Expanding Sit-Lie Ban Isn’t Solution to Homelessness Problem
It’s time to move away from simplistic approaches to a crisis that is resulting from the intertwining of many complex issues.
Last month, the Committee on Zoning and Planning of the City Council voted to move forward in expanding Honolulu’s “sit-lie ban.” According to proponents, the aim is to further prod the city’s homeless population off of city streets and into homeless shelters, thereby relieving the city’s burgeoning homelessness population.
This view, though well intended, is misguided. Any expansion of the sit-lie ban is akin to simply patching a punctured tire: the car may still operate adequately in the short run, but without replacing the tire, the car won’t be drivable for long.
Likewise, forcibly relocating a population that already has nowhere to go does nothing to improve their situation.
Developing new laws to move the homeless along is not helping to solve the problem of homelessness.
Sophie Cocke/Civil Beat
According to a new UH study, since its implementation last September, the sit-lie ban has failed both as a way to encourage homeless to seek out shelters and as a means to reduce overall homelessness. Rather than reducing homelessness, the sit-lie ban has simply transferred the city’s homeless population from tourist hubs like Waikiki to less high-profile parts of Oahu.
A stopgap measure, perhaps; but considering the intended goals of the law, the sit-lie ban has not come close to yielding desired results.
On the contrary, the sit-lie ban has only compounded the problem by adding insult to injury. According to the same UH study, while 57 percent of respondents had their IDs taken from them during street sweeps, only 16 percent of that number have since been able to reclaim them.
Doubling down on the failures of the past is the surest way to leave everyone stranded on the side of the road.
The obstacle standing in their way? A $200 retrieval fee. The intent may have been to incentivize homeless to seek refuge, but the result has instead brought further hardship on a population that already is highly vulnerable.
That’s not a solution; it’s a slap in the face. The last thing Honolulu’s homeless need are more barriers preventing them from obtaining self-sufficiency.
The driving force behind the sit-lie ban is that it projects a positive image of Honolulu as a tourist destination. Yet the problem with this argument is that it only addresses the symptom of decreasing tourism instead of the cause: the factors that proliferate homelessness.
Even when dealing with strictly the effects of homelessness, force is not necessarily the most effective option. In April, the nonprofit Institute for Human Services created a shuttle service that transports homeless from the streets of Waikiki to shelters — all at no charge.
To aid these efforts, the Hawaii Lodging and Tourism Association, a statewide organization of hotels, has pledged to donate $100,000. Already, IHS is starting to see positive results.
The insidious part of homelessness in Hawaii is that it isn’t a standalone issue, contrary to how it’s often treated by politicians. Homelessness is the result of the intertwining of many other complex issues, including, but not limited to, cost of living, job prospects, substance abuse, physical disabilities and even mental health.
The only way Honolulu’s homeless population will experience real relief is by addressing these factors which contribute to homelessness in the first place. If our elected leaders diverted more time, energy, and resources into remedying the causes of homelessness, instead of treating the symptoms, Honolulu will finally get that “replacement tire” it desperately needs.
With no substantive evidence of homeless reduction, it’s hard to see how expanding a failed sit-lie ban will somehow produce the success originally touted by the law’s supporters. If a policy hasn’t worked, our elected leaders ought to have the courage to admit their mistake and seek out alternatives which can actually make a difference.
Doubling down on the failures of the past is the surest way to leave everyone stranded on the side of the road.
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