National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty - Human-Right-to-Housing-Forum

Housing Not Handcuffs:
National Forum on the Human Right to Housing

With the involvement of over 150 social justice advocates from all across the nation, the 2017 National Forum on the Human Right to Housing was an inspiring and energizing event. We discussed a number of important topics from the intersectional forms of discrimination that result in the criminalization of homelessness to the models of advocacy that are succeeding in cities and counties. We also strategized and planned our collective work moving forward. The fight is far from over, and our work is cut out for us. The National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty is in the process of compiling a report detailing the discussions and progress made at the Forum, as well as the strategic plan moving forward with the Housing Not Handcuffs campaign. Below you will find the presentations from speakers of the Forum.

Read the Right to Housing Forum Report here.

Forum Recap

Welcome & Setting the Stage
Download the powerpoint here.

Edward McNicholas, Sidley Austin, National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty Board
Robert Warren, People for Fairness Coalition, National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty Board, Planning Committee Co-Chair
Maria Foscarinis, National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty

Plenary: The election and what it means for our work and the Housing Not Handcuffs Campaign

Panelists share their thoughts and answer questions on the impact of the new Administration and Congress on housing, homelessness, and criminal justice advocacy, and how we can best adjust our strategies to still make progress with the national and local goals of the Housing Not Handcuffs Campaign.
Moderator: Janet Hostetler, National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty
Panelists:
Chiraag Bains, Harvard University Law School
Don Saunders, National Legal Aid & Defender Association
Diane Yentel, National Low Income Housing Coalition

Plenary: Lessons from Recent Wins at the State and Local Level

Panelists share recent victories and how they achieved them, including Indianapolis' law requiring adequate housing be provided prior to the eviction of a homeless encampment, Los Angeles’ approval of a new tax for providing a major source of affordable housing funding, creative work going on across the country using smart data (and smart policies) to reduce the overuse of criminal justice on chronically homeless persons, and victories in the courts fighting criminalization of homelessness.

Moderator: Eric Tars, National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty
Panelists:
Lynn Overmann, Arnold Foundation
Sam Petsonk, Mountain State Justice
Don Sawyer, A Bigger Vision
Pete White, LA Community Action Network

Keynote: Catherine Lhamon, Chair, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights

Catherine E. Lhamon is the Chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. President Obama appointed Lhamon to a six-year term on the Commission in December 2016. Before coming to the Commission, Lhamon served as the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education from 2013-2017. Immediately prior to joining the Department of Education, Lhamon was director of impact litigation at Public Counsel, the nation’s largest pro bono law firm. Before that, she practiced for a decade at the ACLU of Southern California, ultimately as assistant legal director. Earlier in her career, Lhamon was a teaching fellow and supervising attorney in the Appellate Litigation Program at Georgetown University Law Center, after clerking for The Honorable William A. Norris on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In 2016, Politico Magazine named Lhamon one of Politico 50 Thinkers Transforming Politics and the National Action Network honored Lhamon with their Action & Authority Award. In 2015, Yale Law School named Lhamon their Gruber Distinguished Lecturer and the Association of University Centers on Disabilities awarded Lhamon their Special Recognition Award. Chronicle of Higher Education named Lhamon to their 2014 Influence List as the Enforcer. The Daily Journal listed her as one of California’s Top Women Litigators in 2010 and 2007, and as one of the Top 20 California Lawyers Under 40 in 2007. In 2004, California Lawyer magazine named Lhamon Attorney of the Year for Civil Rights. Lhamon received her J.D. from Yale Law School, where she was the Outstanding Woman Law Graduate, and she graduated summa cum laude from Amherst College.

