@ISIDEWITHQuestionsHousing IssuesStarted 3yrs agoActive 6 days ago

Should homeless individuals, that have refused available shelter or housing, be allowed to sleep or encamp on public property?

The Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 is to ensure that everyone who is at risk of homelessness, or who is homeless, is legally entitled to meaningful help from their local authority regardless of their current status. It does this by defining the service that local councils and other public bodies must provide to those who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. The law requires councils to provide that help at an earlier stage than previously, with the objective that this will decrease the likelihood that people will become homeless.

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Answer Overview

Response rates from 1.5k North Somerset voters.

51%
Yes
49%
No
34%
Yes
49%
No
17%
Yes, and create more social programs to provide free food, clothing, and medicine
1%
No, and make it a criminal offense

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Other Popular Answers

Unique answers from North Somerset voters whose views went beyond the provided options.

 @9L757Y5answered…9mos9MO

The homeless people may refuse the option of such accommodation due to the danger of violence and prevalence of drugs etc in such accommodation. Real change needs to be made higher up the change to mean that people should not find themselves in such dire situations such as sleeping rough. In this day and age, in arguably the best and most coveted country in the world, it is truly shameful to know that people are sleeping on our streets. It is entirely avoidable by a change to legislation.

 @9CMCCTLanswered…1yr1Y

allowed only if the owner of the property allows it

 @9NLBSTJanswered…6mos6MO

No, local councils should make sites available for homeless individuals to encamp on with toilet and shower facilities

 @9NKR4QDanswered…6mos6MO

The number of people who are homeless who refuse actual help is so minute that this is redundant and unhelpful.

 @8ZSWN4Qanswered…3yrs3Y

I don’t really know

 @8Z3C9XRanswered…3yrs3Y

Why would they refuse

 @96V52QFanswered…2yrs2Y

Provide free housing

 @9F59DNGanswered…1yr1Y

No but provide better homeless care

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 @ISIDEWITH submitted…2mos2MO

Drug Crisis Prompts Portland to Reboot City Government

In a sign of either hope or desperation, Portland voters decided to throw out their entire government structure and replace it with a weaker mayor, expanded City Council and ranked choice voting.A major driving factor was the passage of “Measure 110” decriminalizing all drugs in 2020, which was backed by 74 percent of Multnomah County’s residents. Voters couldn’t — or at least didn’t — anticipate how this policy change would reshape a city already strapped for money, dealing with a public health crisis and confronting rising rates of homelessness and fentanyl abuse.Drug use shot up, homelessness worsened and taxpayers fled.“Political rhetoric in 2020-2021 in the City of Portland was incredibly ideologically driven,” Gonzalez said, explaining that there was a “default conversation” on topics like homelessness or police reform that shut down an exchange of ideas.The City Council race, meanwhile, is mayhem. Portland is switching from four at-large seats to twelve seats representing four districts. The dozens of candidates include Black Lives Matter leaders, nonprofit advocates, business owners and police officers.There are 19 people running for mayor and 98 people seeking seats on the City Council. They’re nearly all campaigning on left-of-center platforms — this is Portland.Pandemic closures, protests, elevated crime rates and rising homelessness buffeted many liberal cities in recent years, including San Francisco and Minneapolis. But policy choices made by the city and state aggravated their impact in Portland.The ramifications are measurable: Nearly 12,000 people moved out of Multnomah County between 2020 and 2023, per data from Portland State University. The exodus between 2020 and 2021 alone took nearly $1.1 billion in taxable income out of the city, according to data analyzed by the Economic Innovation Group. Portland’s once bustling downtown is nearly empty, and a negative national reputation clouds its economic future.Drug decriminalization and the city’s open camping rules compounded the feeling of insecurity. Homeless encampments spread through empty public spaces and filled sidewalks during the lockdown, and some became epicenters for the fentanyl trade. Even Portlanders who voted for decriminalization and believe in a compassionate approach to homelessness didn’t feel as safe in their own neighborhoods.

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