Why homeless people are choosing to go to jail: ‘I kept reoffending’

BY Wilson Criscione | November 4th, 2022 | Why homeless people are choosing

No, Not the Shelter, Send Me to Jail, Please!

Shelters are often unsurprised, open rooms of theft, robbery, assault, drugs and mayhem, the homeless have their stolen and their persons harmed, streets safer(Metatag)

Staat with quote:

“Homelessness is a housing problem,” Dones says. “It is not a problem of criminality or substance use or behavioral health.”

Gorton doesn’t know how he will live when he gets out of prison. He says he doesn’t want to commit more crimes or hurt more people, so he is preparing for the scenario he has been trying to avoid this entire time:

“I think I’m going to try my best to endure homelessness.”

Introduction

How are we, the housed, the warm, the fed, employed, protected, comfortable able to judge any trapped in the cycle of Homeless to Jail instead of quietly dying on the streets, this is what it boils down to

Oh, the answer is simply go to a local shelter, report after from the social workers assigned to shelters is this, nobody feels safe there, they feel less vulnerable on the streets

This article is complex in what it covers, but we have to understand the suffering and lack of true assistance for the homeless individuals and the political gamesmanship behind homelessness

Let’s look at His word as get started today

Leviticus 19: 18

You shall not take revenge or bear a grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor(acquaintance, associate, companion( as yourself, I am the Lord

Matthew 19: 19
Honor your father and mother and love your neighbor as yourself(that is unselfishly seek the higher or best good for others)

What Say You…

Would you choose to go to jail on any given day, most would not, but facing near certain death in winter, facing hostile shelters, is jail the safer, better ‘choice’

Behind the veneer of statistics that are being used to hide the truth what are the homeless to do, just die on the streets

Let’s Look at a Couple of Words

        Choice: Suggest the opportunity of choosing or privilege of choosing freely.  Freedom of choice

        Myth:  An unfounded or false notion

        Justice: Fairness in the way people are dealt with

        Freedom: the power or right to think, act or write as one wants without hindrance or restraint

        Quality of Life Crimes: Any disorderly conduct committed by an unhoused person that is related to attempting to survive while living outside, sleeping, eating, laying down, resting, washing up, and so on

Desperation

No one in their right mind would willing, freely chose to go to jail, but across America the homeless are doing just that and it is for the same basic reason, and when I say right mind I am not speaking of insane, I am speaking of a free and willing, ethic choice

Petty crimes, repeat offenders, quality of life crimes, all crimes that are non-felony level that could result in shelter placement or probation, are resulting in jail time, why

The simple yet ineffective answer is this, the homeless would rather be in jail than in the majority of shelters across the Unites States, why, they literally do not feel safe or protected in the shelters

Mr. Carver, the lead actor in this article himself is followed as he faces the judge without a lawyer and literally green lights himself to go to jail instead of the streets or the locale shelter, desperation

Anti-Homeless Policies, Increased Police Contact

Across the nation anti-homeless legislation is being brought forth for policy makers to consider, and sadly it is all smoke and mirrors because no one wants to admit it is a Housing problem, not merely mental health and addiction

No one is giving the first responders the right tools to bring homelessness to end, no is looking at the right perspectives, it is a all or nothing blame game with the homeless dying on the streets or choosing to go to jail, and the numbers continue to explode

Housing first and services second and in a supportive is up front expensive, but in the long term is it the absolutely most sensible solution to ending homeless and giving dignity back to humans once again

It is a Housing Crisis, Housing Saves Money

Housing, mortgages, rental rate across the America have blown up since the Pandemic and they had already been heading up since 2008 and the cash, people are being priced out of housing, period. Buy a house is now a privilege not the American dream

Housing is becoming a rich man’s game and the means the medium income and especially the working poor can no longer afford to live is a house or apartment, whether or not they are mentally ill or have addictions issues, evictions are on the rise

Everyone can call for mental health intervention, addiction counseling, camping bans and all of that, but until housing is actually addressed the homelessness crisis will not be solved, it is at the root a housing problem and to solve it will take some creative thinking

It comes down to a basic financial situation, no builder, financier wants to build affordable housing, the money is not there, the needy can’t pay the higher rates as well as NIMBY syndrome!

Follow the Money Folks, it is being Spent Wastefully

The amount of tax payer dollars spent on one single homeless person and the resulting emergency room visits, police officer interactions, social worker hours, fines and tickets and jail is off the charts and totally wasteful

Imprisoning a human runs form $32,000 to $47, 000 per year, the cost of streets sweeps, to clean up the homeless mess is about $60,000, then add in Emergency and Police response. Low Income Rental Assist is about $15, 000, why not try Houston’s answer?

We do have a moral obligation, since it is a housing problem, as we have read in article upon article, or is it better to waste the money and ignore the exploding crisis of homelessness, it is not going away, what say you…

Conclusion

As criminalization is sweeping across the states a new trend, a dangerous and sad trend is rising to meet it, the homeless choosing to go to jail as the last hope of safety and protection

        Petty crimes, repeat offenders, hundreds of man hours, Emergency rooms overflowing, simply because the state and national leaders are standing behind broken policies

        They are called ‘street hardened and shelter resistant,’ but does any one stop to ask why that label has been applied, or is it just accepted and as a result they are left to die on the streets

        Choice:  The act of making a decision when facing two or more possibilities. Chose: Death or Jail, Scary shelter or streets, chose: Loss of life and limbs or jail, which would you chose, there is no choice, it is a smoke screen

CTA…..

Answer this, are you brave enough for just a moment to think, what if I lost everything, would I choose to go to jail or would I slug it out on the streets, doing all I know to do to just try and survive, not live, survive, thank about it

Answer this, the police have a vital and needful role to play in the society today and it is tougher each day, and daily they are tasked with dealing with the homeless and attesting, ticketing and escorting them to court, jail and treatment centers, is this the best use of our officer’s time and talent?

Answer this, choose jail, choose incarnation, and that is what some are doing, to survive, to avoid dying, to stop the suffering in the bitter cold, and to find a way to eat and get clean clothes and place to safely wash up and go to the bathroom, how is this okay with our moral compass

Author’s Final Nore; With the current trend of making homelessness a criminal lifestyle, without the attempt of intervention and implementing the needed housing, the trend is not only going to be jail population explosion but also suicides due to the fatal disease of hopelessness