Plenary: Widening the Lens: Criminalization of Homelessness and Intersectionality

Homelessness falls disproportionately on persons of color, persons with disabilities, LGBTQ individuals (particularly LGBTQ youth), and other marginalized communities. Moreover, discrimination based on racial, ethnic and gender identity, sexual orientation, and/or disability, contributes to and exacerbates criminalization based on homelessness. This panel will explore the intersections of status and identities and discuss how an intersectional analysis informs how advocates work together.
Moderator: Tristia Bauman, National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty
Panelists:
Janae Bonsu, Black Youth Project 100
Marc Dones, Center for Social Innovation/SPARC
Meghan Maury, National LGBTQ Task Force
Ann Menasche, Disability Rights California
Nahal Zamani, Center for Constitutional Rights

Breakouts I: Putting in Place Model Policies

Shorten Homelessness by Stopping its Criminalization

This session will discuss model policies to address the criminalization of homelessness and best practices in getting them implemented, including state-level Homeless Bills of Rights, using homeless continuums of care to leverage power, and using litigation in coordination with other advocacy to promote positive policy change.
Moderator: Eric Tars, National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty
Panelists:
Kirsten Anderson, Southern Legal Counsel
DeBorah Gilbert White, HerStory Ensemble
Jeff Foreman, Care for the Homeless

Prevent Homelessness by Strengthening Housing Protections

This session will discuss model policies to address prevention of homelessness and best practices in getting them implemented, including eviction-prevention measures such as just-cause eviction laws, protections for survivors of domestic violence, and highlighting New York City’s new right to counsel in evictions program.Moderator: Michael Santos, National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty

Panelists:
Karlo Ng, National Housing Law Project
John Pollock, National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel
Elayne Weiss, National Low Income Housing Coalition

End Homelessness by Increasing Access to and Availability of Affordable Housing

This session will discuss model policies to address ending homelessness by ensuring adequate, affordable housing. Panelists will discuss policies which promote the use and transfer of vacant properties for housing poor and homeless persons, as well as other strategies for increasing affordable housing stock.
Moderator: Tristia Bauman, National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty
Panelists:
DeBoRah Dickerson, Picture the Homeless
J.R. Fleming, Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaign
Terese Howard, Denver Homeless Out Loud
Rob Robinson, Take Back the Land

Media Communications

This breakout will discuss how the press currently covers criminalization, homelessness, and poverty issues, and make recommendations for groups hoping to get their campaigns covered.
Moderator: Rebecca Vallas, Center for American Progress/Talk Poverty
Panelists:
Pam Fessler, NPR
Soren Rasmussen, Voices for Civil Justice

Breakouts II

Messaging for the Housing Not Handcuffs Campaign

This breakout will be a training in messaging social justice issues, and help participants work on thinking through strategies and tactics for framing their own issues to be most effective in reaching and engaging key audiences and inspiring them to action.
Trainer: Camille Ward, Voices for Civil Justice

Unique strategies for addressing criminalization and housing in response to youth homelessness

This session will discuss school disciplinary procedures, the school-to-prison pipeline, status offenses, and other ways in which youth are uniquely subjected to criminalization, as well as their unique needs in developing constructive alternative policies.
Moderator: Michael Santos, National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty
Panelists:
Shahera Hyatt, California Homeless Youth Project
Amy Louttit, National Network for Youth
Diane O’Connell, Chicago Coalition for the Homeless
Naomi Smoot, Coalition for Juvenile Justice

Talking About and Taking Action on Homelessness & Racism

This breakout will discuss how racism causes and perpetuates homelessness. Addressing racism and racial inequity in homelessness means fundamentally changing the conversation we are having in the United States about the root causes of housing instability, risk for homelessness, and barriers to exiting homelessness for people of color.
Panelists:
Mark Dones, Center for Social Innovation
Jessica Venegas, Community Solutions

Breakfast Keynote: Peter Edelman

Peter Edelman is the Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Law and Public Policy at Georgetown University Law Center, where he teaches constitutional law and poverty law and is faculty director of the Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality. He was Counselor to HHS Secretary Donna Shalala and then Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation under President Clinton. He was a Legislative Assistant to Senator Robert F. Kennedy and was Issues Director for Senator Edward Kennedy's Presidential campaign in 1980. Earlier, he was a Law Clerk to Supreme Court Justice Arthur J. Goldberg and before that to Judge Henry J. Friendly on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He also worked in the U.S. Department of Justice as Special Assistant to Assistant Attorney General John Douglas.

