Help the homeless find shelter

Borne of desperation at the sight of the unwashed homeless occupying the gilded streets of Waikiki, the city a year ago passed the first of several laws forbidding people from sitting and lying on public sidewalks.

Bill 42, backed up by serious enforcement, largely succeeded in driving the homeless off the sidewalks of the tourist district. But in a broader sense, the law and its progeny — four other sit-lie laws covering commercial areas from Haleiwa to Hawaii Kai — demonstrate the practical limits of pushing around the poor.

While some of the Waikiki homeless received help and shelter, many others simply moved elsewhere, knowing that law enforcement’s reach was limited.

It is true the sit-lie laws have proven useful in clearing some sidewalks some of the time. But they need to become obsolete. This is best achieved by giving the homeless better options, including sensible alternatives that most of us depend on and take for granted — a secure place to store belongings, a roof overhead and a bed accessible without curfews, freedom of movement, a little privacy.

These needs were illustrated vividly by the now-infamous Kakaako encampment, which became a free zone, attracting large numbers of homeless who tried to set up something as close to a normal home as possible: wood-reinforced tents on the sidewalks, with generators, large-screen TVs, cooking equipment, all imparting a sense of semi-permanence. It wasn’t until a state lawmaker was allegedly assaulted by some youths living there that the city took a second look and the whole thing began to unravel.

And rightly so. Sit-lie and other enforcement tools, including the stored-property ordinance, may be blunt instruments. But for now, they are necessary to enforce basic community standards of health and safety.

The city can point to some successes. After the Waikiki sit-li e ban was passed, some 246 people either found shelter or relocated to the mainland as of Aug. 31, according to Institute for Human Services spokesman Kimo Carvalho.

In Downtown-Chinatown, residents and merchants have noticed, to their relief, a significant decrease in the number of homeless people on the sidewalks and in front of businesses.

Of course, these efforts are a drop in the bucket, especially since the homeless population on Oahu is growing. According to an April 2015 point-in-time count, there were 1,939 unsheltered homeless people on Oahu, an increase from 1,633 in 2014. The 2015 State of Homelessness in America report said that Hawaii’s rate of homelessness is more than 2.5 times higher than the national rate.

Those are numbers that won’t be moved by sit-lie laws, even if the budget for enforcing them was unlimited, which it is not. At the moment, Waikiki and Downtown-Chinatown are the only areas routinely enforced.

The real solution, of course, is a lot more affordable housing on the Housing First model, which has proven to be effective in keeping the chronically homeless safe and off the streets. That’s a long-term goal.

For now, there isn’t nearly enough shelter space to accommodate all those who need it. Moreover, the requirements of entry to shelters can be impractical or impossible if someone has a pet, an addiction or other disability, no money for the entry fee, or property that can’t be secured for a reasonable length of time.

Homeless people need a place to sleep. The only solution is to provide them with one, sooner rather than later. It’s not just a moral argument; sleep is a basic human need, and depriving homeless people of both the street and access to a public shelter is arguably unconstitutional, according to the U.S. Justice Department.

To its credit, the city is emulating San Francisco’s success in the “low barriers to entry” concept, which relaxes shelter rules to make it easier for more homeless people to get off the street. The city’s Hale Mauliola shelter on Sand Island, opening in October, will accept pets.

But a much more expansive effort is needed. Hale Mauliola will take in no more than about 100 people at a time. The Governor’s Leadership Team on Homelessness is looking for property to expand shelter space. It will need to find creative ways to convince people that shelters, and the necessary services they provide, are a better alternative to what too many seem to prefer — living in a tent on a sidewalk, forever worried about the long arm of the sit-lie laws.