{"id":16770,"date":"2021-05-11T09:00:11","date_gmt":"2021-05-11T13:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=16770"},"modified":"2022-10-09T06:24:58","modified_gmt":"2022-10-09T10:24:58","slug":"what-is-the-difference-between-housing-and-shelter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/what-is-the-difference-between-housing-and-shelter\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is the Difference Between Housing and Shelter?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This is part three in our series regarding U.S. District Judge David Carter\u2019s recent order<\/a> requiring the City of Los Angeles to offer and provide shelter to all homeless people in Skid Row\u2019s general population by October 21. To learn more, read part one<\/a> and part two<\/a>.<\/em><\/h4>\n

The federal order to provide either housing or shelter to people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles’ Skid Row has the city up in arms.<\/p>\n

U.S. District David Carter ordered the city to cease the sale of certain municipal-or-county-owned properties to use them to house homeless people. Officials must also provide a transparent accounting of all the funds both received and spent to alleviate the problem.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles County officials described the order as “beyond judicial activism,” saying it puts federal officials in charge of a local issue. That could include deciding how local dollars are spent on homeless shelters and supportive services.<\/p>\n

To ease the order’s requirements, county attorneys have asked the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals for an emergency stay.<\/p>\n

Skip Miller of Miller Barondess, LLP, an outside counsel assisting county attorneys in the case, said the preliminary injunction is necessary for the county to continue working on the issue.<\/p>\n

“The order not only violates the separation of constitutional powers, it will not solve homelessness in the region and lead to criminalizing it, undermining the trust and faith the county has worked long and hard to establish with people living in the streets,” Miller said.<\/p>\n

While the lawyers seem content with arguments about the limits of state power, they are simultaneously overlooking the real issue with the order. It promotes a false duality between housing and shelter.<\/h4>\n

Housing and shelter provide drastically different experiences and treatment options for people experiencing homelessness. At a macro level, housing provides people with agency and dignity. They can come and go as they please, invite friends and family to visit, and keep pets. Housing also provides people going through treatment programs with some stability.<\/p>\n

Some examples of housing programs that benefit unhoused people include:<\/p>\n