Homeless services in Santa Barbara respond to Supreme Court’s decision to uphold bans on sleeping outdoors

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. - Local homeless agencies are responding to the Supreme Court's decision allowing cities to enforce bans on homeless people sleeping outdoors, even in West Coast areas where shelter space is lacking.

In light of the decision, PATH has issued the following statement from its CEO, Jennifer Hark Dietz:

"The Supreme Court’s decision in the Johnson v. Grants Pass case is devastating and will have disastrous consequences for unhoused individuals across the country, including the 181,000 people experiencing homelessness in California. Throughout our forty years of service across the state, PATH has seen how costly, ineffective, and inhumane criminalization and enforcement policies can be. An audit of Los Angeles’ 41.18 anti-camping policy found that after spending $3 million on encampment clearings, only two people were connected to permanent housing. San Diego instituted a similar anti-camping ordinance and homelessness there continues to rise. The status quo of people living outdoors is unacceptable, but we know what works—connecting people to outreach, supportive services, shelter and permanent housing. Punishing people for being unsheltered is cruel and will not put an end to our homelessness crisis. As an organization dedicated to ending homelessness, PATH will continue to advocate for housing and services, not handcuffs."

The case comes as a rising number of people in the U.S. are without a permanent place to live.

In a 6-3 decision, the high court reversed a ruling by a San Francisco-based appeals court that found outdoor sleeping bans amount to cruel and unusual punishment.