Latest news with #homelessness
CBS News
5 hours ago
- Politics
- CBS News
Colorado church wins right to shelter homeless in RVs after legal battle with Castle Rock
A years-long legal battle between the Colorado town of Castle Rock and a local church has finally reached a resolution. It all started when the town ordered The Rock Church to stop sheltering the homeless in two RVs on its property. The town claimed it was a zoning violation, but the church argued it was their religious duty to help the homeless and said the town was violating their religious freedoms. The two parties have now reached a settlement that allows the church to shelter the homeless in up to five additional RVs beyond what they previously had. "It's actually a mandate in the Bible to take care of your neighbors, to love your neighbor as yourself, to take care of those that are struggling," said Rock Church lead pastor Mike Polhemus. CBS When Polhemus filed a federal lawsuit against the Town of Castle Rock, he was prepared for it to go all the way to the Supreme Court. "We're really fighting for the churches to be able to have their religious freedom, to do the things that we're called to do according to what the scripture commands us to do," Polhemus said. The church's first victory came last July, when a judge granted a preliminary injunction allowing them to resume sheltering people while the case moved forward. The church quickly moved a Parker family of eight in, who stayed for three months. "Now they're they're doing great. They're in their own home. They have a vehicle now," Polhemus said. "They're so thankful that we were able to help them in one of their greatest times of need." This month brought a final win for the church, with a settlement allowing them to shelter people in up to seven RVs on their property. CBS The settlement states the town may choose to pay for and install fencing to screen the RVs from neighbors. The town must also pay $225,000 of the church's legal fees. The terms of the settlement also allow the church to operate a coffee shop on site, as well as partner with the American Red Cross as an emergency shelter in Castle Rock. The Town of Castle Rock shared a joint statement saying: "On May 13, 2024, the Church of the Rock ("the Rock") filed a federal lawsuit against the Town of Castle Rock, Colorado, in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. The Rock sought and received a court order enjoining the Town from enforcing its land-use laws to prohibit the Rock's operation of its On-Site Temporary Shelter Ministry, through which the Rock provides shelter to those in need in trailers on its property, during the pendency of the case. Since the Court issued its injunction order, the Rock and the Town have sought to resolve this dispute without further litigation. As part of those efforts, on December 2, 2024, the Town issued a revised Letter of Determination that explicitly permits the Rock to operate its On-Site Temporary Shelter Ministry in the two trailers currently located on the Rock's property and clarifies that the applicable Planned Development zoning regulations do not prevent the Rock from providing additional shelter during public emergencies through its partnership with the Red Cross. The Town and the Rock now wish to inform the public that they have reached an agreement intended to end the current litigation and settle issues regarding the future use of the Rock's property to provide temporary housing to those in need. As part of this agreement, a new Letter of Determination will permit the Rock to operate its On-Site Temporary Shelter Ministry located in its existing parking lot. The Town has the option to install additional fencing or landscaping to partially screen the location of the units from the surrounding neighborhood in accordance with the terms of the agreement. The Town acknowledges the Rock's invaluable services to the Castle Rock community through its longstanding efforts to provide support for those members of our community most in need. The Rock acknowledges its responsibilities as a good neighbor and looks forward to working in partnership with the Town while providing those services. The Town and the Rock believe that this agreement is in the best interest of all parties and successfully balances the Rock's religious free-exercise rights with the Town's public interest in enforcing land use regulations and protecting the general welfare, public health, and safety. The Town and the Rock are no longer in an adversarial posture in regard to the litigation and look forward to productive cooperation and potential partnerships on issues in the future." The town looks forward to cooperating with the church in the future, a sentiment Polhemus shares. "We love the Town of Castle Rock. We love everything that they're doing. And our hope is that we can actually work together," Polhemus said. "We're not here to hurt our community, we're actually here to help the community. One of the ways we can do this is help those that are struggling, help our neighbors that have become homeless or in a bad situation, and we can bring them in and quickly get them back on their feet and into a sustainable position and integrated back into society." Today, two people live temporarily in the RVs on site, and the church will set up more RVs as needed. "We find is a lot of the people that are struggling, they don't just need a shelter, but they need people to come alongside them and to really help them in their greatest time of need," Polhemus said. Now that the conflict is settled with the town, the church hopes to explore building workforce housing on their land, an idea that was not popular with neighbors. "I know there's concerns from the neighbors that this is going to reduce their property values and increase crime rates, and I would say to this date, we have done nothing of that sort, and do not plan to do that," Polhemus said. Polhemus says the church will continue to follow its calling, and he hopes neighbors will join them. "Christ showed us love when he died on a cross for us," Polhemus said. "My encouragement to our community, to our churches, is that we would respond in the same love that Christ had for us, and lay down our lives for one another. And one of the ways we do that is by helping those that are struggling with housing."
