The Cost of Homelessness: Should Refusing Help be a Crime?
San Jose’s New Plan for Reducing Homelessness
San Jose’s Mayor, Matt Mahan, has just introduced a new plan to tackle homelessness in his city. Just what has he proposed trying? He wants to make it a crime for a homeless person to refuse an offer of shelter three times or more.[1] If this sounds crazy, let’s back up. What has led up to this point? San Jose has the fourth highest homeless population per capita across the nation, coming in behind New York City in third, Los Angeles in second, and Eugene, Oregon in first place.[2] In a recent survey, San Jose residents ranked homelessness as the top issue they believe the city is facing and should address.[3] The city has been trying to ease its homelessness crisis through the programs and policy positions set by our Governor. Through California’s Project Homekey program, city officials and nonprofit partners built an entirely new, three-story, temporary housing campus with 204 rooms that specifically accommodate multigenerational families. The facility “includes a community garden, pet park, storage space and therapy room.” Additionally, the nonprofit developer, LifeMoves, is offering case management services to residents of the facility for the purpose of helping them find permanent housing and employment to transition out of temporary housing.[4]
Why is the mayor calling for a new approach? Mahan has said the new policy is “rooted in his frustration that roughly half of the people who were offered shelter in [the] new facility…have refused to go there.”[5] He says that city outreach workers have attempted several times to make homeless people in the city aware of the new facility, letting them know that they could bring “possessions, partners and pets and didn’t have to be sober to be admitted.” At least half of the people they spoke to outright declined. Mahan expressed that he does not believe it should be an option to be homeless when the city has made, and has plans to continue making, incredible, and expensive, efforts toward building free housing.[6] So, he has introduced this new policy which would give city law enforcement the grounds to arrest homeless people who refuse services provided by the city and incentivize them to accept help.
Statewide Statistics and Root Causes Driving Homelessness
Let’s start with the bigger picture, with homelessness on a state level, because ultimately our Governor’s and Legislature’s responses to homelessness have affected how cities throughout the state, like San Jose, are able to respond to the problem.
California represents a disproportionate number of America's homeless population. Our state’s total population makes up just 12% of America’s population, yet, California is home to approximately 30% of the nation's homeless individuals.[7] Current estimates place California's homeless population at over 187,000 people, which makes up nearly a fourth of the total homeless population across the United States.[8] This crisis has intensified in recent years, with homelessness identified as the top concern not only for San Jose residents, but also among all Californians according to recent polling.[9]
A distinguishing characteristic of California's homelessness crisis is the high percentage of unsheltered individuals. Approximately 70% of homeless Californians live on the street, compared to just 5% in New York.[10] Isn’t that crazy?! Anecdotally, we all know this to be true. Just go to any major, or honestly even nonmajor city, across our state, and you just have to walk a few blocks to see either someone sleeping on the sidewalk, or entire encampments set up just a few feet away from grocery stores, freeway overpasses, or even residential homes. Residents of California know that this is a huge problem because we can see it with our own eyes; there’s no escaping it.
Why are so many people homeless? We know that housing can be expensive in certain parts of California, but is it just the cost of housing alone? I would argue that it isn’t only cost of living that keeps people on the streets, but that we need to look at the prevalence of drug abuse and mental health issues to really understand root causes. A comprehensive study by University of California San Francisco (UCSF) researchers found that 37% of homeless people reported regular drug use in the six months prior to being surveyed. About two-thirds of homeless individuals reported having regularly used drugs at some point in their lives. Methamphetamine emerged as the most commonly used substance, with 33% of the overall homeless population reporting its use.[11]
More expansive analysis from the California Statewide Study of People Experiencing Homelessness indicates that 65% of homeless individuals across the state reported having had a period in their life with regular illicit drug use. Current substance use patterns show that 31% reported regular methamphetamine use, 3% cocaine use, and 11% non-prescribed opioid use. Additionally, 16% reported alcohol abuse.
