National Homelessness Law Center

We will be introducing a new set of policy metrics related to Direct Cash Transfer programs, sharing lessons learned from our territorial research, and discussing all the concerning and exciting state policy trends. Come learn how the Index can enhance and simplify your work!

Next week, join the Law Center's Youth Team for a webinar about the Youth Homelessness Index, a know-your-rights and policy advocacy tool that tracks over 100 youth-identified policy priorities that move us closer to our goal of housing justice!
Register here: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

East Lansing City Council Defers Action on Measures Critics Say Would Criminalize Homelessness - East Lansing Info A months-long discussion on proposed bans to public camping and loitering in parking areas will continue when the ordinances return to City Council next month.

GOOD NEWS: East Lansing has postponed voting on bills that would make it a crime to be homeless. Community members made their voices heard, pointing out how the rules would actually continue cycles of poverty and prevent people from getting housed. eastlansinginfo.news/east-lansing...

California police are far more likely to use force against homeless residents, new data shows While most drivers are stopped because over traffic violations, 64.8% of the stops of homeless residents were based on “reasonable suspicion” — a less-demanding standard.

“I have seen many times police roll up on a homeless person and the first thing they do is pull out a gun. We should not be responding to homelessness with guns, but with housing," said Jesse Rabinowitz of the Law Center. www.sfchronicle.com/politics/art...

Pittsfield Health Board Advises Outreach Program PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Board of Health is advising against a public camping ordinance. Instead, it recommends an alternative community response program that connects unhoused...

Officials in Pittsfield, MA are standing up for homeless residents. The Board of Health is advising AGAINST bans on sleeping outside--instead, it recommends a community response program that actually connects individuals with resources. #HousingNotHandcuffs.

‘Housing not handcuffs’: National advocacy groups take aim at Utah’s homeless campus • Utah News Dispatch National homelessness advocates and Democratic members of Congress aimed criticisms in a new campaign called “Housing Not Handcuffs.”

Utah is trying to build a massive, taxpayer-funded detention camp. "Why should you care about this, even if you don’t live in Utah? Well it’s because this proposal is kind of a test, and they want to take it and export it to states across the nation," - Rep. Maxwell Frost

Utah wants to take funding away from programs that solve homelessness and instead build a government-run, taxpayer-funded detention camp. The real solution to homelessness is housing and healthcare—not handcuffs and detention camps. Take action to reject homeless detention camps: buff.ly/z1AgpAL

ICE Raid Resources - Housing Not Handcuffs View ICE raids resources, including what to do before, during, and after a raid, know your rights materials, messaging guidance and more.

Much of our anti-ICE resources can be applied not just to homeless service providers, but also businesses & workplaces. As ICE & the Trump admin continue to terrorize communities, we will continue doing everything we can to help protect & defend our neighbors. housingnothandcuffs.org/iceraidresou...

This Baltimore housing project is trying to prove Trump wrong on homelessness As the president tries to reshape the nation’s policy toward homelessness, a new 42-unit Baltimore project, Sojourner Place at Park, is symbolic of a different approach.

“We know that punishment of unhoused people is wrong, is inhumane, and is ineffective,” she said. “Permanent housing, and only permanent housing, is the solution to homelessness, not forced drug treatment, not involuntary mental health care, and not defunding affordable housing.”

The proven solutions to homelessness are obviously housing and healthcare, but Utah is trying to take money away from those very solutions to build a massive, remote, government-run detention camp. Urge your reps to reject federal funding for homeless detention camps: bit.ly/nodetentionc...

No Federal Funds for Homeless Detention Camps - Housing Not Handcuffs National Organizing Call Housing Not Handcuffs hosted a National Organizing Call to launch a new campaign: No Federal Funds for Homeless Detention Camps. We heard from and strategized with folks on the ground in Utah, as…

Last week's National Organizing Call to reject homeless detention camps is now available to watch. We heard from and strategized with Reps Delia Ramirez and Maxwell Frost, as well as leaders in immigrant rights, mental health, and legal advocacy. buff.ly/ClZfcgU

Reject Homeless Detention Camps Take action to reject homeless detention camps. We've seen this before, and we still have the power to stop it.

The rent is too damn high. Utah’s solution, inspired by Trump, is to force homeless people into a government-run detention camp. We’ve seen this before. We can’t let it happen again.

Urge your reps to reject federal funding for homeless detention camps: buff.ly/z1AgpAL

We shouldn’t have to say out loud that throwing people in detention camps is never okay, but that’s what Utah and Trump are trying to do. We can still stop Utah’s proposed homeless detention camp. Take action today: bit.ly/nodetentionc...

Join us online on January 29th to:
- Learn about the proposal for a homeless detention camp in Utah from folks on the ground
- Hear from leaders in immigrant rights, mental health, and legal advocacy
- Strategize to stop this and any other future detention camp proposals

We hope to see you there!

We're excited to share that @repdeliaramirez and @repmaxwellfrost will speak at our national organizing call this Thursday. Join the call: bit.ly/hnhnationalc...

We’ve seen this before. Detention camps + forced treatment are not solutions to homelessness, or anything. We need #HousingNotHandcuffs.

A Tech Bro Think Tank Is Trying to Roll Back Evidence-Based Homelessness Policy Housing First policies are being replaced with punitive reforms that could push 170,000 people back into homelessness.

Billionaires are the LAST people who should be shaping homelessness policy. They don't know what it's like to have to choose between feeding their family or paying rent. The Cicero Institute's attacks on evidence-based housing policies has only made things worse.

