Yup, just earlier this post showed up in my thread with people trying to criminalize sleeping in public areas so homeless can be arrested.
https://www.npr.org/2019/12/16/788435163/supreme-court-wont-...
https://www.npr.org/2019/12/16/788435163/supreme-court-wont-...
The problem isn't the criminalizing of sleeping in public spaces, it's the lack of publicly funded shelters and publicly funded (incl. mental) healthcare for the homeless.
We should pay to give them a place to sleep, and punish them just like anyone else if they choose to set up camps in public spaces.
Good luck with the former. The NIMBYs will fight it tooth and nail, every millimeter of the way.
Shelters without forced religious services. Without forced NA/AA. Shelters that will allow families to stay together. Shelters that don't take away walkers and oxygen tanks due to being "weapons". Shelters that are safe, for everyone, especially if you are trans. Ones that allow folks to actually improve their life instead of waiting hours for food and mandatory classes. Bonus points if they provide for pets as well: I know of at least one woman that stayed with an abusive partner because of this. Her only friend in the country (!) was her dog. (He died while she was pregnant, so she got a better life, but no dog).
It is unfortunate that the shelters we do have are rarely good enough.
I don't think society is at a place to do such a thing, but I'd personally like to see everyone getting the option of low-cost to free basic housing. A single person would minimally get a private room and bathroom: More likely a proper studio with a small kitchen. Clean, secure, and functional. Easy-to-clean and easy-to-replace surfaces and appliances. Professional cleaning 2-4 times a year, mandatory.
Of course, I think we should only have shelters for folks that have temporary emergencies and homes for everyone else. People will still need shelter from time to time even in a more perfect world - fires, floods, abuse, money mistakes, and so on happen.
This is all a dream and I don't think we'll get to this point soon enough.
The homeless that are on the street are typically very hostile and going through drug withdrawal. It can become a public safety issue then.
[1]: https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/10-facts-homelessness-2014
"The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread."
Often applicable, but rarely quite so literally.
A little empathy would clarify that if there were any (holistically) better option, then homeless people would be preferring that to sleeping on the streets.
Firstly there needs to be "enough" available shelter, which accommodates the richly varied life situations of people. Secondly, it's no use having these shelters in the middle of nowhere such that their tenants are disconnected from a thriving economy and the rest of society.
The commons are, after all, for common use, and it is coercive to punish the homeless (often considered "riff raff") for "ruining the commons" if one's delicate (bourgeois) sensibilities are affected.