The impact of these substance use patterns is significant, with nearly a quarter (24%) of homeless individuals acknowledging that their substance use caused their current health, legal, or financial problems.[12]
It’s important for us to note that the relationship between drugs and homelessness operates in a way that is bidirectional. The UCSF study found that 42% of homeless people who had used drugs did so before they became homeless, while 23% began using regularly after becoming homeless.[13] As Dr. Margot Kushel, director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, explains: "Our research shows there is an increased risk of becoming homeless if you use drugs; and that homelessness itself increases drug use because people use it as a coping strategy.”[14] So, drug addiction can both come before homelessness and be exacerbated by it. Tom Wolf, a drug recovery advocate and former homeless addict, describes drug addiction as "an anchor to the street" that keeps people homeless.[15]
In combination with drug abuse, mental health issues also present a seriously challenge to solving the homeless crisis. A Los Angeles Times analysis estimated that 51% of the Los Angeles County homeless population had a mental illness.[16] The California Statewide Study presents an even more concerning picture, with 82% of homeless individuals reporting a period in their life where they experienced a serious mental health condition. More than one-quarter had been hospitalized for a mental health condition, with 56% of these hospitalizations occurring prior to the first instance of homelessness. Current mental health symptoms are prevalent among the homeless population, with two-thirds noting symptoms of mental health conditions, including serious depression (48%), anxiety (51%), trouble concentrating or remembering (37%), and hallucinations (12%).[17] So it seems that both drug abuse and mental health issues are substantially higher in homeless populations than the general public, and that these issues and homelessness reinforce one another, creating a challenging cycle to break.
It's important to look honestly at the relationships between drugs or severe mental health issues and homelessness, because you can’t work to solve a problem if you don’t know factors that create it. This is why our state can spend so much money on building free government housing for homeless people – which we will get into in just a minute – but not see a noticeable decrease in the homeless population. Simply building free living spaces doesn’t address the sad reality of drug addiction or the challenges of mental health issues that often result in homeless people refusing help or treatment. Giving a drug addict, or a person with severe schizophrenia, a free apartment, doesn’t help them in any tangible way.
Statewide Investments and Initiatives to End Homelessness
Have there been initiatives from a state level to address homelessness, what have they been, and have they been effective?
California has committed extraordinary financial resources toward addressing homelessness, with expenses reaching historic levels in recent years. Since 2019, we have spent approximately $24 billion on homelessness initiatives.[18] But that isn’t all, because this spending is continuing to increase, with a new three-year action plan allocating $40 billion to housing and $27 billion to communities specifically to prevent and end homelessness.[19]
Governor Newsom has launched several programs during his time in office, beginning with the $12 billion California Comeback Plan that represented the largest investment in homeless housing in the state's history.[20] This included two specific projects: Project Roomkey and Project Homekey. These initiatives emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic and have since become the main policy direction of Newsom’s administration on homelessness. Project Roomkey was an emergency program that provided temporary shelter in hotels and motels during the pandemic. This then translated into Project Homekey, which made Project Roomkey permanent. Basically, it funds the acquisition and conversion of properties into affordable housing units. The first phase created 6,000 affordable housing units within a year, and the program has received ongoing funding for expansion.[21]
Fast forward from 2020 to last year, and in 2024, the state launched several more programs, such as the:
Encampment Resolution Fund (ERF): which allocated nearly $200 million to support projects transitioning individuals from encampments to housing, the
Small Homes Initiative: which created 1,200 tiny homes across California, and
AB 42: which prohibits local agencies from enforcing fire sprinkler requirements on temporary dwelling units under 250 square feet to allow for affordable small home construction.[22]
Most recently, just this year, the California Interagency Council on Homelessness unveiled a new, three-year action plan with five interconnected goals to create more housing and move homeless people off the street.[23] We can’t say that California hasn’t tried to do anything about the homelessness crisis. Our state has poured billions of dollars into the issue and has passed several programs and initiatives.
Outcomes of Statewide Programs & Spending
But spending money and creating programs is only part of the story. We also have to look at if the money spent and if the programs in place have actually been effective. It’s clear to see that despite these unprecedented investments and supposedly innovative programs, the outcomes of California's homelessness initiatives remain questionable at best, and clearly ineffective at worst.
Let’s compare overall spending to real outcomes. We spent approximately $24 billion on homelessness between 2019 and 2024, yet homelessness increased by about 30,000 people in the same period. This breaks down to spending about $160,000 per homeless person over five years with the counterintuitive result of increasing the problem rather than decreasing the homeless population. [24] That is completely ridiculous. Keep in mind, that is your money. Every taxpayer dollar that goes toward these programs is a dollar that doesn’t go toward something else, like our fire departments, public schools, or police departments. They are taking your money and spending it on programs that are not at all solving the problem.
