St. Petersburg ranked 2nd meanest city toward homeless

Washington, DC -- A new report, Homes Not Handcuffs, by the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty (NLCHP) and the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH), takes a look at a growing trend in the United States -- the criminalization of homelessness.

The report focuses on specific city measures from 2007 and 2008 targeting homeless people, like laws that make it illegal to sleep, eat, or sit in public spaces.

Homes Not Handcuffs also ranks the top 10 cities with the worst practices in relation to criminalizing homelessness.

Top Ten Meanest Cities:

There are more than 6,200 homeless men, women and children living in Pinellas County on any given day, according to the annual homeless count conducted earlier this year.

Bradenton is the only other Bay area city to make it into the top 10.

Maria Foscarinis, NLCHP Executive Director, noted, "Homelessness in America is a human rights crisis right here at home. As foreclosures continue and the recession deepens, the crisis is affecting more and more Americans. But while some cities offer a helping hand, too often, as documented in our report, cities adopt unjust laws and practices that punish people simply for being poor and homeless."

"As a result of the economic crisis, homelessness is on the rise. Instead of helping to prevent homelessness, many cities are criminalizing those who lose their homes by passing 'quality of life' laws," said Michael Stoops, Executive Director at NCH.

"Criminalizing homelessness is not only an inhumane way of approaching people who are poor and vulnerable, but is counterproductive in dealing with the problem of homelessness," said Tulin Ozdeger, NLCHP Civil Rights Program Director. "It costs more to jail a person than it does to provide permanent supportive housing."