Homeless Sweeps Are Harming Homeless Individuals Health

A sweep of a homeless camp underway. Source: Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian

With homelessness becoming an increasingly visible problem within the Portland Metro, the Pacific Northwest, and the United States as a whole, communities hope for solutions to come forward quickly as the amount of homeless camps grows. Not all of these observers are particularly sympathetic: many find them to be unsightly, dirty, or concerning for their local safety. Instead of expanding support services to assist the people living in these camps, the city police conduct sweeps to clear them out of the area they have set up in.

Police sweeps on homeless camps are not a new phenomenon, but with such a large and growing homeless population, they have increased the practice. During a police sweep, homeless individuals are forced to leave the area that they have created shelter for themselves and their personal belongings, often losing much, most, or all of their property in the process. Homeless people are some of the most vulnerable members of our communities, and these sweeps do not simply cause them to relocate, they are incredibly harmful for their health and wellbeing. A study published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine reported that homeless camp sweeps caused many issues for houseless individuals, not just in the loss of their material belongings but also in their health and stability.

A graphic from the study showing both direct and downstream negative impacts that clearing out homeless camps causes.

While many find these small communities to be an issue of public safety, removing them seems to be just as much of an issue of public safety as it greatly impacts the health of the unhoused individuals living in these camps. A great local example is that of the homeless camp that has been set up across the street from a youth resource center that provides many services to its inhabitants. It is frequently planned for sweeps, although clearing this camp out would remove its inhabitants from some of the only support systems they have access to. The “out of sight, out of mind” mentality of the local government and community towards this issue completely ignores the drastic effects these actions can and do have on the livelihoods of unhoused people.

Further reading about the study on health effects of sweeps can be found here

Further reading on the camp located across from the youth resource center in downtown Portland can be found here

-Written by Eric Bacon