A key challenge identified by the state auditor found that there are significant deficiencies in program administration. For example,
The state lacks current information on costs and outcomes of homelessness programs,
There is inconsistent tracking and evaluation of efforts to prevent and end homelessness,
There is failure to align action plans with statutory goals to collect financial information, and
There is inadequate assurance that actions will effectively achieve stated goals.[25]
Does this sound like government transparency and accountability to the taxpayer, who’s money is being spent?
This doesn’t even mention that in all the programs I just explained, I didn’t see anything about drug addiction support or mental health resources. I showed you the statistics about the homeless population and drug abuse or mental health challenges, yet our government has focused all its energy on building housing to give the homeless for free. Does this sound like they are committed to addressing root causes?
Basically, to summarize, our government representatives have spent billions of our dollars on programs that sound really good, that use buzz words like “prevent people from experiencing homelessness,” “stabilize and rehouse unhoused persons,” and “provide dignified housing,” yet they can’t tell us in any detail where the money has gone, what actions have really been taken, and why we should support more of our money going into more of these programs. That is just so wildly unacceptable.
How Should We Think About Homelessness?
I think at this point in the conversation, we need to pause, and we need to consider how we should think about homelessness and homeless people. Because what I see happening a lot in our government, in society, and even in our churches, is that when it comes to a topic like homelessness, we are so afraid of being seen as discompassionate or unempathetic that we brush it off as a tough issue and shrug our shoulders at how it could be addressed. We repeat narratives like it is unfair how expensive the cost of living is here, or we should care for the poor, and we apply those ideas equally across the board to all homeless people in every situation without caveat. I don’t think that is helpful. I believe we can have moral and political clarity on a complex issue like homelessness, clarity that doesn’t lack compassion, but also isn’t controlled by it.
To that end, let’s look together at some common pitfalls that we fall into when thinking about homelessness, and how we should respond in a better way.
First pitfall: Homelessness is caused by a lack of affordable housing, and therefore homeless people are victims of an economic system that oppresses the poor and only works for the rich.
This is an assumption that we can clearly see is believed and perpetuated by our government leaders.
Since 2016, California law has required that all state and local homeless policies follow "Housing First" principles, which prioritize providing permanent housing without prerequisites for sobriety or treatment.[26] This approach represents a philosophical commitment to addressing homelessness primarily as a housing problem rather than addressing other contributing factors first. This is touted by proponents as a humanitarian approach that provides stable housing as a foundation for addressing other issues. But critics note that since the implementation of Housing First, chronic homelessness in California doubled from 2016 to 2023. This is opposite to the trends before the policy was enacted, when chronic homelessness cut in half from 2005 to 2015.[27] And this is super clear from the projects that have been enacted too, like Projects Roomkey and Homekey. All of them operate on the baseline assumption that if our cities can just build enough affordable housing units throughout the state, voila, no more homeless people.
But this ignores the root causes we talked about as they relate to homelessness, and it also refuses to honestly examine that homeless people are not victims of “the system.” A main theme that will be common in addressing how to think about homelessness is personal responsibility. Don’t hear me wrong – I am not saying that every single homeless person could have a perfect life if they just made different choices, or that everything that has happened to them has been within their control. That is not true by any means. There are countless stories of people who have lived through hell, who never had a loving family or home as a child, who suffered abuse either from family or from domestic partners, who fell into drug addiction through prescription drugs or through one bad decision as a teenager and spiraled from there, who lost their job and couldn’t find a new one in time to pay rent, and who suffered evils that I have been blessed enough to never know firsthand like the horrors human trafficking. I would never claim that life is easy or straightforward and therefore all homeless people are in their current state simply because of bad choices; it is not as simple as that. But, at the same time, it is not more compassionate to go to the complete opposite extreme and say that because many people have suffered in their lives, or because they have lived through truly terrible circumstances, that they are now victims of everything, and they are not responsible for any of their choices. That does not offer true hope or true solutions to anyone.
