Ordinance to make camping in the city illegal will harm efforts to assist unhoused residents.

 Mayor Misty Buscher and the Springfield City Council

Springfield City Hall

800 East Monroe

Springfield, IL 62701

September 25, 2024

Dear Mayor Misty Buscher and Members of the Springfield City Council,

I am pleased to hear that Ordinance 2024-376 was withdrawn from consideration after backlash from local advocacy groups and community members. For context, this ordinance gives police and city legal authorities the power to enforce 24-hour removal orders and jail, fees, or penalties if a person has not gone. Many raised the issue that this is not an effective way to solve or prevent homelessness. Within the community, there are many successful ways to address homelessness.

There are many organizations that provide support needed such as Heartland HOUSED, Helping Hands, and many different sheltering and food services. With support, people can spend time with resources eventually being able to work again and find themselves in housing. To meet homeless people with more negativity and fees, it would further the cycle of poverty and life on the street. The systemic issue of homelessness must be addressed with support and resources as they have lost their ability and access to these necessities. The ordinance that had been pushed for vote would effectively strip the homeless community from vital resources and services.

This ordinance not only reverses progress made on the the plan to end homelessness, but it also makes public services and places seem unavailable or inaccessible. When we tell police officers to remove homeless people from an area and jail/fine them if they have not gone, we create a threatening relationship between the city’s public services and spaces and the people who are living unhoused. There is no restriction or limit on how far the area of removal can be. The ordinance can illegally remove a human’s right to public property and services. It can also influence homeless people to stay away from certain areas, and therefore prevent them from accessing essential resources such as housing, food, and job opportunities. There could also lead to a general distrust of public service workers due to these negative interactions with police.

With all the control over this population within the community, there can become a general distrust of public service workers. This could include the people out in the community trying to help them. Many factors could now influence the homeless population from avoiding the help to get out of this cycle. Without plan for alternative accommodation and placement, this ordinance would undo the progression done for homeless community. Criminalization does not solve the issue as they cannot suddenly be a person with a home. 

There is a thought that homeless people do not want to work or do not want to live in a home. This perpetuates the stigma surrounding homelessness and that there should be no support provided. Unfortunately, it does not work like that. A home requires money, which requires an address and stable resources such hygiene facilities. There is no easy answer to solve homelessness. The continuation of resources and services can help bridge that gap. They may be able to get one a job without an address or aid with shelter while going through these other steps. 

Overall, passing an ordinance to criminalize homelessness would have far more negative effects than positive on the surrounding community. Homelessness should be met with support and a proactive approach. More should be done to provide a solution for homelessness within the community.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely, 

[Student name]

It is a good habit to congratulate politicians and officials when they do something we approve of.  In the case of ordinances to help law enforcement remove unhoused people from camping or sleeping on sidewalks, benches, and so forth, there seem to be two motives.  One motive is simply to remove the homeless persons from areas were their mere presence annoys or intimidates people.  People just want them removed.  The second motive seems to be a belief that if police have coercive power to push unhoused people into services, this will help some of them get on track to find permanent housing and get assistance with addictions or mental health problems they are having. The second motive is well-intentioned, but research on the topic gives us reason to doubt it's effective utility.

Perhaps this is a case where we can agree with people who want to move unhoused people away from areas where their unsightly presence offends sensibilities.  But, rather than be disgusted with the people who are experiencing homelessness, and desiring their removal to places where they cannot be seen, we are disgusted with the fact that our society—rich as it is—tolerates circumstances that drive people into situations where they become unhoused. We would like unhoused persons removed from sleeping quarters on sidewalks and in campgrounds in parking lots or empty lots and placed in permanent housing.  Then, if they want to hang out in parks and outdoor locations to give some life to the streets of our city, so much the better, but let the have their own space protected from the elements where they can sleep.

You are quite right to suggest that we need to encourage a relationship between law enforcement and unhoused persons that fosters trust and respect, and defaulting to the coercive threats of law enforcement is unlikely to achieve this.  In fact, you really are proposing a model where law enforcement can become the ally of the homeless, helping the find safe places to shelter and services to gain access to permanent housing as well as mental health treatment or addition treatment. Friendly and cooperative relationships where law enforcement personnel are perceived as well-intentioned and empathic persons who want to help protect citizens will probably be more effective than encouraging police to rely on their monopoly on the use of force to threaten and intimidate people.

