DeMaio Releases “CLEAN Streets” Initiative to Combat Homelessness

DeMaio blames a “culture of coddling” homeless for the crisis and says law enforcement must be given back powers to force homeless into mental health and substance abuse programs. DeMaio is committing resources to defeat various tax hikes being proposed by politicians that they claim will go to fund programs for the homeless.

“Career politicians are literally throwing good money after bad by funding failure again and again on homelessness,” said DeMaio. “We cannot tax our way out of this homeless crisis — we must enforce our way out of it,” DeMaio noted.

DeMaio’s CLEAN Streets Initiative would implement four major reforms:

Full Enforcement of Laws on Homelessness: DeMaio would withhold any new funds for homeless programs until law enforcement receives the power to enforce various laws related to homelessness, including vagrancy, loitering, pan-handling, trespassing, nuisance, and other violations of law.

Expand Treatment Programs: Instead of placing a premium on expensive taxpayer-funded housing units, DeMaio proposes to significantly expand treatment programs for mental health and substance abuse issues. Housing units would be allocated to homeless individuals committed to changing their lives.

Integrate Services and Fund Success: DeMaio’s proposes to end the discrimination against faith-based programs and allow all social service agencies to compete for funding based on share-in-savings and performance-based contracts. Providers would be encouraged to coordinate services for a full continuum of care model.

Impose Work Requirements: DeMaio’s initiative would require strict welfare-to-work requirements for individuals who receive housing subsidies from taxpayers.

“Career politicians are trying to get voters to approve yet another massive tax hike with Measure C and falsely claim it will solve the homeless crisis. Measure C will actually make things worse because politicians are literally throwing good money after bad by funding failure again and again on homelessness,” said DeMaio. “We cannot tax our way out of this homeless crisis — we must enforce our way out of it,” DeMaio noted.