Contextualizing Political Involvement of Individuals Experiencing Homelessness

Contextualizing Political Involvement of Individuals Experiencing Homelessness:

“The Right to be Heard" project

Sue Ativalu, Cynnamon Davis, Emily Horton, Wendy Sorensen,

Arielle Spanvill, Josh Tipton

University of Utah

What is the issue/problem the community has decided to focus on?

Our group has decided to focus on issues of voting and political involvement among individuals experiencing homelessness.  Our three main goals are to connect with the homeless population in Salt Lake City in order to gain an understanding of the issues that they are concerned with, to identify current city, county, state and national issues that affect this population, and to create an opportunity to raise awareness of these issues and facilitate ways for the homeless population to make their voices heard.  We can further understand the context of our focus by identifying key stakeholders, actors, and individuals important to the political participation of individuals experiencing homelessness.  We are looking at this problem from a variety of angles to help us better understand the situation in its entirety and comprehend the barriers that may inhibit political participation.  Individuals experiencing homelessness appear to be under-represented in elections; however this is difficult to track statistically as a fixed address is required in order to vote.  Our preliminary research reveals that homeless individuals are also less likely to make their voices heard through participation in non-voting political action.

For our macro group project we plan to meet with homeless individuals and other stakeholders in the community to understand the issue of political involvement from their perspective.  Key questions include: What barriers to political involvement are faced by the population?  What changes do they feel would benefit their community?  How would the population like to be involved in the political process?  And, what intervention(s) could our project use to help facilitate political involvement?  We are still in the beginning stages of meeting with the community and stakeholders.  We have a meeting set up later in December with the Fourth Street Clinic consumer advisory board, and are exploring the benefits of organizing a focus group and/or distributing and collecting a needs assessment survey to gather further data about the issue.  Once we have gathered sufficient data from the community we will create a plan driven by the feedback we receive from the target population.  The input we gain from the homeless community and other stakeholders will guide the focus of our macro project next semester.

What is causing the issue/problem?

Some of the underlying issues that are causing this problem are due to previous voting barriers that have been put in place throughout United States history.   Historically, voting laws have been a way of disenfranchising certain populations.  These populations including ethnic minorities, women, poor and even young adults have all had to fight for their rights to participate in one of the the foundations of American democracy, public elections.  Originally, only white male citizens who owned property were eligible to participate in elections.  Qualifications of who could be considered a citizen, “all persons born or naturalized in the United States,” (U.S. Const. Amend. XIV) came through the 14th Amendment.  Restrictions on "race, color, or previous condition of servitude" (U.S. Const. Amend. XV) were outlawed through the 15th Amendment in 1870, which essentially meant non-white men were legally allowed to vote.  Men of color still faced harassment, intimidation, economic reprisals, physical violence and regional restrictions enforced through “literacy tests” which famously asked “how many bubbles are in a bar of soap” (Daniels, 2008).  Women were not allowed to vote until the 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920.  The 24th Amendment declared the “right of citizens of the United States to vote… shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.” (U.S. Const. Amend. XXIV)  Poll taxes, a fee for service which purportedly generated the funds to cover the costs of running polling stations, helped to keep marginalized poor white and black Americans from participating in elections.  A senator from Mississippi was quoted as saying, "If the poll tax bill passes, the next step will be an effort to remove the registration qualification, the educational qualification of Negroes.  If that is done we will have no way of preventing the Negroes from voting" (Daniels, 2008).  The Voting Rights Act of 1965 created new laws in effort to prevent any “voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure... to deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to vote.” (2006)  While the use of poll taxes in national elections had been abolished by the 24th Amendment, the Voting Rights Act directed the Attorney General to challenge the use of poll taxes in state and local elections.  In 1971 the 26th Amendment further expanded voting rights stating that “the right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.” (U.S. Const. Amend. XXVI)  This was in reaction to protests against the Vietnam War and how the draft was making soldiers of 18 year olds who were not allowed to vote in a country they could be sent off to die for.  

There still exist various voter registration laws which complicate who can participate in elections.  Having been convicted of a felony restricts the voting opportunity for nearly six million, or 2.5 percent, of the US voting age population.  The de facto consequence of this law is that almost 8% of adult African Americans are ineligible to vote because of convictions, compared to 1.8% of the rest of the adult population (Pilkington, 2012).  In thirty one states there are voter identification laws requiring some form of identification at the polls.  In order to vote in Utah, one must be: at least 18 years old on or before Election Day, a United States citizen, a resident of Utah for at least 30 days before Election Day, and have not been officially declared mentally incompetent.  Proof of residence documents, which include the voter’s name and current residential address, are required at the polls for all statewide or municipal elections.  Acceptable documents include; a current and valid driver license or state identification card; other official identification card or license issued by a state governmental body; real estate tax bill or receipt for the current year or the year preceding the date of the election; university, college, or technical college identification card, which includes a photo; a utility bill for the period commencing no earlier than 90 days before Election Day; a bank statement; a paycheck; or a check or other document issued by a unit of government. (State of Utah, 2014)  Many of the above listed requirements can be difficult to provide if you are unemployed, not a student, or homeless.  In fact, most of the above listed acceptable documents are directly associated with having an established place of residence where you pay bills.  

