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US cities grapple with homelessness: Court ruling emboldens calls for punitive policies

"...the June Supreme Court ruling gives local officials new powers to criminalize sleeping in public, even if adequate shelter space is not available."

While cities and counties have increasingly put their own money into addressing homelessness, the federal government continues to fund a major portion of the response with some $3.5billion spent last year. Kurtz said past policies had been too careful to not be coercive, while the reality is that unsheltered homelessness is a danger and health risk both for homeless individuals and communities at large.

 
Current federal officials urge restraint.
 
'During this time of change, it is important to focus on what matters most, getting people off the streets,' said Jeff Olivet, executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. 'Criminalization of homelessness is expensive, ineffective and inhumane,' he said. 'Instead of arrests and fines, we need to prevent people from losing their homes in the first place. True solutions to homelessness are housing and services like health care and mental health treatment.'
 
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Building a safe shelter for homeless women veterans in Western North Carolina

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Mail: P.O. Box 14, Asheville NC 28802

Phone: 828-771-6979.

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