What Should be the Role of the Criminal Justice System in Addressing Homelessness? Perspectives from System and Non-system Actors

• In Event: Individuals Experiencing Homelessness and the Criminal Justice System

Abstract

Since 2014, the Indio Police Department (IPD) has led a two-pronged approach to addressing homelessness. The agency has a three-officer team dedicated to quality of life policing. These officers do outreach with individuals experiencing homelessness, focusing on place-based prevention with minimal use of arrest. These officers also identify eligible clients for a multi-agency program, the Community Outreach Resource Program, designed to remove fines and fees for individuals completing community-based programming. This innovative partnership with social service providers, the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office and Public Defender’s Offices, local courts, and probation is unlike traditional enforcement-oriented criminal justice approaches to homelessness. As part of an assessment of the program, we interviewed criminal justice and service provider stakeholders involved in the program, as well as clients experiencing homelessness who completed the program. We asked about their views of the program and what they think the role of the criminal justice system should be in addressing homelessness. We find overall that stakeholders and clients have positive views about the program, but still identify gaps in how the criminal justice and other governmental systems respond to homelessness, particularly for chronically homeless individuals with extensive criminal justice system involvement.

Authors

• Cody Telep, Arizona State University

• Katharine Brown, Arizona State University