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A bill known as the “Streets to Success Act” is awaiting Governor Landry’s signature. The legislation attempts to address homelessness in the state, but Louisiana Advocacy Coalition on Homelessness Coordinator Joe Heeren-Mueller said it misses the mark. It establishes a new crime of unauthorized public camping.
“People who are falling asleep in public places because they have nowhere else to go could be arrested and sent to jail for up to six months and fined $500,” said Heeren-Mueller.
The bill provides court-supervised programs to connect arrested homeless people to housing, treatment and job services, but those programs are optional and dependent on location. It also allows for the creation of designated public camping areas, which are also optional statewide. Heeren-Mueller said the solution is empty.
He said, “There is no funding in this bill for services or employment or anything else that it suggests that it will provide.”
Other states that have passed similar legislation have seen homelessness rates increase. Heeren-Meuller said the bill is not based on evidence and does not consider the reality of living through homelessness. He said it imagines there are people who would refuse assistance if not for the threat of jail time.
“But we know the reality is that there is a lack of mental healthcare,” said Heeren-Meuller. “There is a lack of living wage employment in our state, and there is a lack of deeply affordable housing for low-income people.”
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