Counterpoint: Here's a better way to deal with Anoka's homeless

As leaders committed to ending homelessness, we write with great concern about the city of Anoka's plans reported in the Star Tribune ("Anoka gets tougher with homeless" July 30). We hope that the following practical and evidence-based alternatives will provide the city and its residents with a better response.

We have learned a great deal, here in Minnesota and around the country, about what works to end homelessness and how to most successfully deal with the concerns that the Anoka mayor and City Council have voiced.

A real solution to the problem starts by recognizing that people experiencing homelessness are neighbors in crisis, not a blight on "our" otherwise-pristine communities. People experiencing homelessness are among the most vulnerable Minnesotans.

Certainly, these Minnesotans are not a "cancer," as Anoka City Council Member Jeff Weaver suggested.

Cities across America have tried to deal with the problem of street homelessness. Those that have tried the criminalization approach being discussed in Anoka have failed. Those that have reframed the challenge of homelessness and encampments from stigmatizing the people experiencing homelessness to asking "What does it take to solve this problem?" have found success.

Locally, one example is the Downtown 100 initiative. The city of Minneapolis, in partnership with the Downtown Improvement District, identified 100 top offenders in downtown Minneapolis, people often responsible for a range of "nuisance" crimes such as public intoxication or violations of camping ordinances.

Within this group, 85 percent were homeless. By creating an approach that leads with outreach and connection to housing while using enforcement as a backup, offenses committed by this group dropped a stunning 74 percent.

The key ingredient in this kind of an approach is having staff members who can engage people in crisis and break through the barriers of mistrust, chronic health challenges and difficulties with finding affordable housing in our tight markets.

Using the money being invested for enforcement to pay for outreach workers and housing navigators would not only be more effective for Anoka's homeless residents, but we strongly believe it would also achieve the goals of the City Council far more effectively than additional enforcement ever could.

Cities all across America have come up with strategies and options that work for their communities and for their residents experiencing homelessness. The federal government has developed a set of tools to address this problem. We stand as ready partners for the mayor and City Council in solving homelessness, not criminalizing it.