We have to offer those who find themselves in need of housing the freedom that comes through personal responsibility. Yes, there are external circumstances and trials that might happen to you, but in America, you can change a lot about your life. It is not true that success is not attainable, or that it’s only for the rich. There are so many inspiring stories about people who were in the throes of addiction or homelessness or suffering, and yet who accepted help and made small decisions that ultimately led to their ability to overcome the challenges in front of them.
Take the story of Amadou, shared by The Bowery Mission in New York. Amadou was homeless for six years in New York City before he committed to the drug-free program at The Bowery Mission, worked on himself, and eventually secured a job at a warehouse. Through budgeting and saving, he was able to move into his own studio apartment. Today, he shares his story at the Mission to inspire others to take responsibility for their lives and seek help when needed.[28] Amadou doesn’t tell his story as though he is or was a victim. He doesn’t focus on the hardship that causes him to be homeless or how unfair it was that he had to work hard to overcome his addiction. He shares that the breaking point in his life only came when he took responsibility for his actions and did what was necessary to get off drugs and provide for himself.
Or take Michael’s story in Colorado. Michael spent eight years as a homeless meth addict, constantly in and out of court hearings and escaping warrants. One night he’d had enough. He describes his breaking point this way:
“I threw up my hands and screamed out to God to give me the strength to turn myself in. I knew that’s what I had to do. … He put strength in my heart to do the right thing. I walked up to a police officer and asked him to look and see if I had a warrant. He was really nice and shook my hand, took me to jail and said, ‘I hope you turn your life around, and I think you will. Good luck.’ That’s when I heard about the New Life Program at Springs Rescue Mission.”[29]
By embracing faith, community support, and personal accountability, Michael turned his life around. He overcame addiction and homelessness, finding stability and purpose in his life.
There are countless others like this. Homelessness is such a deeper issue than affordable housing, it’s a matter of taking responsibility for your life and your actions, making choices to put you on the right path, accepting what comes to you with gratitude, and choosing to make the best out of what you have in front of you. We see in stories like these that yes, help was needed, and shelters, missions, and drug programs are vital for helping those who are homeless – but those organizations can’t actually change someone’s life if they aren’t willing to do the work necessary. Drug programs can’t force an addict to commit to the program and get clean. Similarly, free housing offered by the government can’t force homelessness to end. We need to stop viewing all homeless people as victims of a system that is bigger than them and instead we need to view them as humans with full agency and capability of making choices that can change their lives.
Second pitfall: The burden is on the government and the taxpayer to help the homeless, rather than on the homeless person to take responsibility for the situation.
Listen to what Eric Tars, the Senior Policy Director of the National Homelessness Law Center, has to say about addressing the homelessness issue, “The duty shouldn’t be on individuals to accept whatever is offered to them. It should be on the community to make sure that people have the things that they need.”[30]
My goodness, can you even believe that he believes that? So, the argument is that it isn’t the responsibility of someone who is homeless to actively find and accept the free help offered to them through government programs and nonprofit organizations, but instead it’s YOUR responsibility to make sure homeless people get exactly what they want. That’s ridiculous. Like I just pointed out, success stories of people getting off their feet and turning their lives around have one thing in common – the person trying to get out from under hard times takes responsibility for their life. No amount of free resources thrown at homeless people will change their situation. A person must want change, they must want to do the work, in order to actually reroute their lives.
California tied for first place with New York in a 2024 study for the most charities supporting the homeless per capita,[31] so if it really was about resources, then California and New York should both be states with the lowest numbers of homeless people. At the end of the day, every person is responsible to care for themselves.
Third pitfall: No one wants to be homeless. If homeless people could just get the help they need, they wouldn’t be in the situation they are in.
This is hard to acknowledge, because it sounds harsh. But we must be honest that there are so many organizations and shelters offering help to those experiencing homelessness, yet many homeless people don’t want help because they don’t want to change certain parts of their life. I mentioned this at the beginning of the article when discussing San Jose – this is where the mayor’s frustration stems from. City outreach workers made several attempts to make homeless people in the city aware of the new facility available to them, but again, at least half of the people they spoke to outright declined the help.[32] And this isn’t an issue that’s exclusive to San Jose. Homeless shelters often have house rules, like curfews, requirements to remain clean from drugs and alcohol, prohibitions against theft or violence, and potentially required chores or attendance in religious services.[33] If you are a drug addict, then of course you aren’t going to accept that help, because you want the freedom to do drugs or live without responsibilities.
