The Criminalization of Homelessness and Mental Illness in the Wake of Jordan Neely's Death.
Originally Published 2 years ago — by Yahoo News
Advocates say the criminalization of homelessness and negative public perception of people who experience living on the streets may have acted as a precursor to the death of Jordan Neely, a young Black man who was killed on a New York City subway train after being deemed a threat. Neely grappled with both homelessness and mental health crises. A disproportionate share of the homeless population is Black, and then you tie that into having a mental health problem, that's another layer. Advocates have called out systematic overlappings and “gaping holes” that leave people vulnerable to homelessness, such as broken foster care systems, a lack of government funding, landlord discrimination in the state’s emergency housing voucher system, and understaffed Department of Homeless Services workers who face an insurmountable workload to secure housing and resources for people who need them.