A newly introduced bill in the Louisiana Senate is hoping to address homelessness across the state by offering resources through a Homeless Court Program, which could potentially provide access to treatments for mental health or drug addiction.
While resources like that could be essential for some of the state’s most vulnerable populations, the bill also creates the crime of “unauthorized camping” on public property, punishable by up to two years’ hard labor for repeat offenders.
If individuals complete the court-mandated diversion program and meet other stipulations, they could get their criminal records wiped clean. For that to happen, individuals in the program would need to attend regular check-ins with service providers and complete court-ordered mandatory treatments.
Addie Duval, Vice President of the Greater Baton Rouge Region Start Corporation, told UWK that the bill does not do enough to address the root causes of homelessness, does not stipulate where funding would come from for the Homeless Court Program, and provides no additional resources to ensure that people who complete the program remained housed.
Start is the largest provider of coordinated entry and homeless outreach services in the Capitol Region.
Duval is also a board member with the Louisiana Balance of State Continuum of Care (BOSCOC), which is a statewide coalition aimed at ending homelessness.
“We’re the folks that go out in the streets, are in different locations around the city like community centers and libraries, and we meet people, get them into the system. We’re also one of the agencies that has housing vouchers that can then house some of those folks,” Duval explained about what START does.
Duval said that if state lawmakers wanted to tackle the issue of homelessness, especially in cities like Baton Rouge and New Orleans, the solution is simple in theory.
“People are primarily homeless not because they have a mental illness, not because they have a substance abuse disorder. It’s because there’s a lack of affordable housing, especially in Baton Rouge,” Duval said. “Even if a person gets into treatment, it doesn’t mean there’s anywhere for them to go.”
Duval explained that the average rent price in East Baton Rouge Parish is roughly $1,000 a month, which doesn’t include upfront costs such as rent deposit or utility fees.
According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s living wage calculator, a single person with no children needs to earn $21.87 per hour on a 40-hour work week to afford to live in East Baton Rouge Parish.
“If someone was to go out and get a minimum wage job, even one that paid a little bit more, that still doesn’t cut it. And often times, finding places that are affordable, they are in really bad parts of town or they’re just not even habitable units,” Duval said, noting that a lack of clean or safe living conditions can result in relapses for drug users.
Aside from affordable housing, reliable transportation to meet with service providers or attend treatment programs can be a challenge for homeless people who don’t have access to cars. According to a study done by WalletHub, Baton Rouge ranks 92nd nationally out of the country’s 100 largest cities for reliable public transportation.
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