There’s been an idea of a shelter bill of rights for the Cares Campus being circulated, and we believe it’s an excellent idea.
Why not go further and also have an overall bill of rights for unhoused residents?
A Homeless Bill of Rights has already become law in Rhode Island, Connecticut and Illinois and has been under consideration by more than a half a dozen other U.S. states.
These bills of rights give the unhoused equal rights to medical care, free speech, voting, opportunities for employment, the right to use public spaces without fear of discrimination or harassment by law enforcement and the right to privacy of property in public spaces.
Criminalizing poverty and laws or ordinances that prohibit sitting, sleeping, panhandling, sharing food, or religious practice in public spaces are the opposite of this.
Rhode Island was the first state in the U.S. to pass a "Homeless Bill of Rights" in 2012. The bill prohibits discrimination based on housing status, stating, “No person’s rights, privileges, or access to public services may be denied or abridged solely because he or she is homeless. Such a person shall be granted the same rights and privileges as any other resident of this state.”
Illinois went further in 2013, with its bill giving the unhoused the ability to maintain employment as a right, and preventing discrimination based on housing status. In 2013, Connecticut also prevented the unhoused from being discriminated against in employment, housing, or in public spaces, such as parks and sidewalks.
There have also been efforts for “Right to Rest” acts, which have been Colorado, and briefly here at council meetings in Reno, which would generally protect the rights of the unhoused to move freely, rest, eat, perform religious observations as well as protect their right to occupy a legally parked motor vehicle. These have yet to pass though, and “homeless bill of rights” have yet to expand, since their initial surge ten years ago.
A man walks with his possessions in downtown Reno on a recent rainy day.
In the more immediate future, then, how about a shelter bill of rights for the Cares Campus, which has been rife with unhealthy food, broken showers and toilets, and a lack of water since its opening?
Shouldn’t this be a given since sweeps have been ongoing that the Cares Campus meet basic minimums?
In Minneapolis, the group Street Voices of Change suggested a shelter bill of rights, including clean facilities and dedicated staff to cleaning, a 90-day probationary period for new hires, an outside committee for grievances and review of staff misconduct, elimination of conflict of interest and “in-house” in hiring, ensure hiring of staff who want to be there to see improvements in peoples’ lives, grievance policies and a clear process and chain of command of staff for when grievances are not addressed, shelter should be sanctuaries where folks can be without fear of being taken by police without a warrant.
What would you like to see included in a Cares Campus shelter bill of rights?
A legislative bill was also introduced in California in 2021 that would have required “a city or county that receives a complaint from an occupant of a homeless shelter … alleging that a homeless shelter is substandard to inspect the homeless shelter, as specified. The bill would require a city or county that determines that a homeless shelter is substandard to issue a notice to correct the violation to the owner or operator of the homeless shelter within 10 business days of the inspection, or issue the notice to correct the violation immediately if the violation constitutes an imminent threat to the health and safety of the occupants of the homeless shelter. The bill would authorize a city or county to issue an emergency order directing the owner or operator to take immediate action to rectify violations if the city determines that the violations are dangerous, hazardous, imminently detrimental to life or health, or otherwise render the homeless shelter unfit for human habitation….”
Would you like to see our own legislature formulate and pass this type of law?