to help families in need.

The Indiana Catholic Conference (ICC), the public policy voice of the Catholic Church in Indiana, has issued an action alert on its website calling on the faithful to reach out to their legislators to oppose the amended bill.

At press time, Senate Bill 197 was on its way to the House floor for further consideration. “The amended bill does nothing to increase the supply of housing or services for Hoosiers experiencing homelessness and housing instability,” the ICC action alert reads, adding that it “provides no solutions and only puts additional burdens on our local law enforcement, courts, jails and communities.”

The ICC and other advocates for the homeless had no chance to weigh in on the last-minute amendment to Senate Bill 197, a broad piece of legislation on various property matters.
But earlier in the legislative session, lawmakers listened to overwhelming opposition to House Bill 1662, which focused exclusively on the prohibition of homeless encampments and consequences for those sleeping on public land.

During a February hearing in the House Government and Regulatory Reform Committee, so many advocates signed up to testify against the bill that not everyone could be heard in the allotted time. The only testimony in favor of the measure came from a representative of the Texas-based Cicero Institute.

In a letter to members of the committee, the ICC outlined numerous concerns about the legislation, saying that the bill “falls short because it only addresses the temporary, emergency response to homelessness without necessary support for affordable housing and supportive services that lead to long-term stability.
Particularly troubling to the ICC were the prohibition of camping in public spaces and the misdemeanor charges for repeated violations.

“The Catholic Church does not claim that public authorities have no right to control the uses of public property and the protection of the common good,” wrote Alexander Mingus, executive director of the ICC, which speaks on public policy matters on behalf of the five bishops of Indiana. “However, compassion for those who are homeless has long been a part of our heritage as Americans and Christians.

“Ultimately, the Catholic Church stresses an approach to the homeless that is steeped in charity out of a recognition of their God-given human dignity.”

With the chorus of opposition, the bill ultimately stalled in the House when it wasn’t called for a third reading by the mid-session deadline. But now, with language from the measure tacked on to Senate Bill 197, advocates are once again calling on lawmakers to reject the legislative push.

The Hoosier Housing Needs Coalition (HHNC) expressed “extreme disappointment and alarm” over the amendment to the bill and urged members of the General Assembly to remove the language immediately.

“Criminalizing homelessness not only adds a criminal record to the Hoosiers whose jobs no longer pay the rent, but it also puts the burden on local law enforcement while draining community services,” said Andrew Bradley, senior director of policy and strategy for Prosperity Indiana and an HHNC steering committee member. “Lawmakers must remove the Class C misdemeanor from Senate Bill 197 and instead focus on strategies to align funding and resources to restore the supply and affordability of housing in Indiana.”

Bickel of Catholic Charities agrees. He points out that while Holy Family Shelter is able to serve up to 300 families per year, last month alone there were 1,500 evictions in Marion County.

Holy Family Shelter opened in 1984 as the first emergency shelter specifically for homeless families in Indianapolis. Staff members there offer a variety of wraparound services and case management for families, including intervention with landlords as appropriate.

“The most efficient way to end homelessness is to prevent it in the first place,” Bickel said. “There have been many times, for the families inside the shelter right now, that if we could have talked to them a month before they came in, we could have saved their housing.

“Homelessness is a very complex situation. Ultimately, we want to get to the root of the issue, so that people are thriving – not just surviving.”

For now, Bickel says there is no place for this renewed effort to criminalize homelessness in Indiana.

“The Cicero Institute is profoundly influencing our Statehouse on these matters,” he said. “Under normal Hoosier hospitality, you would say this is not us.”

To follow priority legislation of the ICC, visit www.indianacc.org. This website includes access to ICAN, the Indiana Catholic Action Network, which offers the Church’s position on key issues. Those who sign up for ICAN receive alerts on legislation moving forward and ways to contact their elected representatives.