ABC News
6 hours ago
- ABC News
Tasmanian boy left homeless due to child protection department's 'gross negligence', family member says
A 13-year-old boy was left languishing in a homeless shelter for months because of the Tasmanian child protection department's "gross negligence", a family member says. The family member, who cannot be named due to child protection laws, repeatedly urged the department to act, warning the boy was "hanging around a tent city of homeless adults", taking drugs and dealing them. When she found out in August that the child was homeless, and questioned why authorities had not intervened, she said a department worker told her there were only two response staff on in the area. "I understand that your office is grossly understaffed — this is not your fault, but it's also not [the child's]," the family member wrote to the worker. Having worked in the child protection system interstate, she told the ABC that understaffing could lead to "permanent harm". "Those sorts of levels of staffing lead to deaths of children," she said. "It leads to instability because then the workers burn out and they can't provide the correct level of care for these kids. But, ultimately, these kids pay the price, and it changes the path of their life permanently." The department could not tell the ABC how many staff were on in the child's area between August and September, but in the north-west there were 12.7 full-time employees, compared to 16.7 the year before. Across the entire state, the staffing figure for that period was 85.6 on average, down from 102 the previous year. In October, the child's primary worker told the family member the boy was under the department's guardianship as per an interim order, and that a 12-month order was in process. But the boy continued to bounce around the state homeless, with the family member holding "serious concerns" about how his case was being managed. "No disrespect to you…as you have been thrown in the deep end, but [his] case is complex and cannot be effectively managed if you have not met him and there is back and forth between the northwest and the south which further slows things down. It needs to be managed by an experienced team in the south who can physically get out to see [him]," she wrote in an email. The worker said the department was in search of stable accommodation for the child but there had been "some difficulty". "I have followed up with the progress frequently, but the matter sits above me at this point in time, so I am unable to escalate it myself. [His] case has also been requested to transfer south due to that is where he is currently located, but due to the current placement request potentially being state-wide, the case transfer has been put on hold," the worker wrote. Often gone from the shelter for days, the child was seen advertising the sale of drugs online. "It's not acceptable that an at-risk 13-year-old child is being left to his own devices and there isn't a plan in place to return him to placement," the family member wrote to the department. "I'm worried about the path that he is currently on and that it's going to lead to him being further abused or overdosing, in juvenile detention, seriously hurt, or worse." The family member said the department no longer responded to her questions about the child's current situation and that she would make a formal complaint about the handling of his case. The department could not comment on individual matters for legal and privacy reasons. Tasmania's child protection department has been increasingly handling notifications about children in potential risk through pathways other than launching an investigation. Around 75 per cent of notifications for non-Aboriginal children, and more than half for Aboriginal kids, were "dealt with by other means" last financial year, data from a Productivity Commission report shows. It contributed the increase to "a change" in how cases are recorded since the Commission of Inquiry into the Tasmanian Government's Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. "During and following the commission of inquiry there were increases of historical abuse being reported. These notifications were assessed and closed as 'dealt with by other means' under 17 (2)(b), when no current risk to children is identified," the department said. Senior program manager at Anglicare, Marni Bos, said the non-government organisation received referrals from child safety — some that required a higher level of intervention than the organisation could offer. She said across the state, there was a "high demand" for their outreach program for kids with complex needs. The Supported Youth Program provided support, counselling and mediation for children aged 10 