I think it would suffice to say that most homeless persons would gladly get out of their unhoused condition and be delighted to take occupancy in any modest apartment or home where they could store their belongings, enjoy sleeping in their own bed each night, and cook their own meals and take showers or bathe whenever they liked.  It is right to suggest that we focus on such solutions, and not let ourselves become distracted by false solutions that would only work to hide the problem, rather than actually solving it.

Mayvb

Student suggests that every school in Illinois ought to have a Mental Health Professional

 The Honorable Michael J. Coffey Jr.

E-1 Stratton Office Building

401 Spring St.

Springfield, IL 62706

RE: SUPPORT FOR SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELOR

Dear Representative Coffey, 

My name is [Student name], and I am in the process of earning my Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Illinois Springfield. I am writing to bring your attention to an issue that I feel is very important in the Illinois school system. Within our primary educational system, we are lacking sufficient support for our students’ well-being and overall success. Students in our school system continue to struggle with their mental health. 

In recent years, we have seen a drastic rise in poor mental health among students. According to KFF, formerly known as The Kaiser Family Foundation, one in five adolescents report symptoms of anxiety or depression. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 22 percent of students surveyed reported that they seriously contemplated suicide and almost 10 percent attempted suicide. Twenty percent of these students did not receive any kind of mental health care because they were afraid of the stigma, they could not afford it, or they did not know how to access services. Students are also facing an overdose crisis. KFF mentions there were 722 adolescent deaths due to drug overdoses in the United States. These are problems that are affecting each and every student in our public education system.

I believe that every school should have a mental health counselor. Currently, schools provide students with a guidance counselor. A guidance counselor generally helps students register for classes, prepare for college, and understand their options after high school. They are also often tasked with caring for the mental health of their students. This can be a lot of responsibility for one person. If every school were to add a designated mental health specialist, students would have a specific person to see about their mental health issues. These mental health professionals would provide students with individual or group therapy, emotional support, substance use and social counseling, family support, and referrals to other services. 

In my personal experience during high school, our guidance counselor did not have the time or resources to spend on individual social, emotional, or mental health issues. I attended a rural area school that provided education to over five towns. Our guidance counselor was tasked with helping over 400 students. Our school needed a separate counselor who could have helped students with any mental health problems they may have faced. When my good friend lost her mother suddenly and tragically, she did not have the support at school that she needed. Her grades and mental health suffered. She turned to alcohol to help her cope. I believe she could have greatly benefited from a designated mental health professional, someone who would have been able to help her access the resources she needed.

In order to provide schools with enough funding to pay for these services, the money collected on sales tax revenue from cannabis sales could be utilized. According to a press release from Governor Pritzker, the state of Illinois brought in $417.6 million dollars from sales tax at adult-use cannabis dispensaries in 2023. According to Marijuana Policy Project, two percent of this revenue goes to public education and safety campaigns, and the highest percentage allocated is 35 percent to the General Revenue Fund. A portion of the percentage allocated to the General Revenue Fund could be reallocated to fund these services in public education. Adult use cannabis is now a huge industry in Illinois, and the tax revenue earned from this industry could help our children grow into accomplished adults.

The children in our schools are facing a great crisis. Mental health problems are reaching new heights, and we need services that can lead us through these extremely hard times. We need to make sure that children receive the help they need while they are in school to make sure they go on to become productive members of our society. For all the reasons mentioned above, I would encourage you to work with your partners in the legislature to come up with a solution to fund these endeavors in our public school system. If you have the opportunity in the future to support any bills related to student mental health, I would strongly encourage you to support those efforts.