In addition to the existing regulations that make it more difficult for homeless individuals to vote, there are many additional barriers to political engagement for this population.  Many homeless individuals may lack transportation to polling places or to community meetings about issues that affect them.  They may also lack resources to educate themselves about political issues and the exact requirements to vote, so may mistakenly believe that they can not vote because of a past criminal charge or because of their current living situation.  Additionally, “due to the transient nature of this population, it is often difficult to determine where an individual was last registered” (Miller & Gonzales, 2002) leaving the individual confused about where to vote.  Another barrier is that the homeless population “have so often experienced systematic disenfranchisement that they have little reason to believe that their vote matters.” (Miller & Gonzales, 2002).   

Another important barrier to political involvement among homeless populations is that individuals are often focused on much more basic needs such as securing food, shelter and safety, and thus may not feel that political or community involvement is a priority at the moment.  This can be illustrated by an experience that one of the authors, Emily Horton, recently had while working as a case manager for formerly homeless individuals who are in supportive housing programs.  Emily was helping a client fill out an application for Medicaid benefits. The application prompts the applicant to choose to register to vote at their current address.  Emily read the question aloud and the client responded with a very firm “no,” and stated that she had too much going on in her life to care about voting and that she did not believe her vote would make any difference.  The client had recently lost custody of her children, was having difficulty meeting basic needs such as food, and transportation, and had a severe toothache she could not access medical care to address.

What are the effects/consequences of the problem?

Low income and homeless populations consistently “vote at a lower rate than people with higher incomes.” (National Coalition for the Homeless, 2012)  At the same time homeless individuals are impacted by decisions related to economic and social issues that higher income individuals do not face.  When issues such as living wage, affordable housing, affordable health care and social welfare programs are discussed, the homeless population does not have easy access to voicing their position and are therefore silenced by the political process. (National Coalition for the Homeless, 2012).  Lawmakers continue to effectively criminalize homelessness creating and implementing discriminatory laws under the banner of maintaining public safety, and improving municipal image. (National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, 2013).  Often legislation that disrupts the lives of homeless populations occurs without the input of the affected population.  

David Rosendorf an attorney with expertise in homeless issues asserts, “Voting is the one fundamental right essential to the preservation of all other rights.” (Devlin, 2009) While many people take this right for granted, for homeless individuals this fundamental right is often not even a choice and lack access to having a voice in the political process produces a lack of self-worth and dignity. (Devlin, 2009)  According to Cardinale (2004) the inability to participate in our democratic process fosters alienation and distrust in disenfranchised individuals. It only makes sense that when we weaken civic involvement we weaken the systems that strengthen us as a country thereby creating anger and resentment amongst a group of individuals that have been abandoned by the process.  Cardinale reports that the individuals in his report said they felt like “outsiders” and “rejected” by society. They reported having feelings of apathy and loss of dignity as citizens of the United States.  If we continue to alienate segments of our citizenship population, we will continue to exacerbate mistrust of our federal and local governments. The report highlights issues concerning negative feelings about citizenship, alienation and distrust, and anger and apathy (Cardinale, 2004).  If a population is not represented in the fundamental process of how our country operates then we continue to perpetuate the distance between the “haves” and “have nots.”

Who is the population most affected by these issues?  

Although many marginalized populations are affected by a lack of participation in the political process we are focusing specifically on the homeless population.  In Utah in 2013 over 15,000 adults experienced homelessness, which is about one half of one percent of Utah’s total population.  The homeless population in Utah is quite varied, and does not necessarily fit typical stereotypes about people experiencing homelessness.  Nearly half of the homeless population in Utah is comprised of parents and children, while single men make up only 29% of those experiencing homelessness.  Three percent of this homeless population in Utah experience “chronic” or very long term homelessness while most only stay in homeless shelters for less than two weeks.  A popular myth is that the homeless population is transient, migrating to cities with the best services, however 88% of Utah’s homeless population lived in Utah when they became homeless. (Wrathall, et al., 2013)  

Homelessness exposes individuals and families to traumatic events which often aggravate their current circumstances and challenge their ability to access needed resources and regain self-sufficiency.  Homeless persons often utilize emergency services such as emergency rooms, police and ambulances more than the stably-housed and tend to have more jail stays due to their increased exposure to outdoor elements, violence, and other unsafe or unhealthy environments.  About 73% of all homeless persons experience mental illness, domestic violence or other barriers to stable housing. (Wrathall, et al., 2013)  Additionally, many homeless individuals have “experienced oppression through acts of racism, sexism, ableism, harsh working conditions,highly bureaucratized medical care, being shamed by family and friends for their economic conditions, being pressured into prostitution, and turning to drugs and alcohol to cope with deep emotional pain.” (Brubaker, Garrett, Rivera, & Tate, 2010)

Who are the other stakeholders/actors?