A recent video went viral, you may have seen it, of journalist Brandon Burnett interviewing a couple of homeless people in Knoxville, Tennessee about the free government housing they had been offered. In the video, the homeless individuals say that the government housing is too small, that they have more freedom on the streets, that they want a house with a yard, that they wouldn’t care if they lost access to the housing, and the complaints just go on and on.[34] It’s really shocking if you believe that all homeless people just want homes, but it’s not so shocking if you realize that sadly many homeless people, especially those who are drug addicted, are offered free or affordable housing, but don’t want the responsibility that comes with it. Again, it comes back to personal responsibility and willingness to do what needs to be done to care for yourself.
At the end of the day, it is hard to provide for yourself. It’s hard to go out there and get a job, it’s hard to show up on time and do things that aren’t fun or you don’t want to do, it’s hard to spend so much of your money on things like healthy groceries and rent and other grown-up expenses, it’s hard to be responsible. So, if you grow accustomed to panhandling, doing drugs on the street without consequence, and living without those responsibilities, it makes sense that you could reach a point where you don’t want to do the things that feel hard to change your circumstances.
Fourth pitfall: Homelessness is ultimately a personal choice and a matter of freedom. You can’t criminalize someone’s choice not to live in housing.
Yes, we live in America, and this is a free country. However, freedom doesn’t extend to everything. Freedom obviously does not extend to breaking the law – right, so just because it’s a free country doesn’t mean you can kill someone – because that is illegal and morally wrong. Most California cities have laws against panhandling, prohibiting living on the street, and regular sweeps are supposed to be conducted in high impact areas, like under freeway overpasses, to encourage homeless people to seek shelter and help.[35] The Supreme Court ruled in 2024 that the enforcement of these laws does not constitute “cruel and unusual punishment” under the Constitution.[36] The reasons cities implement such laws include:
Public safety concerns, as homeless encampments can lead to increased crime and public health issues,[37]
Addressing complaints from residents and businesses about the impact of homelessness on quality of life in their neighborhoods,
Responding to public frustration with rising homelessness rates,[38] and
Attempts to encourage shelter use, as restricting outdoor sleeping will push people into shelters or services.[39]
Government must look out for the greater good, it must do what is good for society and for communities. Homelessness is not a societal good – it’s not good for residents of neighborhoods, but it’s also not good for the people who are homeless! Our government should want to enforce laws that maintain a safe, healthy, clean, and orderly society, as well as laws that force people to take responsibility for their actions and lives. Freedom granted to you by living in America doesn’t mean you can just do whatever you want and live wherever you want – you must abide by the law, and you should want to do what is good for the community and people around you.
Fifth pitfall: Arresting homeless people is mean and lacks empathy for homeless people.
Ultimately, responding to this issue is usually driven by a lot of emotion. And I just want to be clear – we can feel sad for homeless people! We SHOULD have empathy for them, and we should want to help them! But policy decisions are not made on feelings, and honestly, no amount of emotions, sadness, or empathy for homeless people will actually help them or society. I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: we have to offer them real solutions and real hope, not just refuse to engage in the issue at all because it sounds mean to be realistic.
I mentioned that the Supreme Court ruled last year that states and cities could enforce laws prohibiting people from sleeping on the streets. But in the dissent to that decision, listen to what Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote about enforcing these laws:
"Sleep is a biological necessity, not a crime... It is possible to acknowledge and balance the issues facing local governments, the humanity and dignity of homeless people, and our constitutional principles. Instead, the majority focuses almost exclusively on the needs of local governments and leaves the most vulnerable in our society with an impossible choice: Either stay awake or be arrested."[40]
This, my friends is toxic empathy. This is super manipulative! It is not dehumanizing, it does not take away someone’s dignity, to enforce laws that actually serve to HELP them! I would argue it is more dehumanizing to just leave people on the streets, completely drug addicted, exposed to inclement weather, and vulnerable to crime. Enforcing the law can be what is most compassionate.
