Homeless Camping Bans Are Spreading. This Group Shaped the Bills.

Abandoned Humans and Buildings, What a Combination

BY KRISTIAN HERNÁNDEZ | APRIL 8, 2022 | HOMELESS CAMPING BANS

Think Tank Policy Replacing Compassion

Mercy-less, Kind-less, new governmental regulations and laws emerging to marginalize an entire people group to a Care-less desolate waste land(Metatag)

Introduction

We need to look for the answers in these nuggets we just read. Camping bans that are being transacted into law from this Think Tank are as follows:

        >Strict 6-month residency

        >Cities fined if the camp not taken down in 6 months

        >Fines and Tickets for any other camp site

There has been a great push back because it is a non-governmental agency policy setting group that is outside the loop. It is a group that cares nothing for the homeless. They are not interested in ending homelessness. It is more money-based false solutions that do not work, are short sighted and punitive in nature. What to look for:

        >Solutions that help people

        >Answers that unburden local governments

        >Policies that reduce expenses

Read with an eye toward looking for answers, long term answers, and you will not find them in this article from the Think Tank.

Let’s look at His word as get started today

Exodus 23: 2

You must not follow the crowd in wrongdoing, do not testify in a lawsuit and do not go along with a crowd to pervert justice, do not show favoritism to a poor person in his lawsuit

What Say You…

Ain’t no beds, ain’t no shelters, ain’t no emergency beds, but you ain’t able to sleep where you drop either you must not sleep where you drop, no way, they will come for you

Men and women of our armed forces served this nation with honor and dignity, and it is a national moral dishonor to allow a veteran to struggle, live and die on the streets, time for change

Speaking out Against Policies

Here are 5 reasons experts in homeless intervention are speaking out against the Cicero policies that are being enacted as laws:

>Against best known practices

>Disregards local needs

>Cuts funding to cities who refuse Camps

>Does not reduce long-term, chronic homelessness

>Does not advocate for permanent solutions

>It may push the homeless deeper into hiding

        The basic truth is this, homelessness, and the government are bedfellows and together the government makes money. However, the homeless are not helped to be self-sufficient. These new policies banning camping are no improvement. The tickets, fines, court costs, jail all generate money, so therefore there is no true compassionate interest in ending homelessness. And the homeless are made only the more hopeless.

        Advocates are concerned with the basic policies because there is no end game so to speak. Cicero is specific about Street Dwelling Homeless only and the Government sanctioned Camps, but nothing else. So when 6 months is complete, camp is gone, now what? Is Cicero envisioning a camp to camp shuffle game or what is the answer?

Doing it Right

Colorado Collective Village, we can learn from this group of people who are working effectively with the homeless.

They have “Safe Space Camping,” a total of three in operation and there is no time limits for the individual to spend there. There is mental health and addiction counseling available if it is needed.

At the time of the article, they were caring for about 242 people in the camps.  But what they have over Cicero is this, 42 persons have transitioned off the streets into Long Term Supportive housing.

Now Colorado has all the camping bans, and no street dwelling laws as most states, but they also have a healthy alternative that help people off the streets.

Dealing with “Problems”

Neither group gets this major piece right, what about the other 35 to 45%

Both Cicero and Colorado Collaborative speak at length of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, but that is not 100% of the homeless picture. There are about 50% to 65% of that particular group on the streets, and then you have the mixed mass of the 35% to 50% who are ignored.

What about the aged out foster kid, what about the injured worker out of benefits, what about the car accident victim, the grieving parent, the domestic violence sufferer, and the list could go on, are we helping them? There are no shelter beds assigned to them, none.

Most interventions are focused on dealing with “Problems,” not Solutions and that has to change. Unless we have reduced life to Problems and if we have done that than we can no longer see People. But have we totally lost all compassion?

Please, Think About This

In the article it speaks quite openly of many states who have already passed camping bans based on Cicero policies or are considering them. The carrot and the stick are how the Founder of the Institute refers to his policies. Do the people or the states need major ‘threats’ with so little ’promises’ when it comes to homelessness?

Again, you hear of the inhumane thoughts of leaving the addicted and mentally ill on the streets for decades, but you never hear of a solution outside of the six months. As well as hearing a lot about fines, rules, jail, tickets, and the like, where is the hope, help and justice?

Go to the article yourself and read the various states that have enacted this Think Tank policies as law and I can be very sure of this, homelessness has not improved in their states. How can it, it gives no plan outside of the strict 6 month camp plan, nothing, they care nothing for humans only for the money they are to receive when the plan is implemented.

Following in the Wrong Steps

Following the wrong footsteps, it is this, no long-term supportive housing combined with a strict 6-month residency in the camps. There is no end game for the Cicero Plan, camp after camp and that is the game, nothing else, hope, no answers

How does this have a positive impact on homelessness? How does this help the people, the city, the state, the community, how? Why do I ask this, because at the end of six months, everyone is out on the streets again, and the camp is destroyed, no questions asked, that is the law.

I must say this again, it is all throughout the article, they are simply focused on Mental Health and Addiction, but what about everybody else that is homeless, is there to be no help to get them back on their feet again? This set of Policies being passed into law carries no solutions, thus following the wrong steps.

Exodus 23 tells us the truth ‘we must not follow others in wrongdoing,” if these are doing wrong to the homeless then we must continue to look for better, more ethical solutions.

Conclusion

>Cicero brings entrepreneurial solutions to public/human problems, state sanctioned camps for 6 months with severe restrictions, no solutions

>6 states are ‘eating the carrot’ to avoid the ‘stick’ currently, but fail to realize that the carrot is unable to sustain long-term answer

>Homeless advocates are alarmed, against best practices, punishes the homeless and has no solutions

>Colorado Collaborative on the right course, right focus, transitioning the homeless, long term supportive housing

>”This law has done nothing to help the homeless situation, says Samuels, and it is a shame that it is spreading to other states.”

CTA…..

Answer this, Are the homeless people first or merely problems to be solved, if we go with Cicero, they are just unsightly problems

        Answer this, is punishing non-profits for cities failures the right course of action, if the city fails the Cicero plan the non-profit is unable to do their work

        Answer this, is Cicero or Colardo Collective on the right track, humanity wise, remember the greater number of homeless are Not addicts, so think twice before answering

Homelessness is a problem that will exist until we solve it, one single person at a time and put affordable supportive housing in place for the long term

In conclusion, Cicero or Colorado Collaborative, right or wrong, humane or inhumane, mercy or merciless, how do you see the camping bans and the people stuck in those camps?

I Say to you, the generic, everyday citizen look around with open eyes and be willing to be part of the solution, intervene whenever possible, there are humans not merely statistics and numbers.  There is a moment in time just ahead of us when a door of opportunity will come and we must be ready, to help or hinder, what will your response be, God is watching. Finally, remember, that homeless one could be your family, your brother, your cousin, your mom, if had not been for God’s holy and mighty grace, so let’s act accordingly.