The most important stakeholder in the issue is the homeless population that we are hoping to partner with in working toward change.  Additional stakeholders are other low income populations who may be affected by the same policies around housing and social services, agencies that serve the homeless population, government officials including political candidates and city and state governmental bodies, and all citizens who live near to or interact with the homeless population in Utah.  Any of these stakeholders may face barriers that cause a lack of involvement or enthusiasm for this issue of political involvement from the homeless community, but also have much to gain if it is achieved.

We are planning to reach out to stakeholders, particularly homeless service agencies including the Fourth Street Clinic, Volunteers of America, the Veteran’s Administration and The Road Home, to engage them in our macro project.  The National Coalition for the Homeless has done work nationally to promote engagement in voter registration and education by homeless service agencies.  They have found that many agencies have not previously engaged in this work because they think that they are not allowed to assist with voter registration, staff believe that clients are not interested or they do not have the resources. (National Coalition for the Homeless, 2012)  Agencies with limited resources may be more focused on providing basic needs services as opposed to tackling social justice issues.

There are many benefits to be gained from increased political and community participation among the homeless population.  While “homeless people are often overlooked, misunderstood, and marginalized...the homeless community can collectively form a voting block to help shape the laws that most affect them, especially when small vote margins decide elections” (Miller & Gonzales, 2002)  This voting block could make a big difference in creating social policy that would affect lives beyond the percentage of the Utah population that is experiencing homelessness.  Political and community involvement can help homeless service and government agencies learn what the needs of the homeless population truly are and become better able to meet them.  Finally, this involvement can help entire communities increase “their awareness of society’s stigmatization and marginalization of homeless” (Fisher, 2012) with potentially far reaching effects.

Conclusion

Gaining a greater understanding of the issues and challenges regarding the homeless population voting, taking part in political processes and having a voice in decisions that affect them is just the beginning of our macro project.  We have explored a variety of causes and consequences to our problem  which is giving us a better scope of the issues at hand.  A part of the work we are doing as social workers is to objectively look at our own biases and agendas, so it does not negatively influence our decision making when choosing an intervention.  We continue to gather information from all stakeholders, specifically from homeless individuals, to ensure we have the necessary information we need to formulate  an effective intervention that is informed by the needs and concerns of the targeted population. Overall we hope this may help in our goal towards supporting the homeless population in having their voice heard; because everyone deserves this right.

References

Brubaker, M. D., Garrett, M. T., Rivera, E. T., & Tate, K. A. (2010). Justice Making in Groups for Homeless Adults: The Emancipatory Communitarian Way. The Journal for Specialists in Group Work, 124-133.

Cardinale, M. (2004). Triple-decker disenfranchisement: First-person accounts of losing the right to vote among poor, homeless Americans with a felony conviction. The Sentencing Project

Daniels, G. R. (2008). A Vote Delayed is a Vote Denied: A Preemptive Approach to Eliminating Election Administration Legislation that Disenfranchises Unwanted Voters. University of Louisville Law Review, 57-112.

Devlin, S. (2009). "I lost my home, don't take my voice!" Ensuring the Voting Rights of the Homeless Through Negotiated Rulemaking. Journal of Dispute Resolution.

Fisher, C. (2012). Transforming Communities: Faith Based Social Justice Group Work with Homeless. National Association of Christians in Social Work.

Miller, J., & Gonzales, P. (2002). Symposium Constructive Disenfranchisement: The Problems of Access and Ambiguity Facing the American Voter: "I Matter! I Vote!" Overcoming the Disenfranchisement of Homeless and Formerly Homeless Voters. Temple Political and Civil Rights Law Review.

National Coalition for the Homeless. (2012). Voting Rights: Registration Manual: You Don't Need a Home to Vote. Washington, DC: National Coalition for the Homeless.

National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty. (2013). Cruel, inhuman, and degrading: Homelessness in the united states under the international covenant on civil and political rights. National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty: Submitted to the U.N. Human Rights Committee.

Pilkington, E. (2012, July 13). Felon voting laws to disenfranchise historic number of Americans in 2012. The Guardian.

State of Utah. (2014, December 6). Election Day Requirements. Retrieved from Vote.Utah.Gov: vote.utah.gov/vote/menu/requirements.html

U.S. Const. amend. XIV. (n.d.).

U.S. Const. amend. XV. (n.d.).

U.S. Const. amend. XXIV. (n.d.).

Voting Rights Act of 1965. (2006). 42 U.S.C. § 1973.

Wrathall, J., Day, J., Ferguson, M., Hernandez, A., Ainscough, A., Steadman, K., . . . Tolman, A. (2013). Comprehensive Report on Homelessness. Salt Lake City: State of Utah.