What is an encampment? Don’t ask Massachusetts

The lack of a clear encampment definition, when and how a cleanout will be done and what services are available to displaced occupants creates legal risk for authorities and further traumatizes displaced homeless individuals.

A First Amendment right to feed?

A constitutional clash between a religious belief in feeding the hungry and a city food-sharing ban.

In Ocala, strict policing pushes the homeless out of sight

A federal lawsuit alleges draconian measures in Ocala, Florida, to address homelessness are not only discriminatory but unconstitutional.

Arkansas jail releases inmates, dozens of them homeless, amid COVID-19

The Washington County Detention Center — one of the largest jails in Arkansas — released a third of its inmates, including some homeless detainees, over a 10-day span to reduce the risk of a COVID-19 outbreak behind bars.

Homeless bills of rights are a new iteration of anti-discrimination laws

Many states have passed, or are considering, laws protecting homeless people from discrimination.

Felons are struggling for housing and jobs in Northwest Arkansas

For some, getting released from incarceration means getting to go home to their families. For others, it means a new sentence to homelessness, unemployment and missed opportunities.

Drug evictions create obstacles to housing the homeless

Experts say trouble is brewing in Martinsburg, West Virginia, because of a city law called the “drug house ordinance.”

In many cities, it’s illegal to beg for food or money

It’s illegal to sleep on a park bench. It’s illegal to stand in one place for too long. In hundreds of American cities, it’s a crime to be homeless.