Honolulu鈥檚 鈥渟it-lie鈥 ban and other ordinances underpinning Mayor Kirk Caldwell鈥檚 鈥渃ompassionate disruption鈥 program are doing little to curb homelessness in the city, according to a being released Monday.

Instead, the study found, an array of ordinances aimed at clearing the city鈥檚 sidewalks has further complicated the lives of many homeless people by causing 鈥渆conomic and property loss,鈥 as well as 鈥減hysical and psychological harm.鈥

The study was co-authored by Tai Dunson-Strane and Sarah Soakai, two graduate students in the university鈥檚 Department of Urban and Regional Planning.

Homeless residents鈥 tents line the muddy bank of Kapalama Canal between King Street and Killingham Boulevard.

Cory Lum/Civil Beat

Their findings, based on a survey conducted in February and March with 70 homeless individuals at encampments in Aala Park, Kakaako and along Kapalama Canal, show that Caldwell鈥檚 program has not had its intended effect of prodding the homeless to emergency shelters where they can receive needed services.

A third of the survey respondents said they were less likely to move to a shelter after being cited for violating the city鈥檚 sit-lie ordinance, which bans people from sitting or lying on public sidewalks in designated business districts.

Another 61 percent said the sit-lie citations had no effect on the likelihood that they go to a shelter.

The findings come less than two weeks after the Honolulu City Council overrode Caldwell鈥檚 veto of Bill 6, a measure that expands the sit-lie ban鈥檚 boundary to include portions of McCully, Aala and Punchbowl, as well as the area along the Kapalama Canal.

The study also found that the enforcement of 鈥渟tored property鈥 and 鈥渟idewalk nuisance鈥 ordinances similarly led to dismal results.

About one-fifth of the survey respondents said they were less likely to move to a shelter after being subjected to enforcement actions conducted by the city鈥檚 Department of Facility Maintenance.

Another 68 percent said the sweeps had no effect on the likelihood that they would go to a shelter.

But the sweeps have caused plenty of disruption.

More than a half, or 57 percent, of the survey respondents said they鈥檝e had their identification documents confiscated during the sweeps, and only 16 percent of them managed to retrieve them later. That鈥檚 because the $200 cost for retrieval was prohibitive for most, and they weren鈥檛 informed about how to obtain a fee waiver, the study found.

Dunson-Strane and Soakai wrote that the takeaway from their findings is that there鈥檚 a need to 鈥渉olistically address the problem of homelessness in Hawaii.鈥

鈥淭he overwhelmingly harmful effects of current city sweeps and sit-lie policies on vulnerable houseless individuals and families in Hawaii are a travesty of justice,鈥 they wrote. 鈥淭he problem of houselessness will not be solved through punitive policies that increase harm to this population.”

Support Independent, Unbiased News

Civil Beat is a nonprofit, reader-supported newsroom based in 贬补飞补颈驶颈. When you give, your donation is combined with gifts from thousands of your fellow readers, and together you help power the strongest team of investigative journalists in the state.

 

About the Author