Protect the Unhoused Frequently Asked Questions
What terminology should I use when talking about unhoused people?
Use the terms “unhoused person,” “unhoused population(s)/communities,” and “houselessness,” in place of “homeless” and “homelessness.”
These terms are more accurate and they more clearly direct attention to what is needed to solve the underlying problem: housing. Calling a person “homeless” implies they do not belong and they should be removed from sight, while calling a person “unhoused” recognizes they have a right to exist in their community and need their human right to housing to be upheld.
What factors contribute to houselessness?
The housing system throughout the US, does not create or maintain enough affordable, quality housing for all residents. For this reason, a certain number of people will be unhoused, primarily those who are disadvantaged by the economic system due to discrimination, disability, lack of family or government support, or some other circumstance.
How can we solve the housing crisis?
Affordable permanent housing, including housing with services and support, is the proven solution to houselessness. Once a person finds stable housing, they can improve their mental health, find work, begin to heal trauma, try to control harmful substance use, all in ways that are nearly impossible while living on the streets.
Compared to criminalization and prioritization of temporary shelter, which do not solve houselessness, providing permanent housing is cost effective over the long-term, including through savings from reduced reliance on emergency services, lower court and jail costs, and reduced direct expenditures for sanitation, temporary shelter, and police interventions.
What are some examples of ways unhoused people are criminalized?
The criminalization of unhoused people include policies and practices that result in the following: incarceration, expensive fines, destruction of outdoor encampments and/or displacement of unhoused people from public space, and threats of enforcement used to harass and cause unhoused people to move from their current location.
Proportionally, which groups are most impacted by the housing crisis?
Racial disparities in the unhoused population continues to be extreme, with Black and Native American people vastly overrepresented among the unhoused in relation to their overall population.
Despite comprising less than 8% of the total population, Black people make up one third of Los Angeles’ unhoused people. The odds of a Black person in Los Angeles being unhoused are over six times more likely than white people.
Government policies, including red-lining, zoning, freeway construction, “urban renewal,” and mass incarceration, along with private discrimination and de-industrialization, have enforced racial segregation and contributed to Black poverty and houselessness.