Homelessness and Mental Illness are not Crimes

Regional Housing Legal Services (RHLS) and the Pennsylvania Utility Law Project (PULP) strongly condemn the Executive Order issued by the Trump Administration on July 24, 2025, that aims to criminalize people experiencing homelessness and mental illness, as well as end support for effective, evidence-based solutions such as Housing First.

The solution to homelessness is affordable housing. The solution to mental illness is healthcare. Homelessness is not a crime.

The National Homelessness Law Center describes that this order:

1. Expands the use of police and institutionalization to respond to homelessness. 
2. Prioritizes funding for states that treat homelessness as a crime and end housing-based solutions.  
3. Cuts off funding for life-saving programs like harm-reduction.  

The damage this Executive Order will cause to those experiencing homelessness and to service providers working to help cannot be understated. We know, unequivocally, that criminalizing homelessness harms individuals and families already experiencing immense trauma; that it perpetuates homelessness by creating more barriers to getting help; and that it costs the government more to force people into institutional settings like jail, prison, or inpatient mental health facilities when there is no cause to do so.

Congress recently introduced the Housing Not Handcuffs Act, which aims to prohibit the criminalization of homelessness on Federal public lands. Similar legislation has been introduced in over a dozen states, including Pennsylvania. These pieces of proposed legislation, created in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s Decision on Johnson v. Grants Pass, aim to avoid wasting taxpayer resources to arrest, ticket, or imprison unhoused individuals for simply existing in public spaces.

We also know, unequivocally, that this directive will exacerbate already extreme racial inequalities in our carceral system by creating more potential for profiling and targeting of Black and Brown individuals.

We stand in solidarity with Pennsylvanians experiencing homelessness and our partners who provide safe, secure, and affordable housing.