to 18 who were in an unstable home, disengaged from education, experiencing substance abuse or struggling socially. "In that program over the last 12 months, we have case managed 135 young people across the north, north-west," Ms Bos said. "We have limited services in the north, north-west, and so that can be a contributing factor [for high demand]." She said greater awareness of their rights among young people, family violence and lack of housing had also contributed to the increase in demand. Interim Children's Commissioner Isabelle Crompton said around 400 children between the ages of 10 to 17 presented to the state's homelessness services each year. "Prevention and early intervention systems have not met the needs of this highly vulnerable group of children whose homelessness relates to a lack of appropriate or safe care," she said. "I know from speaking with children and young people that experiencing homelessness on their own can lead to offending behaviour and further unsafe situations," Ms Crompton said. Youth offences in Tasmania have risen from 3,800 in 2022 to 5,782 last year. Tasmania Police Assistant Commissioner of Operations Adrian Bodnar last month said 57 people were responsible for half of the youth crimes in the state. "It's a small cohort of youths that are creating the bulk of the issues for us in the community," Assistant Commissioner Bodnar said. The state's Liberal and Labor parties have not yet outlined their policies for the child protection sector, ahead of the election next month. Labor spokesperson Sarah Lovell said she was aware the system had been "chronically underfunded and under-resourced for over a decade". "Our commitment is to deliver a properly resourced, responsive, and accountable system that genuinely supports the wellbeing of vulnerable children and families," Ms Lovell said. Premier Jeremy Rockliff said: "We're supporting all the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry, which includes increased investment in child protection."
The Independent
12 hours ago
- Business
- The Independent
Santa Monica business owner offering one-way tickets out of town for homeless people
Fed up with the escalating homelessness crisis in Los Angeles, one man is taking an unconventional but heartfelt approach: buying one-way plane tickets to help people on the streets reconnect with family and friends. John Alle, a real estate advisory business owner and co-founder of the Santa Monica Coalition, launched a no-questions-asked program last week offering free flights home to unhoused people in LA with ID and someone waiting at their destination. After a Fox 11 story aired Thursday, Alle said a woman from a San Diego shelter reached out, along with about 25 others. 'We're going to get her a flight on July 3 to Wyoming,' Alle told The Independent on Friday. 'She's been trying to use her disability income to book a flight to see her family there, but she doesn't have enough income to do that and pay her bills for the month.' Funded by Alle and Santa Monica Coalition donors, the program offers flights and, when needed, bus or train rides to unhoused people, despite LA's billion-dollar spending to address homelessness. 'We're trying to send people home on a bus to Oregon on Monday and Tuesday,' Alle said. The business owner is frustrated by what he claims are slow, ineffective government efforts. 'The most frustrating part is just to see people that you know have the means to do something and make a difference, but they're trying to go towards another solution that benefits them financially,' Alle said. Alle and his team came up with the ticket home idea by researching how other countries address homelessness. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chinese government addressed urban homelessness by relocating people to their hometowns, offering temporary shelters, and clearing them from city streets. 'We started thinking creatively in terms of what we would be able to do to create an immediate impact. Otherwise, we just have people lying around in front of City Hall,' Alle said. While any unhoused person in LA can utilize the program, Alle said they focus on helping women who are subject to becoming victims of crimes and people who have lived on the streets for less than two years, as they have the best chance of reintegrating into society. 'I think if you've been out there more than five or six years, you're pretty much a lifer at that point,' Alle said. 'It's really tough to get people to want to come back inside when they've been out there so long, especially when they've been beaten down by so many elements of what's going on outside.' If you or someone you know is interested in the homeless relocation program, call (213) 652‑7463.