Sincerely,

____Student name______

____Student street address_____

Springfield, IL __Zip Code___

References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021). Youth risk behavior survey: data summary and trends report. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/data/yrbs/pdf/YRBS_Data-Summary-Trends_Report2023_508.pdf

Government of Illinois. (2024, January 11). Pritzker administration announces third consecutive year of record-setting growth for adult use cannabis sales [Press release]. https://www.illinois.gov/news/press-release.29494.html#:~:text=Sales%20taxes%20collected%20at%20Illinois,%2C%22%20said%20Governor%20JB%20Pritzker.

Marijuana Policy Project. (2019). Overview of the Illinois cannabis regulation and tax act. Marijuana Policy Project. https://www.mpp.org/states/illinois/overview-of-the-illinois-cannabis-regulation-and-tax-act/#:~:text=The%20more%20concentrated%20THC%20is,THC%20concentration%20higher%20than%2035%25

Panchal, N. (2024). Recent trends in mental health and substance use concerns among adolescents. KFF. https://www.kff.org/mental-health/issue-brief/recent-trends-in-mental-health-and-substance-use-concerns-among-adolescents/

This is a well-structured and argued letter.  It begins with an introduction of who you are, and then immediately you go to the description of the problem.  You support your description of the problem with some good facts you found from good sources.  Convincing.  By the third paragraph you are ready to tell your reader what you think we need.  Also helpful, you have a personal anecdote that strongly supports your case. Those stories are always especially convincing.  Your combination of using facts and stories is the best way to convince a politician.

Best of all, you have something to say about how the solution could be funded.

Illinois has nearly 4,000 schools.  Salaries and benefits for 4,000 mental health professionals would cost approximately 400 million dollars ($400,000,000) if typical salaries were $65,000 and benefits were $35,000 (health insurance, pension, etc.)  Actual salaries might range from $55,000 to $100,000, but we just need to estimate the number of mental health professionals and their average salaries and benefits, approximately.  

It seems to me that we have three tasks to accomplish in persuading people in our General Assembly to make sure every school in Illinois has a qualified mental health professional associated with the school: 

First, we need to point out that mental health professionals are effective in helping students in schools. Your letter establishes a good argument for need, but I wish we also had some evidence that the policy you suggest would address that need in a way that would make a significant difference in the lives of children.  I believe that it would, but I would be happier if I could point a politician to some good research that supports our shared belief.

Second, we need to suggest that $400 million to get mental health professionals in every school is a more effective and efficient use of $400 million spent in other ways to promote mental health among children. I cannot think of obvious alternatives.  Perhaps we could spend $200 million on part-time mental health professionals, or contracts with private provider of mental health services for each school, or more mental wellness and psycho-social developmental activities in schools, and get a similar result?  At any rate, some exploration of alternative approaches to the problem to give a politician more choices than status quo (do nothing; keep things as they are) and the one intervention you are suggesting (mental health professionals in every public school in Illinois) to show that your proposal is better than some other plausible interventions, either in being more effective or more efficient, or both.

Third, I think we need to make a case that the public have an interest in providing this (mental health support for children in public schools) as a public good and a thing that ought to be provided by the taxpayers of Illinois.  Some politicians, including the one to whom you are addressing the letter, may have ideological preferences for letting people privately handle mental health and wellness issues with their own resources, and they may be skeptical that the public have any business taxing and spending to provide mental health services in public schools.  I think we need to make a moral case that mental health services in public schools is a public good just as important as public education, provisions of roads, law enforcement protection from criminals, and health care assistance for those too poor to afford the cost of their own care.   

Should Gun policies be stricter?

On September 4th of 2024, in the Apalachee High School, Colt Gray, a 14 year old, killed two students, two teachers, and injured seven others. Gray received the gun as Christmas present from his father. His father, Colin Gray, 54, was charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second- degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children. Colt Gray has been charged with four counts of felony murder and is expected to be tried as an adult (Rosales et al.) The Apalachee school shooting was the 218th time a gun was fired or brandished so far in 2024. In the last 10 years, nearly 51% of school shootings occurred while classes were in session, and the rest after school hours. As of September 3rd, 20204, 18 of the 46 people killed in school shooting were under 18 (Gualyieri et al.).

