Photo: Brett Kavanaugh | A row of tents is seen at The Hope Village, a secure tent encampment established for homeless people, on December 24, 2022 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images)

As local governments across the United States began the massive task of counting the nation’s unhoused people this week, legislators in states like Kentucky are gearing up to criminalize homelessness — with the Supreme Court recently agreeing to hear a landmark case out of California that will decide how far cities can go in punishing unsheltered people.

An army of volunteers began conducting the annual Point-in-Time surveys this week to map the extent and gravity of the nation’s homelessness crisis, collecting counts of how many people are currently experiencing homelessness to submit to the federal government. Federal resources are allocated to local communities each year based on the national count.

The survey comes two weeks after the Supreme Court agreed to consider whether fining or arresting people experiencing homelessness, and who don’t have access to alternative shelter, violates the Eighth Amendment. The case will impact camping policies nationwide.

Read Article >>>