If you listened to my interview with Deputy District Attorney Jeff Greeson back in the fall of last year, you’ll recall that he shared that arresting people for drug crimes serves to help them in the long run. He said that there was no greater feeling than seeing someone go from drug addicted and arrested, to completing a program to get their life back together, to get off drugs and reenter the workforce and society. A policy like the one the San Jose mayor is proposing to arrest those who refuse help in homeless shelters or facilities can actually help homeless people because those who are drug addicted would be forced to go to drug court and get mandated treatment, or those who are mentally ill would also be mandated to receive treatment for their mental illnesses – these would be avenues that would actually treat homeless people like human beings, identify the problems they are facing, and mandate the path forward for them to get them to a better situation.
This is not mean; this is what it is to tell the truth. Real empathy tells the truth. Coddling will not help any homeless person, drug addict, or mentally ill individual get out of the situation they are in. We ought to tell them to take responsibility for their situation, and then give them the tools to do that.
That brings me to our last pitfall, and this one is specifically for the church. Pitfall #6 says that: As a Christian, we must love homeless people, which means we give them money or resources without asking questions.
But, as I have already said many times, real love will tell the truth and will offer real hope. People are quick to go to Christians’ responsibility to care for the poor as the main and only argument for how to deal with homelessness, but that neglects the reality that Scripture speaks a ton to the ideas of personal responsibility and diligence.
The Bible strongly condemns laziness, portraying it as foolish and destructive. Proverbs 6:6-11 uses the analogy of an ant to illustrate the virtues of diligence and preparation, contrasting it with the sluggard who sleeps excessively. Laziness is associated with poverty, hunger, and shame.[41]
On the other hand, Scripture consistently praises diligence and hard work. Proverbs 13:4 states, "The soul of the diligent is richly supplied," while Proverbs 12:24 declares, "Diligent hands will rule.” The Bible encourages believers to work quietly and earn their own living. Individuals are expected to work diligently to provide for themselves and their families. Financial stewardship and proper management of resources is encouraged to avoid poverty. And ultimately, the Bible presents work not merely as a means to an end, but as a form of worship and service to God. Colossians 3:23 encourages believers to work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men. It’s clear that the Bible strongly advocates for personal responsibility and diligence while condemning laziness. It presents work as a God-ordained activity essential for personal provision, societal contribution, and spiritual growth.
I’m not making the argument that all homeless people are lazy; but what I am saying is that as Christians we shouldn’t enable or encourage laziness or a victim-mentality in people. 2 Thessalonians 3:10 states very clearly, "For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: 'The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.’”
Christianity is not just a religious social welfare program. Of course, we love the needy and we do offer help in the form of food and money and shelter, but the commands to love the poor are not commands for how the government or how society must structure its services around chronic problems. If homelessness is a persistent problem for a person, we as Christians should ask deeper questions to get to the heart of the issue. If someone really has been doing their best and cannot get above water, of course we help them. But perpetual homelessness requires us to look at how money and resources are being spent, what effort is being put in by the individual, what desires are driving or hindering their ability to afford housing, and so on. If someone is drug addicted, just giving them cash to buy food isn’t going to help them – it could enable their drug habit. This means that when working with those who are homeless, we of course can extend compassion, but we are not bound to one action – like providing money or food or shelter – to love them. We can also advocate for them to get the real help they need, and we can support legislative policy that will provide a legal avenue for that to happen.
Action Items
What can you DO about these issues?
First, as always, be informed and refuse to be manipulated. I hope I have equipped you to do that today, but as you see headlines, like the story out of San Jose, come back to the principles we’ve discussed and apply them to each piece of policy or headline you see in our state around homelessness. Ask deeper questions when you see that Governor Newsom or his administration have passed another multi-year plan to address homelessness, but it uses the same approach as past plans that proved ineffective. We need to be supporting programs, legislation, and organizations that offer real hope to the homeless, rather than worthless solutions that have not worked and have just wasted taxpayer money.
Just like with every other issue, we want to address root causes. This means we need action around the drug crisis, we need reform to the mental health systems in our state, we need support for law enforcement to be empowered to help homeless people and drug addicted people to actually be disincentivized from their current lifestyles and make better choices that will offer them life, not just mere existing, and certainly not slavery to drugs or mental health issues.
