Opinion: How Preventing Violence Can Help End Homelessness

*Stockton’s historic city center. Photo by MattGush/iStock*

Housing affordability and homelessness are a top concern across California communities. Solutions so far have focused on closing the gap between housing supply and demand, but that will take years, decades or generations to fully implement. In the meantime, local communities are trying to figure out how to address the conditions and challenges unhoused individuals experience that take years off their lives and make it harder for them to return to stable housing.

People experiencing homelessness face repeated violence and stress from a lack of safety. They often engage in unhealthy behaviors, such as substance use, to cope. A comprehensive strategy to reduce exposure to violence for people who are unhoused can reduce violence in the community as a whole, reduce public spending on emergency medical and other services and increase the chances that individuals can transition off the streets.

In Stockton, a group of stakeholders — including service providers, leaders of community organizations, researchers, law enforcement and individuals with experience of homelessness — have been meeting for the past 18 months, convened by Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Medical Center’s Community Health team. Their goal is to better understand patterns and causes of violence among unhoused people and to begin to craft solutions. A few things emerged from the initial discussions, review of available research and interviews with people who are currently or recently have been unhoused:

While the common narrative is that mental health and substance-use issues lead to homelessness and contribute to violent behavior, the reality is more complicated. Violence doesn’t just happen to those who are unhoused — it often contributes to people becoming homeless. Many find themselves on the streets after fleeing domestic violence or other unsafe situations. We heard many stories of individuals who didn’t have mental health or substance-use issues prior to becoming homeless but developed these conditions due to the stress of life on the streets and in shelters.
There is little to no data and reporting on violence experienced or perpetrated by unhoused people. This makes it very difficult to respond effectively and to understand what’s driving it. For example, we’ve heard anecdotally that there are a small number of people, both unhoused and people who prey on the unhoused, who are responsible for a large portion of the violence experienced on the streets and in shelters. People also told us that violence often centers around possessions of value and spikes when resources such as public assistance checks are issued. Without documented evidence of these patterns, it is difficult to get community buy-in on solutions that could address them.
Lack of stability and places of belonging increase vulnerability for certain groups including women, LGBTQ+ people, older adults and youth. Systems that aren’t well coordinated or tailored to individual needs, limited shelter space designated for vulnerable populations and constant moving from shelters and encampments all leave people without social support and resources. We’ve heard many stories of people making unwanted decisions to carry weapons or enter relationships for protection.

The upside of working on an issue that hasn’t gotten much attention is that there are lots of opportunities to make progress. In Stockton, we’ve made plans and requested funding to increase data collection and put information into a short annual report tracking trends in violence experienced by unhoused people. We’re also seeking to provide secured lockers for unhoused people to store valuables at multiple locations and violence prevention training for front-line staff at multiple organizations across the city. And discussions are underway on how to maximize safety at a planned, long-term encampment.

Violence prevention is definitely only one piece of a broader strategy to address homelessness, but it’s important and could result in benefits to human wellbeing and public finances.