APRIL 4, 2025 HOMELESSNESS Impact of institutional intersections MARIE Groundcover contributor The experience of writing about the impacts of institutionalization was much more difficult than initially expected. The initial resultsfrom scholarly research I found were so depressing I immediately found myself reaching out to the homeless community for their perspectives. Even the process of gathering quotes from the homeless community was difficult, as most institutional interactions and the experience of homelessness at a minimum had a traumatic component. In the literature, the definition of “the institutionalized population” includes the homeless, and the common institutions identified in both the literature and by the homeless community included shelters, healthcare, carceral and psychiatric systems. One of the most emotionally taxing scholarly research publications to read was a 2018 article published in the Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine called “Lives without Roots: Institutionalized Homeless Women with Chronic Mental Illness.” According to the article there is gender bias when women become labeled mentally ill as they are “more likely to experience rejection, stigmatization, denial of care and poor access to appropriate healthcare.” According to the article, homeless women with a history of psychiatric illness have some of the poorest outcomes, which increases with length of homelessness and often includes forced long-term psychiatric hospitalization and recidivism. One buddy (“buddy” is the anonymized term for people I interviewed) shared her experience being institutionalized as a youth, explaining how medications caused permanent changes to thinking and problems with cysts. This buddy also shared they are no longer willing to take psychiatric medication as an adult because the lifelong side effects have been so traumatic and harmful. Another buddy shared she has found some helpful medications; however, the nature of being homeless makes navigating consistent medication management difficult due to barriers such as transportation, frequent moves and physically obtaining scripts. According to the community and the literature, the carceral system includes policing, jails and prisons. Altogether there is considerable literature about how the carceral system has negative consequences including increased likelihood of homelessness, depressed employment outcomes, poorer health outcomes, increased housing insecurity, material hardship and discrimination. A 2021 study published in Justice Q titled, “Does the Time of incarceration impact the timing and duration of homelessness?” concluded that timing of stressful events, such as homelessness and incarceration, does affect life outcomes. While both men and women who have experienced incarceration have poorer mental health and physical outcomes, these outcomes increase with length of incarceration and are reported as worse for women. Interestingly, all buddies to date with a history of incarceration have expressed how early institutionalization impacted social maturity and development, and nearly all report a negative impact on education. Formerly incarcerated buddies often describe their development as stalled at their age of incarceration. Closing shelters results in police exposure As the local cold-weather sheltering season is ending, meaning that the Daytime Warming Centers close and the number of opportunities for nighttime spaces declines, the issue of how policing impacts the homeless is particularly important. Policing impacts local homeless people, especially during the non-shelter season, as opportunities for safe spaces decline, and local policies encourage further criminalization of homelessness by deliberately targeting specific areas. For example, last year Ypsilanti deliberately began increased patrolling in the downtown district and were actively displacing people from targeted areas. The increased patrols prompted a “First Friday” protest organized by the homeless community where supporters gathered together and exercised their right to sit in public. Within the past month, police have increased the frequency of their presence both inside and in the area surrounding Ypsilanti’s Daytime Warming Center, which has increased the homeless community’s concerns about what to expect in the coming months. At the moment, the community is in the process of preparing for the sudden influx of urban camping by organizing supplies, finding sites and setting up camps. While sweeps do continue to occur in some municipalities, and therefore remain a constant threat, recent advocacy efforts to promote humane treatment for those sleeping outside have resulted in at least one example of deliberate relief for displaced individuals in Ypsilanti. While this recent support to urban campers is not the same as decriminalization, it does suggest a shift to recognizing that criminalizing camping will only exacerbate issues, especially when the community lacks adequate safe and affordable alternate options. According to a 2020 New York University Law Review article, "The Case Against Criminalizing Homelessness: Functional Barriers to Shelters and Homeless Individuals’ Lack of Choice," criminalizing homelessness has a significant overlap with the experience of LGBTQ community members. Their “status” impacts access to safe sheltering, medical and mental health treatment and has heightened risks associated with incarceration. An LGBTQ buddy shared a few specific examples related to “status.” As a transgender person they experienced heightened fears around violence in the shelter system, which make even sleeping and sitting less safe. This buddy also explained shelter policy bias is similar to bias seen in the medical system as it continues to perpetuate unequal treatment for those in committed relationships by not providing culturally supportive options. Another buddy who does not identify as LGBTQ said, “Places like Freighthouse (Daytime Warming Center that closed March 27), Ozone House and places for women with domestic violence histories are important because women and LGBTQ individuals do need specialized services and places that are safe.” Purple House is perhaps the only place in the community where all couples [without children] are welcome and able to co-sleep; however the Purple House Weather Amnesty program is only open during the sheltering season. While speaking with community members, one buddy helped summarize the experience of the homeless LGBTQ community with the following statement. “Traditional culture, values and gender norms have contributed to widening the gap in safety. Subgroups present unique issues that require an individualized program or plan, and institutions are dealing with high volumes so they often apply a cookie cutter approach as they lack the resources to offer more culturally sensitive options.” When speaking with the homeless community, a buddy spoke about his experience as a white male; he feels he has personally had fewer negative institutional experiences overall. However, he also shared he believes he can be stubborn about seeking medical services, despite having insurance, as his experience watching his parents and grandmother appear to see INSTITUTIONS page 9 GROUNDCOVER NEWS 5
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