Then, for the church, we need to commit to balancing compassion and meeting physical needs with a call to action. We know that the gospel requires action – we don’t promise people that they will receive unconditional love and grace without true repentance. The same is true here. We offer hope and help, we treat every person as a human who is worthy of respect, but we also refuse to enable bad behavior, and we commit to being honest about that. And of course, we offer the only true and lasting hope, which transcends far above circumstances or poverty or addiction or class – the hope of the gospel, which says if you know Christ, if you LOVE Christ, if you submit to Christ and turn from your sin, it does not matter what you face in this life, because HE will guide your steps, and He will lavish you with His priceless grace and love, not just in this life but on into eternity.
So, to circle back to how I started this article, I think the new proposal by San Jose’s mayor is a step in the right direction for enforcing personal responsibility, offering tangible help to those who are homeless, and making progress on an issue that is so big in our state, but needs to be addressed one step at a time.
References:
[1] Garofoli, Joe. “San Jose Mayor Unveils Plan to Arrest Homeless Residents Who Refuse Shelter.” San Francisco Chronicle, March 6, 2025. https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/joegarofoli/article/san-jose-homeless-20202911.php
[2] Chu, Joyce. “San Jose Has 4th Highest Homeless Population in US.” NBC Bay Area, June 28, 2024. https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/south-bay/san-jose-homeless-population/3579260/.
[3] Baker, Alex. “Homelessness Is Top Issue for San Jose Residents, According to Mayor.” KRON4, January 24, 2025. https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/homelessness-is-top-issue-for-san-jose-residents-according-to-mayor/#:~:text=Homelessness%20is%20top%20issue%20for%20San%20Jose%20residents%2C%20according%20to%20mayor,-by%3A%20Alex%20Baker&text=(KRON)%20%E2%80%94%20Homelessness%20is%20the,much%20as%20any%20other%20issue.
[4] Chu, Joyce. “San Jose Opens Multi-story Modular Housing Site for Homeless Families,” San José Spotlight, February 15, 2025, https://sanjosespotlight.com/san-jose-opens-first-modular-housing-site-for-homeless-families/.
[5] Garofoli, “San Jose Mayor Unveils Plan to Arrest Homeless Residents Who Refuse Shelter.”
[6] Ibid.
[7] University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative. “The California Statewide Study of People Experiencing Homelessness,” June 2023. https://homelessness.ucsf.edu/sites/default/files/2023-06/CASPEH_Executive_Summary_62023.pdf.
[8] Smith, Cory. “UCSF Research: Meth Use Rampant Among California’s Homeless, Treatment Elusive for Many.” CBS Austin, March 13, 2025. https://cbsaustin.com/news/nation-world/an-anchor-to-the-street-study-looks-at-link-between-homelessness-drug-addiction-ucsf-university-of-california-san-francisco-research-homeless-population-addiction-recovery.
[9] Maher, Richard. “Establishing Common Sense Solutions for the California Homelessness Crisis.” America First Policy Institute, January 29, 2024. https://americafirstpolicy.com/issues/establishing-common-sense-solutions-for-the-california-homelessness-crisis.
[10] Baxamusa, Sakeena. “Homelessness and Mental Health Interventions in California – Art of Writing.” UC Berkeley, December 16, 2022. https://artofwriting.berkeley.edu/writing/homelessness-and-mental-health-interventions-in-california/.
[11] Smith, “UCSF Research: Meth Use Rampant Among California’s Homeless, Treatment Elusive for Many.”
[12] University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, “The California Statewide Study of People Experiencing Homelessness.”
[13] Smith, Cory. “UCSF Research: Meth Use Rampant Among California’s Homeless, Treatment Elusive for Many,” KFOX, March 13, 2025, https://kfoxtv.com/news/nation-world/an-anchor-to-the-street-study-looks-at-link-between-homelessness-drug-addiction-ucsf-university-of-california-san-francisco-research-homeless-population-addiction-recovery.
[14] Ibid.
[15] Ibid.
[16] Maher, “Establishing Common Sense Solutions for the California Homelessness Crisis.”
[17] University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, “The California Statewide Study of People Experiencing Homelessness.”
[18] Ohanian, Lee. “Despite California Spending $24 Billion on It Since 2019, Homelessness Increased. What Happened?” Hoover Institution, July 19, 2024. https://www.hoover.org/research/despite-california-spending-24-billion-it-2019-homelessness-increased-what-happened.
