I was very excited after reading the post about the encampment in Portland and how successful it was, so I wanted to find out if there were any other places around the country with anything similar. What I found is a “guide to homeless encampments” created by the Center for Problem-Oriented Policing; at first I was very worried about what I would find in this guide given the skewed public view on homeless people. I was surprised to find an outline of the two sides of the homelessness debate, one saying homeless people need society’s help to recover from their situation, and the other saying they simply drain resources and harm their communities.

In the section title Harms Caused by Homeless Encampments the guide outlines a variety of issues brought on by encampments. These included spreading disease due to garbage attracting rodents coupled with an inability to properly wash utensils. Poor hygiene and lack of health insurance also lead to the spreading of sickness. The next section of problems caused by encampments is in regards to the environment, but doesn’t have any quantitative data to support the claims. The guide states inadequate disposal of human waste can be hazardous to water supplies, and the use of wood stoves and camp fires can cause wildfires that destroy infrastructure as well as natural habitats. Finally the last problem discussed was the homeless and their impact on the larger community. The guide talks about a strong relationship between homelessness and criminality, threats to business viability, illegal use of public space, and costs to society. After reading through all the categories it was clear to me that the sole factor behind all these problems was public unwillingness to interact with or even be in proximity of homeless people, and that the public does not want to pay taxes towards having them around.

What the guide fails to mention is lack of money going towards social services and aid programs is a primary reason for homelessness, developing sickness, and living in public spaces and in addition does not address the side of the argument that homeless people need society’s help. All the problem categories outlined in the guide could be addressed quite easily if more of the public was informed about the real causes of homelessness and the ways to deal with it.