BreakingNews.ie
13 hours ago
- Politics
- BreakingNews.ie
Almost 5,000 children are homeless in Ireland
There are almost 5,000 homeless children in Ireland, according to the latest figures. Homelessness has reached another record high, with the data showing 15,747 people now in emergency accommodation. Advertisement The data shows that 10,903 adults and 4,844 children were accessing emergency accommodation during the last week of May. This is an increase on the 15,418 people, 4,675 of whom were children, recorded in April. The statistics do not include people sleeping rough, those that may be couch-surfing or homeless in hospitals or prisons, or those who are in shelter for asylum seekers or domestic violence centres. In Dublin, there were 11,323 people in emergency accommodation, including 3,539 children. Advertisement Focus Ireland CEO Pat Dennigan said the new figures show that the Government's 'current approach to homelessness is failing'. 'There needs to be far more urgency in the Government's response to help end this terrible human crisis,' he added. Ber Grogan, executive director of the Simon Communities of Ireland, said: 'We haven't seen a decrease in homeless figures for five months – and the last drop was due to temporary seasonal relief over Christmas. 'This is not progress. We don't want to keep breaking these records. Advertisement 'Behind every number is a person – a family, a child, a life in crisis. The time to act is now.' Sinn Féin spokesman for housing Eoin Ó Broin said there has been a 450 per cent increase in child homelessness in the last 10 years. 'One of the most depressing parts of the report is the increase in the number of children forced to live, in many cases for long periods of time, in emergency accommodation,' Mr O Broin said. 'When this family and in particular, child homeless, crisis really started escalating it was in 2014, there were 880 children in emergency accommodation. There is now almost 5,000 children [in emergency accommodation]. Advertisement 'That is a 450 per cent increase, thousands upon thousands of children have been forced into emergency accommodation because of bad Government housing policy.' Labour TD Conor Sheehan accused the Government of 'normalising' homelessness. 'As true as night follows days, another level of record homelessness. This is a stain on Government, a stain that they are ignoring, that they have continuously ignored,' he added. 'This is a Government who has normalised homelessness and this is a Government who has almost made child homelessness acceptable. Advertisement 'A child who enters homelessness is more likely to have poorer outcomes across every metric for the rest of their life, poor outcomes when it comes to educational attainment and poor outcomes in making them quite likely to enter homelessness as an adult.' Social Democrats TD and the party's spokesman for housing Rory Hearne said it was 'deeply upsetting and shocking' to see the State heading towards 16,000 people homeless across the country. He said there should be a state redress scheme for children who have been forced into emergency accommodation. He added: 'There are now 4,844 children homeless in this state. This is a national scandal. 'Figures released to me by the Dublin Region Homeless Executive shows that in Dublin alone, almost 17,000 children have been through emergency accommodation since 2016. 'That is unacceptable. We are talking about, potentially, a state redress scheme for children who have been through emergency accommodation because it is absolutely preventable and the state has known since early on in the crisis. 'The state knows any lengthy time is deeply damaging for children.' Mr Hearne added: 'There's also real concern that with the Government's new rental measures, which are due to come in in March, that between now and March we're going to see evictions, an increase in evictions by landlords to get a vacant property so they can increase the rents to market rent from March onwards, but also to get in evictions before those changes come in place. 'We're calling on the government to immediately implement a no fault evictions ban across the board.'
