In a list of the top 20 meanest cities The National Coalition for the Homeless named four Texas cities (Dallas 6th, Houston 7th, San Antonio 13th, and Austin 15th) as some of the meanest cities towards the homeless in the United States. Why does Texas appear on this list more than other states?
Homeless, who lack private property to do even the basic necessities of life such as sleeping and going to the bathroom, are being criminalized for doing things that every human needs to do to get by.
Some argue that they are violent and aggressive, which I have found to be true on few occasions. Living down by The University of Texas at Austin, many homeless, locally referred to as "drag rats", populate the streets begging for spare change. A friend of mine was stabbed in the leg while innocently walking past a drunk and angry drag rat. Another occasion a female friend of mine was verbally harassed and chased down the street. Although on these few occasions I agree, the majority of homeless people out there are kind and are just trying to do what they can to get by. They are so grateful to receive so little, and most always say "God bless" and truly mean it. Just because a few vagrants are aggressive, it doesn't mean others should be punished for those people's actions.
Texas has laws in place that prohibit vagrants from sleeping in public places. Feeding the homeless is even punishable by fine if you are not at a government approved location in certain cities. Not only is it illegal for people to feed the homeless, but it's now illegal for the homeless to feed themselves in Houston. A man was fined for fishing a donut out of a trashcan at a park by a local officer. This law was put in place in an attempt to push the homeless outside of city limits to "improve the quality of life" for other residents.
There were approximately 29,615 persons homeless in Texas in 2013. Texas needs to do more to get the homeless off the streets and out of jails into supplemental housing or temporary housing.
Thankfully local and federal funding has given around $2.2 million to create places like Austin Resource Center for the Homeless (ARCH) to help get people off the streets and back on their feet. Even with places like this there is inadequate shelter space leaving many people out on the street and vulnerable to arrest. According to a study done by the National Coalition for the Homeless "It is more expensive to detain a person in jail than to house and offer services." Providing homes rather than jailing could save a difference of about $110 per day. The city could offer a temporary housing situation in return for the homeless working for the government by doing something as simple as keeping streets clean, or could implementing small jobs to help them get back on their feet and build up a resume, rather than criminalizing them resulting in a criminal "record".
It is truly unfortunate and heartbreaking to see people on the streets being ignored and treated like trash instead of helped. I hope Texas government will see their fault in criminalizing the homeless and do something to change it.
1 comment:
I find myself in agreement that homelessness is indeed a huge problem in Texas and in Austin. I have personally devoted the past ten years volunteering to help the homeless and have changed the way I see the problem and the solutions.
Tatiana, I don’t think that it is negative to have laws that prohibit vagrants from sleeping in public places. In fact, I want strict regulations for vagrants so that they are not sleeping in public places. By allowing them to sleep in public places we basically condone the problem this creates. We are enabling the homeless when we allow certain behaviors. In an NPR article a man who had been homeless got help and is now living independently because the forced him to get help for his schizophrenia. He stated, “What changed for me first and foremost was I got arrested, and I know that doesn’t sound like a good thing, but it was a good thing for me because it was the first time anybody realized that I needed help.”
Though I do agree with you regarding the need for shelters for the homeless, I feel that there should be stipulations for how long people can use these shelters so that these people don’t become dependent and abuse the privilege. You make a good point that there is a need for shelters to help people get back on their feet, but before we can help them get jobs the majority of homeless people need help becoming functional citizens. The statistics show that people living in Texas are not homeless because of lack of jobs. Texas has been able to maintain employment during the downsizing of recent years. The main issues of homelessness seem to revolve around mental problems. What would be optimum is to offer addiction counseling and therapy for the 68% homeless people who are dealing with addiction issues. Treatment programs are needed because homeless addicts are likely to return to their addictive behaviors and become homeless over and over again. Another overwhelming issue that I experienced in working with this community of homeless people in Austin was that of mental illness. From statistics, between 20 – 25% of homeless people are plagued with mental illnesses including some that are easily remedied with proper medication and psychiatric help.
Indeed I agree that Texas has a growing issue of homelessness, but I sincerely feel that the root issues are those of mental illness, addiction issues, and violence, rather than lack of jobs. It is heartbreaking to see these homeless people in need of help, but I feel there are more effective ways to help them without enabling them.
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