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Archive
from the December 14, 1994 edition Cities Get Tougher on Homeless, As Number of Street Dwellers Rises
David Holmstrom, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
SAN FRANCISCO— WHEN Bobby Joyce was temporarily removed from the city's
general-assistance rolls, he lost his room in a local boarding
house. ``I couldn't get into a homeless shelter,'' he says, ``so I
tried to sleep in the park.'' Roused from sleep by police, he was
arrested. San Francisco, like dozens of other American cities, is taking
a tougher stance on those who live on the streets and in its parks.
Behind the drive are growing numbers of complaints from retailers
and citizens who want to stop aggressive begging and remove the
homeless from doorways. The move mirrors a changing approach being taken on the homeless
in many cities across the country. In some cases, local officials
are tying aid to the homeless to requirements that they work.
Elsewhere, ordinances against loitering and panhandling on public
property are being enacted or suddenly enforced. Homeless people
like Mr. Joyce are being fined, jailed, or removed from downtown
areas. ``There is an increasing crackdown on the homeless in many
cities,'' says Maria Foscarinis, executive director of the National
Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, which this week will release
a national study, ``No Homeless Persons Allowed.'' Some cities are coupling tougher enforcement policies with new
programs to aid the homeless. Here in San Francisco, for instance,
the mayor's office is talking of establishing permanent housing and
other programs to aid the needy - though critics consider it empty
talk. Dade County, Fla., which includes Miami, approved a meals tax in
1993 to raise funds for long-term solutions to homelessness. But many cities continue to tighten restrictions on those living
on their streets. * In order to get a cot in a New York City shelter, officials
may soon require the homeless to sign contracts to get jobs or have
drug treatment. Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (R) wants to limit stays in
shelters to 90 days. * In Seattle, new ordinances have been passed targeting
aggressive panhandling, which, city officials say, have been
successful in cutting down on begging in the downtown area and near
the University of Washington. * In Washington, D.C., police are enforcing a law enacted last
year that prohibits begging within 10 feet of an automatic teller
machine and washing cars on the street for money. * In the recent election here, San Francisco Mayor Frank Jordan
(D) placed two propositions on the ballot, one criminalizing lying
and sitting on sidewalks and the other requiring homeless people on
city welfare to use their payment to get a room. The welfare
measure passed. The sidewalk initiative didn't. Joyce was initially fined $76 under Mayor Jordan's ``Matrix
program'' started in 1993. The program is designed to end ``San
Francisco's image as a magnet for the homeless,'' the mayor said at
the time, and includes police sweeps at night to rid the streets of
vagrants and homeless people. ``The judge dismissed the case against me for lack of
evidence,'' Joyce says. In the past year, San Francisco police
issued more than 14,000 citations to homeless people. City officials say the idea behind the sweeps is to get people
off the streets and into shelters. They also contend the program
has helped cut down on crime in the city - without putting
additional police on the streets. Crime was down 22 percent last
year. But critics contend that arresting people for panhandling only
leaves them with a bad police record - hurting their chances of
finding a job. They also say there aren't enough shelters to
accommodate all the homeless, forcing them onto the streets. ``You can't brush the homeless out of sight with a get-tough
attitude,'' says Greg Winter, a spokesman for the San Francisco
Coalition on Homelessness. ``The fair market rate for a two-bedroom
apartment in San Francisco is $1,047 a month, and too many people
simply can't afford that.'' Advocacy groups see the homeless problem growing in the city.
Mr. Winters says the ``average monthly turnaways [number] from the
city's emergency shelters here was about 7,000 a couple of years
ago; now the figure is around 14,000.'' Most city officials and social agencies agree that the number of
homeless in San Francisco is between 8,000 and 12,000, and the
fastest growing segment of the homeless is families with children. According to a recent controversial report by the mayor's
Homeless Budget Advisory Task Force, set up to find long-range
solutions, 63 percent of the money the city spends on the homeless
goes for emergency services. Less than 1 percent is spent on
prevention or services connected to housing. Nearly $80 million in
public and private money is spent on the homeless by the city. ``We have to put more money on the front end of the problem,''
says Rita Semel, task force chair, ``such as job training, day
care, and schools, and then we won't need as much money on the back
end of the problem.''
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