CAROL L.M. CATON FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

A courtroom gavel. (Photo: Jonathunder)The Congress just passed the AHCA. That’s it! I get it! When is the next demonstration to oppose Trumpcare? I’m in! This week the citizenry again took to the streets, as they have nearly every week since the presidential election of 2016. Now more than ever, I understand the passion that drives us to social activism.

My observations of what makes social change work, however, reminds me of the legal battles in support of homeless people in the 1980’s, when ordinary citizens challenged the government to provide care for the homeless. Back then I was a newly minted social scientist studying the emerging problem of homelessness. With the numbers of street dwellers increasing, and no organized effort by governmental agencies to address the problem of homelessness, the concerns of ordinary citizens erupted into public demonstrations and episodes of civil disobedience. What I recall most vividly of that period are the bold actions of two young New York City lawyers, concerned citizens who did not hold public office, whose hard work and dedication to social justice would dramatically increase the options of people experiencing homelessness to exit street living and embark upon a path to stable housing.

During that time I was directing community studies of people with severe mental illness who had recently been released from mental hospitals. It quickly became apparent that many of our charges did not have a place to live. They spent their days wandering the city streets, sleeping at night in parks, train stations, or other public places. Later in the decade, the ranks of people without homes swelled nationwide with men, women, and children whose housing loss was a casualty of the high unemployment, double-digit inflation, and the scarcity of housing options for people with very low incomes. Public services for homeless people were almost non-existent in the prosperous years following World War II, and most communities were not prepared to cope with the crisis of homelessness. In some cities voluntarism surged, with charitable organizations providing food, clothing, and blankets to people living in public spaces. Church basements and unused public buildings were hastily transformed to house the throngs of people seeking shelter.

Then, in 1979, Robert Hayes, a practicing attorney for a corporate law firm, used his legal skills to bring about lasting change in New York City’s response to homelessness. Hayes became aware of the problem of homelessness through his acquaintance with men living on the street in his Manhattan neighborhood. The men told him that street living was preferable to staying in one of the limited number of overcrowded shelters, which they said were dangerous and filthy. Finding city officials unresponsive, Hayes brought a class action lawsuit against the city and the state on behalf of three homeless men ("Callahan v. Carey," 1979). The legal action contended that a constitutional right to shelter existed in New York State in connection with Article XVII of the New York Constitution, which states that “the aid, care, and support of the needy are public concerns and shall be provided by the state and by such of its subdivisions…” Later that year, the New York State Supreme Court ordered the City and State to provide shelter for homeless men, citing Article XVII. Following negotiations between the plaintiffs and the government defendants, Callahan v. Carey was settled as a consent decree specifying the minimum health and safety standards that must be maintained in shelters. The consent decree led to the development of a network of shelters under the auspices of the New York City government, making New York City the first municipality in the nation with a legal right to shelter.

Hayes wasn’t the only young lawyer to become involved in changing the fate of America’s homeless. Maria Foscarinis, a litigator for a New York City corporate law firm, began working pro bono on behalf of homeless families. After seeing the impact of legal advocacy on the lives of homeless people, Ms. Foscarinis left the private practice of law and relocated to Washington, D.C. to establish an office for the National Coalition for the Homeless. Advocacy in the nation’s capital was deemed important because the Reagan administration did not view homelessness as a national problem and there was no attempt to address homelessness with new programs or policy initiatives.

Ms. Foscarinis was the prime architect of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, the source of federal support for homeless services, and she led a nationwide campaign for its adoption into law. After consulting with members of Congress, Ms. Foscarinis put together a draft bill in 1986--The Homeless Persons Survival Act. The three elements of the bill were emergency shelter, homelessness prevention, and long-term solutions. At first, only pieces of the proposed legislation were enacted into law. The permanent address requirements and other barriers to eligibility for federal programs such as Supplemental Security Income, Veterans’ Benefits, the Food Stamp Program, and Medicaid were removed so that homeless people could gain access to these benefits.Later that year Ms. Foscarinis collaborated with advocate Mitch Snyder to forge a larger blueprint for legislation that became McKinney-VentoAct, which included provisions for shelter, food assistance, health care, and transitional housing. During the winter of 1986-1987 an intensive legislative campaign was launched in which supporters across the country were urged to lobby their legislators to endorse the bill. With effective lobbying and bipartisan support, both houses of Congress passed the legislation in 1987, and President Ronald Reagan signed it into law in July of that year.

Mr. Hayes and Ms. Foscarinis provide an object lesson in the power of concerned citizens to bring about change in government policy. By channeling their passion for social justice into direct action, they used their legal skills to prompt governments to acknowledge their responsibility to address America’s homeless problem. Most of us, however, are unable to devote ourselves full-time to a cause. Fortunately, there are many ways to make a difference in the quest for change; join a public demonstration, donate money to an aspiring candidate for public office, or volunteer to make telephone calls for a legislative campaign. As for me, I am sporting a new RESIST tee shirt, and my pen is full of ink!

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Carol Caton, a Public Voices Fellow with the Op Ed Project, is a professor on the faculty of psychiatry and public health at the Columbia University Medical Center. She has led NIH-funded research efforts on homelessness, severe mental illness, and substance abuse. Her book “The Open Door: Homelessness and Severe Mental Illness in the Era of Community Treatment,” is a new release from Oxford University Press.

