“They’re trained to move a problem.” Service Provider Perceptions of Law Enforcement Responses to Issues of Homelessness

• In Event: Lightning Talk: New Frontiers of Research on Housing Instability, Homelessness, and Criminal Justice Systems

Abstract

Issues of homelessness in United States communities have drawn responses from both law enforcement agencies and entities outside of the criminal justice system (e.g., service providers and behavioral health specialists). Several cities have generated collaborative approaches to homelessness that harness the unique skillsets of criminal justice and non-criminal justice entities to generate more holistic approaches. This lightening talk draws on ethnographic observations of and informal interviews with service-providers providing care to individuals experiencing homelessness in Maricopa County, Arizona. This lightening talk briefly discusses historical approaches to homelessness in the United States and then explores how service providers engage with and perceive the role of law enforcement in responding to issues of homelessness. I conclude with recommendations to enhance pathways of collaboration between these two groups to support long-term solutions for issues of homelessness.

Author

• Katharine Leigh Brown, University of Mississippi