Missouri leads nation in homeless solutions

Although the 2022 Missouri legislature passed the fewest number of laws in modern memory, it did take a monumental step toward reducing homelessness. In the last hours of the session, both houses, with bipartisan majorities, approved bill HB 1606, introduced by Sen. Holly Rehder and Rep. Bruce DeGroot. The law allows local cities and nonprofits to try new homeless strategies and ensures that cities act against the growing danger of homeless camps.

Under current law, almost all federal and state money for the homeless goes toward a single policy, known as Housing First. Under this model, the government tries to give every homeless person on the streets a free and permanent home, no strings or requirements attached. Yet the evidence shows that Housing First does nothing to improve the health or well-being of the homeless, and that building more units only attracts more people into the system.

The federal government is already throwing billions of more dollars at Housing First, so the bill redirects state homelessness funds to different types of shelters and treatment programs. Now cities and nonprofits can seek funding for solutions that have shown success elsewhere, such as safe parking areas, sanctioned and policed camping facilities, and even tiny home communities. Under the new bill, Missouri cities and counties can bring these models into their communities or try other models -- whatever fits their needs.

The bill also requires typical shelters to prove that they are worth the investment. The shelters must show that they are improving the employment and income of their residents. If the shelter can demonstrate it is doing better than average, it can receive new bonuses under the bill. This "pay for performance" model will ensure that providers have the same goals as both the taxpayers and the homeless themselves.

The bill also takes aims at the most tragic expression of modern homelessness, pervasive street camps. Despite claims that disrupting such camps is dangerous, the real danger is leaving a largely mentally ill and drug addicted population unsupervised in public. Last month a St. Louis homeless man wandered into traffic and was struck by a car. In January a fire at a homeless encampment under the freeway in Kansas City left one person dead and thousands of dollars in damage. In cities such as Los Angeles that have allowed street camping, they've seen the number of homeless deaths jump from 500 to over 2,000 a year.

To avoid the policy mistakes of cities like Los Angeles, the law forbids local cities from stopping enforcement of camping and sleeping laws and forbids camping on state land. Homeless individuals will have to move to a shelter or services instead of an encampment at a park. The state of Texas passed a similar law last year to deal with Austin's tragic removal of a camping ban. Since the passage of the law, and a local referendum, Austin has cleaned its streets without arresting a single homeless individual.

As Rep. DeGroot said on the floor during debate, "As a society and businesses, we have an interest in getting these people off the streets and back into society." That's what this bill does. It puts Missouri on the path to getting people the resources and treatment they need to improve their lives.

As Sen. Thompson Rehder explained in her blog: "We need to address the underlying causes of homelessness. We can do that by focusing on the mental health and substance abuse issues of the homeless." This bill shows that Missouri understands that homelessness is not just about housing. It is about getting a whole community to try to help the least fortunate get off the ground and back on their feet.

Judge Glock is the senior director of policy and research at the Cicero Institute.