The Second amendment allows people to have the right to bear arms, with a third of Americans say they own a gun. 72% of gun owners claim to own a gun for personal safety, however, while most gun owners enjoy having a gun at home, only 31% of nonowners living in a household with a gun say they enjoy having a gun at home. Despite this, 61% of Americans say it is too easy to obtain a gun, and 58% of Americans favor stricter gun regulations (Schaeffer).

In the United States after John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King, Jr. were assassinated, Congress passed the Gun Control Act of 1968, GCA. The GCA is meant to keep firearms from those who should not own guns. One of these is requiring Federal Licenses for transferring firearms. The CGA prohibited certain people from owning firearms, such as felons or children under 18. The Gun Control Act allowed states to enforce their own laws by prohibiting transport of gun laws (Gun Violence Reduction).

While this is in the entire United States, what about in Illinois? Illinois has one of the strongest gun safety laws and low levels of gun ownership in the United States. This is especially the case following the Highland Park shooting on the 4th of July (in 2022). Lawmakers prohibited assault weapons, however, despite the laws, Illinois still has an unethical rate of gun violence. Since Illinois is surrounded by states with weaker gun laws, most guns recovered in Illinois are purchased out-of-state. While Illinois has 50 key policies, and regulates gun industry and safety, there are something that could be added (Everytown Research & Policy). What do we need in Illinois? We need a state rule mandating that all guns include microstamping technology, as this would would aid police in identifying the shooters.

Works Cited

Everytown Research & Policy. “Gun Laws in Illinois.” Everytown Research & Policy, January, 2024, everytownresearch.org/rankings/state/illinois/.

Gualtieri, A., Sawate, J., Gold, R., Johnston, T., & Manthey, G.. “Apalachee High School Shooting Is the Latest in U.S. Here’s How Many Happened in 2024, so Far.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 4 Sept. 2024, www.cbsnews.com/news/how-many-school-shootings-2024-apalachee-winder-georgia/.

“GUN VIOLENCE REDUCTION: NATIONAL INTEGRATED FIREARMS VIOLENCE REDUCTION STRATEGY.” United States Department of Justice Archive - Appendix C, www.justice.gov/archive/opd/AppendixC.htm. Accessed 25 Sept. 2024.

Isabel Rosales et al. “The Father of the Georgia School Shooting Suspect Has Been Arrested and Charged, Authorities Say.” CNN, Cable News Network, 6 Sept. 2024, www.cnn.com/2024/09/05/us/winder-georgia-shooting-apalachee-high-school/index.html

Schaeffer, Katherine. “Key Facts about Americans and Guns.” Pew Research Center, Pew Research Center, 24 July 2024, www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/07/24/key-facts-about-americans-and-guns/.

Your goal is to persuade your reader to support law that would mandate microstamping technology incorporated into guns sold in Illinois. One thing I'd recommend is to include the request for specific actions from your audience right at the start of your letter, and then again at the end.

The general model of persuasive advocacy is to present a statement of the problem, and you do this by describing the Apalachee High School shooting and mentioning the assassinations of political figures in the 1960s and further mentioning the Highland Park shooting at the 4th of July parade in 2022.  You accurately point out that the Second Amendment prevents bans, and you might have mentioned court interventions that forced Illinois to allow concealed carry laws. Your point is that despite rights to have guns, there is a well-established history of gun control laws. 

So, I think your letter could have been arranged around this framework:

We ought to have a state law to mandate microstamping technology in guns sold in Illinois. Then, you would describe for your audience what microstamping is, and why you think it's a good thing to do with guns.

Then, you would describe some of the horrible things done with guns, and I like how you use descriptions of specific horrors.  Those anecdotes are powerful.

You might try to state the problem as a series of points: how to ensure that responsible gun owners can enjoy their Second Amendment rights while at the same time preventing unstable death-cult-oriented persons from getting access to guns? How to make it easy to trace guns?  Can we use technology to prevent unauthorized use of guns or unauthorized transfer of gun possessions? Can we hold people accountable if they provide guns to unstable and violent children or adults, but continue to allow responsible gun dealers and manufacturers to provide responsible gun owners with their products?  Perhaps go into some discussion of how people have tried to deal with these problems through legislation.

