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Community members expressed that a bed in a shelter is not the same as permanent housing, <br />and that reasonable people might choose to continue camping when offered alternative <br />solutions. Studies show that congregate shelters are neither appropriate nor safe for long- <br />term living, and they do not serve as an adequate replacement for permanent housing.[1] In <br />fact, the City staff’s review of anti-camping ordinances includes misleading wording: “Is <br />availability of housing required before enforcing the anti-camping ordinance?” [Emphasis <br />added.] In fact, the County’s ordinance criminalizes camping when space at a shelter is <br />available. So please be clear with our community when you describe the proposed ordinance. <br />This ordinance still criminalizes camping when there are no homes available for unhoused <br />people. <br />Please do not pass a flawed ordinance that criminalizes homelessness. Instead, please do the <br />hard job of solving the root problem our unhoused neighbors face: they don’t have a home. <br /> <br />Sincerely, <br />Sara Matlin <br />[1] See Eve Garrow, et al., This Place is Slowly Killing Me, Abuse and Neglect in Orange County Shelters, ACLU <br />of Southern California, (March 2019), <br />https://www.aclusocal.org/sites/default/files/aclu_socal_oc_shelters_report.pdf; Joel C. Cantor, at al., The Promise <br />of Service-Enriched, Hotel-Based Housing as an Alternative to Congregate <br />Shelters for High-Need Persons Experiencing Homelessness, 5 JAMA <br />(2022), https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2794709.