OPINION
BY Mike Burnett
President Trump’s recent executive order mandating the roundup and arrest of homeless individuals treats poverty like a crime rather than a social crisis.
Sweeping people off the streets with law enforcement not only deepens suffering, it undermines the moral and fiscal imperatives of effective, humane policy. We deserve solutions rooted in compassion, not cages.
The core problem is viewing homelessness as a public-order threat instead of a humanitarian emergency. Locking people up for sleeping on sidewalks or public plazas doesn’t solve their lack of housing—it just shifts the costs from shelters and outreach programs to jails and courts.
Arrest records burden already-vulnerable individuals with obstacles to employment, permanent housing, and social services, trapping them in a cycle of poverty and incarceration.
Fortunately, there exists a process that, when properly funded, works.
Housing First is an evidence-based approach that aims to end homelessness by providing people with stable, permanent housing before addressing other issues like employment, mental health, or substance use.
Instead of requiring individuals to meet certain conditions to “earn” housing, it starts with the belief that housing is a basic human right. Once someone has a safe place to live, they are better positioned to access support services that help them rebuild their lives. It’s compassionate, cost-effective, and proven—offering dignity and stability from day one.
The Housing First model reverses the traditional approach. Instead of demanding sobriety or employment before offering housing, it provides stable shelter first—and then offers holistic care: services from social service agencies, faith-based organizations, and other entities working to meet each individual’s unique needs.
These wraparound support services include mental health counseling, job training, substance-use treatment, and more, all emphasizing choice, dignity, and client-driven goals.
The results are impressive:
- Housing retention rates: Up to 98 percent after one year in supportive housing
- Savings: Every $1 invested in Housing First yields $1.44 in public savings
- Reduced use of costly services: Fewer hospital stays, emergency visits, and jail bookings.
Housing First not only saves money—it restores lives. Instead of punishing homelessness, the model prioritizes stable, permanent housing as the essential first step toward recovery.
Decades of research show that Housing First programs decrease chronic homelessness by over 64 percent while lowering public spending on emergency services, hospitals, and jails. Many communities across the U.S. have dramatically reduced their street homelessness by adopting this approach.
In the 1990s film The Shawshank Redemption, set in a 20th-century prison, the ruthless Warden Norton famously insists, “The only way to run a prison is with more bars, more guns, and more guards.”
He sees inmates as irredeemable threats to be contained tightly. His regime produces broken men, crushed by fear and hopelessness. Sound familiar?
By contrast, the film’s protagonist Andy Dufresne brings books, a library, and educational programs to Shawshank’s yard. He treats prisoners as people capable of growth. Over time, he rekindles ambition and purpose— inspiring inmates to learn, create, and believe in a future beyond the cell block.
Trump’s executive order echoes Norton’s logic: clamp down harder on suffering, and suffering disappears.
But as Shawshank teaches us, cruelty breeds despair. Rehabilitative investments—like Housing First—unlock human potential. They give people a stake in the community, a way off the streets, and the dignity that comes with stability.
Criminalizing homelessness is a false economy.
Money spent on arrests and jails brings neither safety nor solutions. Instead, let’s invest in proven, humane strategies that treat housing as a human right—just as Andy transformed Shawshank through education and empathy. Real leadership means opening doors, not slamming cells shut.
Locking up unhoused individuals is not only inhumane—it’s economically reckless. Consider these numbers:
- Average annual cost to incarcerate one inmate: about $33,000 nationally, with some states like New York spending up to $69,000
- Annual cost per chronically homeless person: $35,000, mainly due to emergency services, hospitalizations, and jail time
- Cost of permanent supportive housing via Housing First: $12,800 per person annually
The math is clear: it’s cheaper to house someone than to jail them, with far better outcomes.
By shifting from bars to beds, from guards to guidance, we can finally break the cycle of homelessness—and restore the promise of a society that cares for all its members.
In San Angelo, Texas, the Concho Valley Homeless Planning Coalition, led by the Concho Valley Community Action Agency, is crafting a vision that uses Housing First and echoes the spirit Andy embodied at Shawshank Prison.
The upcoming Concho Valley Rock Rose Community Campus is a bold project to support unhoused and low-income individuals with:
- Micro-homes and interim shelter units (Housing First)
- Hygiene facilities and food pantries
- Holistic wraparound services from over 20 partner agencies.
Situated on nearly 12 acres of city-owned land, Rock Rose will house over 100 individuals at a time and serve up to 14,000 people annually. It will be a one-stop hub for healing, growth, and stability—truly embodying Housing First principles.
Trump’s executive order represents a return to failed policies that criminalize poverty and squander taxpayer dollars. We must move forward—not backward—by embracing evidence-based solutions like Housing First and innovative projects like Rock Rose.
Let’s stop building more bars and start building more bridges. Because the way out of homelessness isn’t through handcuffs—it’s through housing, hope, and humanity.
Mike Burnett is the Executive Director of the Concho Valley Community Action Agency.
