A new executive order signed by President Donald Trump targeting homelessness in the U.S. has local groups concerned.The executive order comes as Vermont released its yearly homelessness report Wednesday, which says over 4,500 Vermonters are homeless.The executive order encourages local governments to reinstate civil commitment, which is a process to put people with mental health issues into treatment without their consent. “We all become a target fairly quickly if we’re targeting people who don’t have anywhere to go,” said Brenda Siegel, the executive director of End Homelessness Vermont. The order says the federal government and states have spent billions of dollars on solutions, like Housing First, that haven’t worked and don’t address the root causes.The executive director of the Housing and Homelessness Alliance of Vermont says the evidence he’s seen says otherwise. “It tries to convince municipalities that they should go against evidence-based best practices on how to make our community safer,” said Frank Knaack. “I think we’re actually in a place of advantage, because all we need to do is remind communities that they need to continue to focus on what data shows is a more effective solution to homelessness.”The order also asks states to reinstate civil commitment, a process that puts people with mental illnesses into treatment without their consent. “There aren’t enough institutions in our country or state to accommodate all of these individuals, all of these households. So, what that really means, what that really looks like is prisons and camps,” said Siegel. Gov. Phil Scott says he hasn’t read the executive order yet. He’s been calling for more shelters for people who are homeless. “We’re doing all we can to provide for emergency shelters. We think increasing the number in communities is the fastest way to make sure that we pay attention to that population,” the governor said. “I don’t think the executive order is going to help us succeed in that area.”While this order is concerning local groups, they also point out it isn’t law and doesn’t enforce anything directly.
A new executive order signed by President Donald Trump targeting homelessness in the U.S. has local groups concerned.
The executive order comes as Vermont released its yearly homelessness report Wednesday, which says over 4,500 Vermonters are homeless.
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The executive order encourages local governments to reinstate civil commitment, which is a process to put people with mental health issues into treatment without their consent.
“We all become a target fairly quickly if we’re targeting people who don’t have anywhere to go,” said Brenda Siegel, the executive director of End Homelessness Vermont.
The order says the federal government and states have spent billions of dollars on solutions, like Housing First, that haven’t worked and don’t address the root causes.
The executive director of the Housing and Homelessness Alliance of Vermont says the evidence he’s seen says otherwise.
“It tries to convince municipalities that they should go against evidence-based best practices on how to make our community safer,” said Frank Knaack. “I think we’re actually in a place of advantage, because all we need to do is remind communities that they need to continue to focus on what data shows is a more effective solution to homelessness.”
The order also asks states to reinstate civil commitment, a process that puts people with mental illnesses into treatment without their consent.
“There aren’t enough institutions in our country or state to accommodate all of these individuals, all of these households. So, what that really means, what that really looks like is prisons and camps,” said Siegel.
Gov. Phil Scott says he hasn’t read the executive order yet. He’s been calling for more shelters for people who are homeless.
“We’re doing all we can to provide for emergency shelters. We think increasing the number in communities is the fastest way to make sure that we pay attention to that population,” the governor said. “I don’t think the executive order is going to help us succeed in that area.”
While this order is concerning local groups, they also point out it isn’t law and doesn’t enforce anything directly.
