Survey: Americans think cities can't arrest their way out of the homelessness crisis
A sign notes rules in Powderhorn Park as Minneapolis Police stand guard as a homeless encampment is cleared on July 20, 2020, in Minneapolis. Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
Supportive services and more government action is needed to reduce and prevent homelessness, according to a recent public opinion poll.
This summer, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that cities can ban homeless people from camping in public spaces. In the wake of the ruling, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order calling for cities to “humanely" remove encampments from public spaces, and more than 20 cities across the country started implementing bans on camping or sleeping in public.
But new survey data from the National Alliance to End Homelessness suggests some Americans are ready for a different approach to the issue.
More than 80% of people said they did not think homelessness could be solved by increased law enforcement, such as prohibiting unhoused individuals from sleeping on public property, according to the alliance poll released last month. The survey of 4,049 U.S. adults was conducted between May and June 2024, before the Supreme Court ruling.
According to the survey, just over half of respondents said homelessness could be solved by policies that provide shelter, services and housing for unhoused people. And almost half of survey participants said they supported increased investments in mental health and substance use prevention efforts to help mitigate people’s risk of homelessness.
“That’s a key signal for leaders at the local level, state level [and] national level that people in their communities expect them to address the issue” rather than “brush it under the rug,” said Ann Oliva, CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness.
Furthermore, the majority of respondents thought homelessness could be solved at the local level (68%) and the state level (62%). Three-quarters of respondents also believed that while homelessness is solvable, elected officials are hesitant to pursue the investments and leadership required to solve it.
Homelessness has hit record highs, as rent costs have risen 19% since 2019 while wages have not kept up. Survey respondents viewed housing costs as a major cause of homelessness, nearly on par with alcoholism and substance use disorders, and nearly half said they’ve noticed an increase in homelessness in their community in the last year.
For elected officials, the findings suggest that “their constituents understand that [homelessness] is a systemic problem … and that housing as a system is not working for the American people” Oliva said.
That means government officials must consider a different response, she added. Nearly 40% of respondents, for example, said that a lack of social safety nets like rental or food assistance, among others, contributed to the risk of homelessness.
Oliva pointed to Minnesota as an example where state leaders have made notable investments to meet housing needs. Last year policymakers allocated $1 billion in the state budget to support affordable housing, including $46 million to support the rental assistance program Bring It Home.
The voucher program is projected to serve about 5,000 low-income households in the state, the Minnesota Reformer reported. The program will also be supported by a sales tax lawmakers approved last year that is projected to generate $300 million in funds over the next two years.
The state also allocated $25 million to help unhoused people or those who have experienced homelessness pursue employment or educational opportunities and secure stable housing. Another $10.7 million will provide rental assistance for individuals or households with a family member with a mental health disorder, and lawmakers dedicated $5.5 million to prevent youth homelessness.
Minnesota policymakers have demonstrated “high-level leadership on both safe and affordable housing and homelessness that work together,” Oliva said.
Her group’s survey found that more than 70% of respondents trusted direct service and nonprofit organizations to build solutions for homelessness—more so than government leaders or law enforcement.
“That's also an important thing for elected leaders to think about, because the public knows that [those organizations] are working really hard on this issue,” Oliva said, but “elected leaders haven't put forward significant enough investments for us to finish the job.”
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