By Victoria Arthur, Statehouse Correspondent for Indiana’s Catholic Newspapers
The Catholic Church is among numerous advocates opposing an eleventh-hour effort at the Statehouse to re-introduce legislation criminalizing homelessness in Indiana.
After a similar, more comprehensive bill died earlier in the legislative session amid fierce opposition, some of its language was revived and inserted as an amendment to an unrelated measure April 7 with no opportunity for public testimony. The amended Senate Bill 197 would make sleeping or camping on public property a Class C misdemeanor punishable by a $500 fine or 60 days in jail if a first warning from a law enforcement officer goes unheeded.
“From a direct provider’s perspective, criminalizing homelessness is the last thing you would want to do,” said Bill Bickel, associate director of Catholic Charities Indianapolis and the administrator of Holy Family Shelter in Indianapolis, which has served homeless families for more than 40 years. “It exacerbates the issue, and it makes it harder for other jurisdictions and service providers and law enforcement to actually focus on solutions to end homelessness.
“To criminalize someone who is homeless, you’ve now added another barrier to their ability to find long-term, stable housing,” Bickel continued. “You will have a revolving door situation between homelessness and jail and more barriers for people to get connected to housing and services. Jails and law enforcement are simply not equipped to play this role.”
The proposed legislation is similar to laws recently passed in Florida, Georgia and Texas banning homeless encampments. These legislative efforts are backed by a Texas-based think tank, the Cicero Institute, which maintains that the primary causes of homelessness are substance abuse and mental illness rather than a lack of available housing.
Under the amendment to Senate Bill 197, a law enforcement officer would be required to give a person camping on public property a warning first, along with an offer to transport him or her to a service provider or shelter within a five-mile radius. But those opposing the legislation point to the lack of such resources statewide — both in rural areas and major cities.
The Indiana Catholic Conference (ICC), the public policy voice of the Catholic Church in Indiana, has issued an action alert on its website calling on the faithful to reach out to their legislators to oppose the amended bill.
At press time, Senate Bill 197 was on its way to the House floor for further consideration. “The amended bill does nothing to increase the supply of housing or services for Hoosiers experiencing homelessness and housing instability,” the ICC action alert reads, adding that it “provides no solutions and only puts additional burdens on our local law enforcement, courts, jails and communities.”
Earlier in the legislative session, lawmakers listened to overwhelming opposition to House Bill 1662, which focused exclusively on the prohibition of homeless encampments and consequences for those sleeping on public land.
During a February hearing in the House Government and Regulatory Reform Committee, so many advocates signed up to testify against the bill, not everyone could be heard in the allotted time. The only testimony in favor of the measure came from a representative of the Texas-based Cicero Institute.
In a letter to members of the committee, the ICC outlined numerous concerns about the legislation, saying that the bill “falls short because it only addresses the temporary, emergency response to homelessness without necessary support for affordable housing and supportive services that lead to long-term stability.”
Particularly troubling to the ICC were the prohibition of camping in public spaces and the misdemeanor charges for repeated violations.
“The Catholic Church does not claim that public authorities have no right to control the uses of public property and the protection of the common good,” wrote Alexander Mingus, ICC executive director, which speaks on public policy matters on behalf of the five bishops of Indiana. “However, compassion for those who are homeless has long been a part of our heritage as Americans and Christians.
“Ultimately, the Catholic Church stresses an approach to the homeless that is steeped in charity out of a recognition of their God-given human dignity.”
The bill ultimately stalled in the House when it wasn’t called for a third reading by the mid-session deadline. But now, with language from the measure tacked on to Senate Bill 197, advocates are once again calling on lawmakers to reject the legislative push.
To follow priority issues and legislation of the ICC, visit www.indianacc.org.