'It creates a vicious cycle.' Advocates push back on bill to criminalize homelessness

Advocates are urging lawmakers not to support a bill criminalizing homelessness. The legislation would make it a class C misdemeanor to camp or sleep in public areas. 

Lawmakers behind the bill say it aims to deal with the issue of chronic homelessness, and requires police to track the number of people arrested for camping outside. 

Bill sponsor Cyndi Carrasco (R-Indianapolis) has said the bill tries to address homelessness in a responsible way, arguing it is not compassionate to let people die on the street. Supporters also say the goal is for law enforcement to help direct people to services. 

Opponents say the bill has no added support to connect people with diversion programs, and that an arrest would only add more barriers to housing. 

Dawn Baldwin, a formerly homeless Lafayette resident, said a misdemeanor charge she received while living on the street ultimately made it harder for her to get into housing. 

“The criminal record prevented me from finding any housing that I wanted,” Baldwin said. “I couldn’t just choose where I wanted to live. I fortunately found a compassionate landlord who was willing to give me a second chance.”

Baldwin, who long struggled with mental health issues, said she wasn’t able to get her life under control until after she was living in permanent supportive housing.

“I couldn’t have gotten better without housing,” she said. “I wasn’t able to focus on my mental health and when I was on the streets my mental health amplified because I became addicted to alcohol, I was self-medicating. You can’t get better without housing.”

Advocates working with unhoused populations say the legislature is taking the wrong approach, sinking resources into penalties that should be going towards support for people. 

Jennifer Layton is the President and CEO of LTHC Homeless Services in Lafayette. 

“I often hear that people don’t want housing, that is simply a false narrative people are saying to make themselves feel better,” she said. “People do want housing, they just can’t afford it.”

Kentucky recently enacted a similar law in 2024. Since the ban on sleeping outside went into effect, the unsheltered homeless population has increased.

Andrew Bradley is with Prosperity Indiana, one of the organizations advocating against the bill. He said Kentucky has cited and jailed roughly 20% of its homeless population.

“In Indiana, that would cost about $4,900 per citation,” Bradley said. “That cost is not only to the individual but to the court system itself.”

In 2025, 1,201 people experiencing homelessness were counted unsheltered in Indiana. That number has more than doubled in the last 6 years. 

Using Kentucky as a benchmark, the bill could cost the state over a million dollars every year to fine, ticket, and jail roughly 300 people.

Bradley said those hidden costs are something lawmakers should consider before passing the bill.

“It’s a requirement that every community cite, fine, and jail its unhoused population if they are sleeping outside,” he said. “That, in turn, is going to only take more resources out of the community and still not provide any housing and services.”

Contact Government Reporter Benjamin Thorp at bthorp@wfyi.org