Strategizing Sessions: Developing Next Steps

Litigation: Using the Courts to Stop Criminalization—and Advance Housing in Evolving Courts

This workshop will engage attorneys and other allies to discuss challenges in using the courts to stop criminalization and promote housing. Topics to workshop include:
-Building on post-Reed momentum in panhandling and addressing new challenges
-Rapid responses to sweeps
-Fighting civil citations
-Using pro bono resources
Moderator:
Tristia Bauman, National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty
Discussants:
Kirsten Anderson, Southern Legal Counsel
Michael Bern, Latham & Watkins LLP
Carol Sobel, Law Office of Carol A. Sobel

Organizing: Building the Movement to End Criminalization—and to Promote the Right to Housing

This workshop will provide space for organizers for discussing challenges and planning coordinated next steps in advancing the Housing Not Handcuffs Campaign. Topics to workshop include:
-Coordinating/planning trans-local actions
-Surveys
Moderator:
Bob Erlenbusch, Sacramento Regional Coalition to End Homelessness
Discussants:
Jeff Foreman, Care for the Homeless
Megan Hustings, National Coalition for the Homeless
Lori Leibowitz, Neighborhood Legal Services
Megan Smith, Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless

Policy Advocacy: Stopping Criminalization, Promoting Homeless Bills of Rights and Advancing the Right to Housing

Policy advocates in this workshop will discuss the following questions:
-How to build translocal support/momentum for Housing Not Handcuffs Campaign participants’ goals?
-How to link anti-criminalization and pro-housing work?
-How do we weaken/allay/stop opposition to homeless bills of rights?
-How can national/local work better support each other?
Moderator:
Eric Tars, National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty
Discussants:
Kelley Cutler, Coalition for the Homeless
Terese Howard, Denver Homeless Out Loud
Heidi Wegleitner, Dane County Board of Supervisors

Campaign Communications: Crafting New Messages, Reaching New Audiences

Advocates and communications practitioners in this workshop will discuss goals, audiences, and messages that will effectively resonate with key audiences. After identifying goals and audiences, the group will discuss:
-How to build empathy with the right narrative
-What messaging will educate and engage the general public to take tangible actions
-What messaging is needed to establish, maintain, and motivate collaborative networks
Moderator:
Maggie Ardiente, National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty
Discussants:
Mark Horvath, Invisible People
Don Sawyer, a Bigger Vision

Thank you to our sponsors

The Law Center thanks Sidley Austin, LLP for hosting the 2017 National Forum on the Human Right to Housing. Many thanks also go out to our sponsors, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, Fish & Richardson LLP, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, and additional support provided by Microsoft and GLG Law. Our sponsorships and ticket sales allowed us to provide 20 full or partial scholarships to currently or formerly homeless and low-income grassroots activist attendees. We are grateful for this outcome as it is crucial to have many voices represented in the discussion to end homelessness.

Forum Planning Committee

The Law Center thanks the members of the Forum Planning Committee for their support and expertise.

Kirsten Anderson, Southern Legal Counsel
Carol Bruce, K&L Gates LLP
Rhonda Celester, HerStory Ensemble
Karen Dolan, Institute for Policy Studies
Bob Erlenbusch, Sacramento Regional Coalition to End Homelessness
Traci Feit Love, Lawyers for Good Government
Jeff Foreman, Care for the Homeless
Mo George, Picture the Homeless
Megan Gibbard, A Way Home America
Amy Horton-Newell, American Bar Association
Mark Horvath, Invisible People
Megan Hustings, National Coalition for the Homeless
Curtis Johnson, Catholic Charities USA
Julia Jordan, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP
Amy Louttit, National Network for Youth
Matthew Murchison, Latham & Watkins LLP
John Pollock, National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel
Rob Robinson, Take Back the Land; National Economic & Social Rights Initiative
Shamus Roller, National Housing Law Project
Don Sawyer, A Bigger Vision
Naomi Smoot, Coalition for Juvenile Justice
Jessica Venegas, Community Solutions
Robert Warren, People for Fairness Coalition
Bobby Watts, National Health Care for the Homeless Council