Fined. Arrested. Still Nowhere to Live. Our latest documentary explores the growing criminalization of homelessness. If the video doesn’t show above, click here.
Across America, new laws are punishing homeless people simply for existing. In Kentucky, the Safer Kentucky Act makes it illegal to sit, lie down, or carry something as basic as a blanket in public. Homeless people are being fined, arrested, and jailed, even when they have nowhere else to live.
We went to Louisville to see the impact firsthand. We spoke with people who’ve been cited for sleeping, threatened with jail, and forced to move from place to place every few days, losing their belongings again and again. One elderly woman told us how a police officer dragged her down a set of stairs. We also highlight the story of a pregnant woman who was given a citation while she was in labor.
This isn’t just happening in Kentucky. Since the Grants Pass Supreme Court ruling, over 260 cities have passed similar laws. These policies don’t reduce homelessness; they make it worse.
But we’ve also seen what works: housing-first programs, low-barrier shelters, and supportive services that restore dignity, save lives, and save taxpayer money.
We’re wasting lives and taxpayer dollars on failed policies. The only real way forward is housing and support, not handcuffs.
More arrests won’t end homelessness. Housing will. Take action to support the Housing Not Handcuffs Act:
Support VOCAL Kentucky here
This documentary is a collaboration between Invisible People and the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty.
