Join ACLU Hawai`i for a presentation on the Decriminalizing Houselessnesss in Hawai`i Report. 

Hawai`i ranks 2nd in rates of houselessness in the United States, with Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders composing the largest group of unhoused residents. Rather than addressing the root causes of this racialized crisis and ensuring all residents have access to life-saving housing and services, public officials have passed laws making houselessness a crime and enforcing them through inhumane “sweeps'' that punish, displace, cite and jail community members for being unhoused. 

 Anti-houselessness laws do nothing to stem the flow of entry into houselessness, and their enforcement by local police departments is costly, harmful, and counterproductive. Meanwhile, there is an acute shortage of permanent housing support—the top basic need required to end houselessness. 

Our research reveals an entire legal infrastructure in Hawai`i that makes meeting basic survival needs illegal in public spaces. It acknowledges the root causes of homelessness and offers concrete steps to address houselessness, mental health crises, police violence, and to increase safety and healing for uhoused communities and all residents in Hawai`i. For more information about ACLU Hawai`i, visit www.acluhi.org