As homelessness has increased over the past three decades, many cities across the country have implemented measures that criminalize homelessness.  These measures take many forms, but the one thing they have in common is that they use police resources and the criminal justice system to punish homeless people for their status. 

These measures include laws that make it illegal to sleep or "camp" outside, sit on the sidewalk, or ask for money.  Punishment for violating these laws can include steep fines and/or incarceration.  Other ways that cities target homeless individuals are through selectively enforcing more neutral laws or by conducting sweeps of areas where homeless people are living. 

Yet another method cities have used to target homeless people indirectly is through restrictions on groups sharing food with homeless individuals in public places. 

Even as cities are pursuing measures to target unsheltered homeless people, most cities do not have adequate shelter space or affordable housing to meet the need. 

In the 2007 U.S. Conference of Mayors Hunger and Homelessness survey of 23 major U.S. cities ("Mayors' Survey"), cities identified lack of affordable housing as the primary cause of homelessness, followed by poverty and domestic violence.  In 2007, 52 percent of the 23 cities surveyed for the Mayors' Survey indicated that they had to turn people away from shelter all or some of the time due to lack of capacity.  Fifteen of the 23 cities surveyed expected the requests for emergency shelter to increase in 2008, due to the foreclosure crisis, increases in poverty, and the pattern of increases of families entering the shelter system. 

With inadequate places for homeless persons to go, many are forced to live in public spaces.  Instead of penalizing homeless persons for their status, communities should be looking for constructive approaches to homelessness that can truly address the underlying causes of homelessness.