Posted: September 6th, 2022

Homelessness is a chronic, systemic issue in California

Homelessness is a chronic, systemic issue in California. Poverty, rising rent prices, domestic violence, legal problems, drug abuse, and mental and physical illness are all significant factors. Recent data indicates that the homeless population in Fresno has increased over 43% since 2020, a number that experts agree is most surely undercounted. While steps have been taken to address the problem, the numbers of unhoused persons continue to increase at an alarming rate.
According to a recent NPR article, “Large cities in other states have arguably done a better job by at least providing a bandage for the gushing wound. New York City, for example, has a ‘right to shelter’ and a sprawling shelter system that helps people sleep indoors every night. New York City has a rate of homelessness similar to San Francisco and LA, but it has a different character.” In contrast, “as of January 2020, 72% of homeless Californians were unsheltered. Compare that to New York state, where only 5% are unsheltered. The result is a city where homelessness, while still troubling, is also less in-your-face. Instead of building a big system of shelters, California’s cities have taken a more lackadaisical approach—basically shoeing the unhoused to certain neighborhoods of squalor such as San Francisco’s Tenderloin or Los Angeles’ Skid Row, and then selectively prosecuting them for living on the streets.”
The video below focuses on the City of Los Angeles’s tactic of routine homeless sweeps,” (which are also common in Fresno), and in it we see the human side of how these sweeps affect our less visible, less powerful residents–the unhoused. The article below discusses the homeless crisis in California with a focus on Fresno, and it highlights the sharp disagreements between city leaders and advocates for the homeless (such as longtime community activist Dez Martinez) as to what is being done and what work remains.

OPTION 3 – The Homelessness Crisis & the Status Quo
This option looks at the issue of rising homelessness in our state and locally, and the ways in which our governments have (and have not) responded. Read the Canvas page, The Homelessness Crisis & the Status Quo. I would ask you to please avoid simple, knee-jerk responses based on aggravations at seeing the homeless problem that are so commonplace. Remember we are talking about human beings and the responsibility we have as a society to deal with public problems through policy. With this in mind, address the following questions:
• What factors have worsened the homeless crisis in California (and Fresno in particular) in just the past few years? To what degree can homelessness be seen as a symptom of larger, structural issues, and in your view what type of response is warranted? • What kinds of “status quo” solutions have been/are being offered, according to city leaders? According to homeless advocates, how are these solutions falling short? And how have city leaders sent “mixed signals” about their willingness to work with homeless advocates toward solutions? How might this be improved? • Do you see a conflict between the public health and safety concerns of communities on one hand (who want to see the homeless go away), and the personal safety and dignity of the unhoused on the other hand? How should leaders respond to the needs of unhoused people as well as those residents who dislike the annoyances that come along with large homeless populations in their neighborhoods?

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