Telegraph
15 hours ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
If Zohran Mamdani is the future of the Democrats, they're doomed
It would be easy to call San Francisco mayor Daniel Lurie the 'anti-Zohran Mamandi,' but that would fail to do the first-term leader justice. Sworn into office this past January, Lurie – like Mamdani – hails from a storied family, in this case the founders of the Levi Strauss denim dynasty. But that is where the similarities end. Lurie was elected to City Hall last November following nearly a decade of decay across San Francisco. Fuelled by the soft-on-crime policies of former district attorney Chesa Boudin, San Francisco – an urban jewel of technology and wealth – was close to becoming a failed state. Violent crime, open-air drug camps, hundreds of annual drug overdose deaths, a declining population base and desolate downtown plagued the city where I was born and raised. San Francisco's ills were akin to many large American urban centres: Philadelphia with its gruesome 'Tranq' crisis; the epidemic of deadly violent crime devastating Chicago. And, of course, Los Angeles – similarly battling an inhospitable mix of homelessness, drugs and criminality. But sized a mere 49 square miles (one-tenth that of Los Angeles), San Francisco's blight has felt uniquely acute and everywhere – all at the same time. Back in 2022, fed up voters ousted district attorney Boudin, whose laissez-faire prosecutorial approach directly led to the city's spiralling quality of life. Former San Francisco mayor London Breed attempted, honourably, to steer San Francisco back to sanity. But with a record 806 drug-related deaths in 2023 alone – and San Francisco's abandoned business core dubbed a 'ghost town' by major media – Breed lost to Lurie last November. Despite a lack of formal political experience, Lurie is hardly new to politics. His career has been shaped by public service, mostly leading large non-profits focused on tackling urban ills – often in association with scions of other local family dynasties. Lurie's flagship $500 million Tipping Point Community organisation, for instance, was established alongside the daughter of Financial Services billionaire Charles Schwab. The reliance on – rather than rejection of – the private sector for public good has been a key Lurie manoeuvre and stands in sharp contrast to Mamdani's platform. Indeed, much like former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg a decade ago, Lurie has tapped major corporations and philanthropists to fund ambitious city programs hit hard by San Francisco's $800 million budget deficit. Earlier this month, for instance, he set up an entire department, the San Francisco Downtown Development Corporation, to steer private funding to city projects. Lurie has also heavily leaned into San Francisco's abundance of visionary innovators, most notably – and understandably – in the tech world. OpenAI head Sam Altman helped lead Lurie's transition team after his election last year. Such schemes – and there are many – stand in sharp contrast to the economic expansion plan touted by Mamdani, which mostly relies on added taxes levied on New York's wealthiest residents and corporations. And not just any wealthy residents and corporations: Mamdani's own website describes his strategy as shifting 'the tax burden from overtaxed homeowners in the outer boroughs to more expensive homes in richer and whiter neighbourhoods.' Such taxes would then be used to pay for low cost basic services including housing, transport and child care, even groceries. In other words – DEI meets Socialism. If this is the future of the Democrats, they are doomed. The problem with Mamdani's plans is that they rarely benefit – or are even desired – by those for whom they are designed. How else to explain the mostly white, mostly affluent New Yorkers who voted for Mamdani this week. Poor people don't need cheap housing – they need quality housing. They don't want free subway services, but reliable – and never more so – safe public transport. This requires funding, which taxes would supply, but also know-how, supply chains, available workforces and long-term commitments. And these are best delivered by partnering with the private sector. Earlier this month, for instance, crypto billionaire Chris Larsen gave $9.4 million to fund a Real Time Investigation Centre for the SFPD. Investment in law enforcement is another key area where Mamdani could learn from Lurie. Last month the mayor announced that the SFPD would be spared the 15 per cent budget cut he's implementing across city departments. Lurie has also signed an executive order to add 500 police officers to the department by, among other strategies, re-hiring recently retired officers. Lurie's law-and-order focus appears to be working: this week the SFPD made 97 arrests in a single day in San Francisco drug dens – 'the largest one-day fugitive-focused enforcement in recent history,' according to the city. While Lurie boosts officer numbers in San Francisco, Mandani has pledged to slash them. In their place, he will create a Department of Community Safety that relies on social-service schemes – 'evidence-based strategies that prevent violence and crime before they occur,' as he has described it – to maintain public order. This is a city that has finally seen a decrease in spiralling violent crime numbers – precisely because of an increase in police patrols. In 2023, for instance, New York City experienced a 20 per cent rise in arrests, a five-year record according to NYPD Chief John Chell. San Francisco may be far smaller than New York City, but its challenges – rising costs, a decreasing tax base, middle- and upper-class population declines – are eerily similar. Five years after Covid decimated both cities' business bases, mayor Lurie appears to understand that fixing San Francisco requires, above all else, public safety and a robust private-sector. Zohran Mandani should pay attention.
