The City of Poulsbo recently banned unauthorized camping. The Department of Justice has deemed the enforcement of similar laws in cities throughout the U.S. as unconstitutional, and it is unacceptable that Poulsbo is now enacting such a law.

Poulsbo’s new ordinance clearly limits this restriction to homeless individuals, and promises to charge them with a misdemeanor offense punishable by up to 90 days in jail or a $1,000 fine if they refuse services. At first glance, it may seem reasonable that people be mandated to accept services. However, this law assumes that people are homeless by choice, and that they require legal coercion to work towards permanent employment and housing.

To be clear, no one chooses to be homeless. Homelessness most often results from an interplay of trauma and unfortunate circumstances—people barely managing to meet the rising cost of housing lose their jobs, women and children fleeing domestic violence have no permanent home to relocate to, individuals and veterans with severe mental illnesses or physical disabilities cannot maintain stable employment, etc. When these individuals have insufficient access to social supports and only minimal or time-limited community resources, they find themselves homeless. Once homeless, it is infinitely more challenging to obtain stable employment and housing, as the majority of their daily focus is spent simply trying to meet their basic food and shelter needs.

Criminalizing homelessness, and thus adding to individuals’ criminal records to be disclosed on housing and employment applications, adds an additional barrier to obtaining stable employment and housing. If we wish to offer these individuals aid, by all means let us increase funding for community resources and meet these individuals with compassionate referrals to these services. We must not, however, criminalize the mere act of survival and add yet another barrier to obtaining permanent housing.

Jordyn Davis-Pope

Poulsbo