Then, return to microstamping.  Explain how a law to mandate microstamping of guns in Illinois would contribute to solving some of the problems you've outlined in the previous section.  Then, consider the cases you give in the paragraph where you give examples of mass shooting, and describe how microstamping would have made a difference. 

Conclude with a repeat with your first point, requesting your reader to take steps to pass rules to mandate microstamping.  You might either suggest that the politician introduce such a law and advocate for its passage, or support such a law that has been introduced already.

Allow construction of dense housing in the city to make homes affordable

 Dear Mayor Misty Buscher,

My name is ________. I am an undergraduate student attending the University of Illinois Springfield, where I am a senior studying social work. Living on campus, I have learned much about life in Springfield, and there is one problem that is common in this city that I would like to address: homelessness. I am writing to you advocating against a major policy in Springfield that is perpetuating this problem in this city. This policy is code § 151.10 in Springfield's Code of Ordinances Title XV.

According to the Springfield & Sangamon County’s 2022-2028 Strategic Plan to Address Homelessness report, about 260 people experienced homelessness in Springfield at any point during 2022. I have been fortunate enough to have a roof over my head my entire life so far, but I have talked to a few people that have experienced homelessness and have read many gut wrenching stories of those experiencing homelessness in my social work classes and local newspapers.

Many of these individuals are suffering from serious illnesses. In fact, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), 20.8% of Illinois homeless people reported that they were enduring a serious mental illness and 10.9% of them had chronic substance abuse conditions in 2023. HUD also found that homeless are three to six times more likely to have conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and HIV/AIDS. These illnesses often are the central reasons why these individuals are homeless, as there were not proper community services available for them to build themselves up into contributing members of society. They

also might not have had funds for their treatments and for the other financial responsibilities they face, such as rent, bills, food and paying for their childrens’ needs and wants. The combination of these financial and other responsibilities, plus their ailments, plus the lack of services needed to keep up with their responsibilities and ailments can greatly increase a person’s chances in becoming homeless.

Springfield has had many successful efforts to reduce homelessness to Springfield. One of these efforts include Springfield & Sangamon County’s 2022-2028 Strategic Plan to Address Homelessness. In this plan, Heartland HOUSED, Heartland Continuum of Care, Capital Township, the city of Springfield, Sangamon County, and many other agencies have come together to create new affordable housing that include systems of support and resources for people experiencing homelessness in Springfield. Another example would be your and Ward 5 Alderman Lakeisha Purchase’s withdrawal of ordinance 2024-376, which would have allowed Springfield police to fine people for public camping along with taking people’s possessions after not moving after a 24-hour notice.

The HUD provided Heartland Continuum of Care funds to create 142 new affordable housing units for these people. I strongly suggest combining the Heartland HOUSED project and BUILD Springfield’s efforts to improve and maintain a sustainable city that can build up the people it swears to protect. One of BUILD Springfield’s goals is “community building” and working with major community organizations to make huge strides to prevent and reduce homelessness would align with this goal.

However, ordinance § 151.10 from Springfield's Code of Ordinances Title XV limits the necessary construction to create affordable housing for these individuals, along with construction to expand Springfield’s population. Under this ordinance, “the aggregate residential densities within a planned unit development shall not exceed 35 persons per acre of the net development area.” In essence, this rule prevents high rise buildings from being constructed in Springfield, IL. By amending or getting rid of this rule, the construction of high rise buildings for apartments can occur, meaning more affordable housing construction could be done for those in need of it. In addition, high rise apartments in Springfield can attract more people to live in Springfield, which would be good for the city’s economy.

Overall, I appreciate your efforts in listening to my and the rest of your constituents' information and suggestions regarding the topic of homelessness in Springfield.

References

Bandoch, J., & Tabor, Joe (2024). Regulatory reform can make housing more affordable for Illinois families. Illinois Policy.

https://www.illinoispolicy.org/reports/regulatory-reform-can-make-housing-more-afforda ble-for-illinois-families/.

National Alliance to End Homelessness. (2023). Health and homelessness. Retrieved September 20, 2024, from

https://endhomelessness.org/homelessness-in-america/what-causes-homelessness/health/.