Homelessness on Galveston enters uncertain era amid federal policy shifts Homelessness on Galveston Island isn't new. What is new is the uncertainty hanging over how, and whether, the safety net beneath those individuals will hold under new federal policies.

Trump is drastically reshaping homelessness policy, shifting billions of dollars away from permanent housing programs and toward detention camps.

“Trump’s approach does nothing to address the sky-high cost of rent, which remains the main cause of homelessness,” - Jesse Rabinowitz

Less support, more arrests: Why America's Homeless population is growing At last month's Human Rights in the Americas Symposium at the University of Miami, panelists argued that homelessness should be addressed as a pressing human rights issue. Florida, they noted, is…

Why does homelessness keep growing? Homelessness policies are being designed to keep people homeless, or put them in jail, rather than help them.

"This crisis isn't accidental. It's intentional," said Eric Tars, Senior Policy Director for the Law Center.
www.wusf.org/politics-iss...

We’ve seen this before — and it never ends well. Detention camps + forced treatment are not solutions to homelessness. Housing and healthcare are. Join us on January 29th to hear from advocates on the ground in Utah and learn how you can take action with us. Register here: buff.ly/X0wFVRP

Raising Phoenix: Presto, Disappear-o - PHOENIX magazine A Valley city says it cut its homeless population in half. Why am I skeptical?

HUD's annual PIT count happens this month, but we need to house people, not just count them. The count must compel politicians to focus on solving homelessness with housing.

"Any kind of count of this nature feels reductive and, if not dangerous, then pointless," -Amy Silverman

5,100 homeless people hiding but still living in D.C. WASHINGTON — Every night, Abdullah Ibrahim retreats from the streets into a wooded stretch along the Potomac River.

Since Trump deployed the National Guard in DC to raid homeless encampments, service providers have faced enormous difficulty finding clients.

"Now there are people with guns and flashing lights dislocating folks, just throwing stuff away,” @jessrbnwtz buff.ly/DVnRT9Y

ICE abducted 4 homeless Indigenous people in Minneapolis and put them in a detention camp.

Trump's obsession with throwing people in detention camps is a threat to all of us. What starts with homeless people, migrants, & Native Americans won't stop there. buff.ly/7avRWMc

Opinion: How Mayor-elect Mamdani Can Achieve a Human Right to Housing "New Yorkers, and Mayor-Elect Mamdani in particular, have an open window of opportunity to fundamentally shift the city from maintaining the status quo between the haves and have-nots to actively…

With housing affordability as the linchpin of his platform—and half of all New York City renters rent-burdened—Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has an opportunity to make right what decades of leaders could not.

OpEd by Siya Hegde of the Law Center:

Utah's Homeless Concentration Camps; Health Care Fight w/ Abdul El-Sayed, Jesse Rabinowitz | MR Live FUN HALF: https://youtube.com/live/HlFoSP2wiwI?feature=share Sam and Emma welcome Abdul El-Sayed, US Senate candidate running in the Michigan Democratic primary, and Jesse Rabinowitz,…

History has already shown us that forcing people into detention camps is never okay, but that's exactly what Utah is trying to do. Trump and billionaires like Palantir's Joe Lonsdale have brought us to this moment. Hear @jesserbnwtz explain the connection:

Coming soon: our Youth Team is hosting a virtual summit with legal information, resources, and best practices for young people who engage in contract and gig work and for Youth Action Board members, consultants, and staff. For more info & to register, scan the QR code above or visit buff.ly/AuvYp5I

Pro Bono Innovators 2025 Honoree Lowenstein Sandler Bloomberg Law Pro Bono Innovators 2025 honors Lowenstein Sandler for its work representing a nonprofit group in its $83 million acquisition of 345 single-family properties from a private equity fund…

Congratulations to our Pro Bono partner Lowenstein Sandler on being named as a Bloomberg Law Pro Bono Innovators 2025 Honoree! Their work has included representing 50 unhoused people in NJ who faced arrest following #JohnsonVGrantsPass. Read more:

ICE Raid Resources - Housing Not Handcuffs View ICE raids resources, including what to do before, during, and after a raid, know your rights materials, messaging guidance and more.

As ICE and the Trump admin continue to terrorize communities across the country, we will continue doing everything we can to help protect and defend our homeless neighbors.

Find our comprehensive anti-ICE resource hub here:

Statement on Homeless Persons' Memorial Day The annual Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day is this weekend. This year, like every year, people will gather across the country to mourn those who died without a safe place to call home. In a country as…

Homeless Persons' Memorial Day is held on the darkest day of the year. Yet amongst this darkness and sorrow, we must continue to fight for a country where everybody has the housing and support they need to thrive.

Our statement:

Pa. advocates push to counter the ‘criminalization of homelessness’ following SCOTUS ruling • Pennsylvania Capital-Star To combat a "criminalization of homelessness," two lawmakers seek to prioritize Shelter First policies in Pennsylvania.

Advocates in Pennsylvania are calling for #HousingNotHandcuffs: Rep. Ismail Smith-Wade-El (D-Lancaster) urged elected leaders to reprioritize their expenses from prisons to affordable housing, putting “human interest before business or political interests.” buff.ly/iHzf3g9

Homeless sweeps are cruel and counterproductive Last week Mayor Adams and conservative media told New Yorkers to start panicking about Zohran Mamdani’s plan to end homeless sweeps. Really, we should be relieved. After decades of failed homeless …

"In an unaffordable city, the harsh reality of street homelessness is not a personal choice. As Mamdani said, it is a political choice. And, until now, our political leaders have failed us by making the same choices year after year." buff.ly/Ijku3Tw