[19] California Department of Housing and Community Development. “California Launches Three-Year Action Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness,” March 12, 2025. https://www.hcd.ca.gov/about-hcd/newsroom/california-launches-three-year-action-plan-to-prevent-and-end-homelessness.
[20] Governor Gavin Newsom. “NEWSOM’S $12 BILLION PLAN TO CONFRONT THE HOMELESSNESS CRISIS HEAD ON.” Press release. California’s Comeback Plan, n.d. https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/HOMELESSNESS-CRISIS-FACT-SHEET.pdf.
[21] Ibid.
[22] Phillips, Aaron. “Understanding Homeless Laws in California 2024: New Regulations and Key Court Decisions.” Homeless No More, December 17, 2024. https://homelessnomore.com/understanding-homeless-laws-in-california-2024-new-regulations-and-key-court-decisions/.
[23] California Department of Housing and Community Development, “California Launches Three-Year Action Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness.”
[24] Ohanian, “Despite California Spending $24 Billion on It Since 2019, Homelessness Increased. What Happened?”
[25] Ibid.
[26] Ohanian, Lee. “How California’s Homeless Problem Became Intractable,” Hoover Institution, September 8, 2023, https://www.hoover.org/research/how-californias-homeless-problem-became-intractable.
[27] Ibid.
[28] The Bowery Mission. “Amadou’s Hope Story: From Homelessness and Hardships to Hope for the Future.” The Bowery Mission: Updates, July 18, 2023. https://www.bowery.org/updates/2023/07/amadous-hope-story/.
[29] Springs Rescue Mission. “I Threw up My Hands’ — Michael’s Story of Overcoming Addiction and Homelessness Through Faith and Community,” n.d. https://www.springsrescuemission.org/articles/i-threw-up-my-hands-michaels-story-of-overcoming-addiction-and-homelessness-through-faith-and-community.
[30] Garofoli, “San Jose Mayor Unveils Plan to Arrest Homeless Residents Who Refuse Shelter.”
[31] Okorie, Gloria. “Where California Ranks in Helping Homeless People the Most: Study.” Fox KTVU, September 19, 2024. https://www.ktvu.com/news/where-california-ranks-helping-homeless-people-most-study.
[32] Ibid.
[33] End Homelessness. “Low-Barrier Shelter Policies and Procedures,” n.d. https://endhomelessness.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Example-of-Low-Barrier-Shelter-Policies-and-Procedures-DRAFT-1.pdf.
[34] The Raw Narrative. “Government Housing Tour-Knoxville TN,” March 2, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaMZggGWG_A.
[35] Marisa Kendall, “No Sleeping Bags, Keep Moving: California Cities Increase Crackdown on Homeless Encampments,” CalMatters, September 13, 2024, https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2024/09/camping-ban-ordinances/.
[36] Golde, Kalvis. “City of Grants Pass, Oregon V. Johnson - SCOTUSblog.” SCOTUSblog, March 16, 2025. https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/city-of-grants-pass-oregon-v-johnson/#:~:text=Holding:%20The%20enforcement%20of%20generally,Golde%2C%20October%207%2C%202023).
[37] Savage, David G. “Supreme Court Rules Cities May Enforce Laws Against Homeless Camps - Los Angeles Times.” Los Angeles Times, June 28, 2024. https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2024-06-28/supreme-court-homeless-encampments.
[38] Ludden, Jennifer. “100-plus Cities in the U.S. Banned Homeless Camping This Year. But Will It Work?” NPR, December 26, 2024. https://www.npr.org/2024/12/26/nx-s1-5199103/homeless-camping-bans-grants-pass.
[39] Savage, “Supreme Court Rules Cities May Enforce Laws Against Homeless Camps - Los Angeles Times.”
[40] Barmann, Jay. “San Jose Mayor Suggests Arresting Homeless Who Refuse Shelter; Legal Case in Vallejo Highlights Growing Backlash.” SFist, March 7, 2025. https://sfist.com/2025/03/07/san-jose-mayor-suggests-arresting-homeless-who-refuse-shelter-legal-case-in-vallejo-highlights-growing-backlash/.
[41] DeYoung, Kevin. “Guest Post: Proverbs on Laziness.” The Gospel Coalition (blog), June 3, 2011. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevin-deyoung/guest-post-proverbs-on-laziness/.