Springfield, Illinois, Municipal Code § 151.10.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. (2023). HUD 2023 continuum of care homeless assistance programs homeless populations and subpopulations in Illinois. https://files.hudexchange.info/reports/published/CoC_PopSub_State_IL_2023.pdf.

            It’s a good letter, and you get right to the point, mention a specific problem, and give specific suggestions to the mayor, who does have some ability to get the ordinance repealed.  I might have followed your excellent opening paragraph with something close to your penultimate paragraph, explaining that the ordinance limits the density of housing construction. So, in essence, the main thrust of the letter would become a please for a change in ordinances that would allow construction of apartment building complexes that would make population density higher than it is now in some areas of town.  

            After you've made high density construction of apartment buildings the main focus, you could open the justification by describing the lack of affordable housing and the need for affordable housing, and then throw in some facts about the cost-per-unit of housing construction being much lower if people build denser housing development such as apartment buildings.  Your point would be that dense housing allows for more affordable housing, and increasing the supply of affordable housing is a preventative measure to avoid increasing the numbers of persons who are housing insecure or actually unhoused.

            I think you might also want to point out that we know that packing low-income persons or persons with mental health problems together into single neighborhoods is not good, and such persons ought to be dispersed around the community. To that end, you might point out that having new construction of dense housing development with 50-100 units in a few places around the city would allow a smaller percentage of residents in such buildings to be people transitioning out of a state of homelessness or needing permanent supportive housing.  That is, if we had six or seven such developments, providing 400 to 500 more housing units, we would only need to make 40 to 50 of them “supportive housing” units, a similar number of them rapid rehousing units, and that would leave 80% of the units available as a mix of market-rate (larger and more luxurious) and affordable (smaller and more basic but eligible for housing choice vouchers or social housing) so that the complexes would not become places of concentrated poverty.   I think you need to make this point because people may be aware of the disastrous social consequences of concentrating persons with low skills and low income into dense housing systems. 

            I think you might also mention research on the profitability and economic advantages to the public of dense housing, and also share some points about the fact that a certain percentage of the population is attracted to living in more densely populated areas (not everyone wants a single detached house). You would find information about this from various urban planning and architecture think-tanks, Youtube channels, and websites (check out Strong Towns). 

              Your letter goes into some detail about how serious health problems are a contributing factor to people becoming unhoused. To me, this suggests that you are making a point about the inevitable problem that some people will fall into addiction or become afflicted with a chronic disease, and society needs to prepare for this by creating a certain percentage of housing stock that is not available as a commodity to be purchased in a free market, but rather, provided as a human right so that all citizens can be secure in their shelter and basic standard of living. Estimates of what percentage of all housing should be provided as social housing or public housing vary from 5% to 35%, but some amount of housing units in Springfield ought to be available for persons who can't pay market rents, either temporarily or indefinitely, and changing an ordinance to allow construction of dense housing will make it easier to create such units.

You might also mention racial housing segregation, and perhaps point out the differences in incomes, poverty rates, and wealth accumulation by ethnicity/race in the United States (or even Springfield, if you can get that census information). Then you could site research that suggests a main contributing factor to persisting racial segregation in the Midwest is the continued existence of zoning ordinances that restrict multi-family housing in certain areas. Such policies preserve the asset values of persons who are already wealthier (European-Americans and Asian-Americans) and decrease the ability of persons who are poorer (Blacks and Hispanics) to gain access to better schools, better jobs, and home ownership. 

You might also mention environmental advantages of providing denser housing options.  

You might suggest a master plan for the future of Springfield to make it a more walkable and sustainable city, where 20% of all housing stock is concentrated in dense core areas, 30% is in denser areas of mixed detached housing and multi-family housing construction, 30 % is in medium-density neighborhoods of single, detached housing with scattered multi-family structures, and 20% is in low-density neighborhoods with larger yards and mostly single, detached housing with only a very few multi-family structures. Currently almost nothing in Springfield is concentrated dense core area housing, so stop issuing permits for more urban sprawl and build up the denser housing to create a more sustainable mix of housing and neighborhood types.