Homeless Encampment Cleanups Do Little to Change Numbers of People on the Street, Study Finds

Homeless encampment cleanup activities do not appear to have long-term effects on the number of people living on the streets, a new study by Rand Corp has found. Another study by the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative at UC San Francisco found that far more than the general population, people living on the streets and in shelters are victimized by violence and discrimination. Anita Hargrave, MD, assistant professor at UCSF and lead author on the impact of Intimate Partner Violence on Homelessness study, said, "There is so much tendency in the ongoing discourse on homelessness to dehumanize. When you read through people’s stories when they came to that point when they could no longer be housed, it’s such a powerful way of creating empathy."