By LEO AZAMBUIA/Honolulu Civil Beat Honolulu Civil Beat

Maui County Council members are working on a bill to establish procedures for picking up homeless people to ensure their rights are protected after a Hawaii Supreme Court ruling against the county.

“We must treat these people with dignity. We cannot associate trauma upon trauma with some of these people,” said Council Member Gabe Johnson at a Water, Human Services and Parks Authority committee meeting last week.

The intention of Bill 111 is to “provide procedures to compassionately move people when necessary, including providing access to services and storage of personal property” said committee chair Shane Sinenci. “The government cannot search and seize your personal property. »

Johnson, who introduced the bill, said part of the impetus was the Supreme Court’s decision this year in Sonia Davis v. (mayor) Richard Bissen.

“We don’t want to be sued if we continue to do this. » » Johnson said.

Property destroyed in 2021

In September 2021, Maui County, then under the administration of Mayor Michael Victorino, conducted a sweep of a large encampment along Amala Place in Kahului. After receiving evacuation notices several weeks before the sweep, about 10 of the 80 people living there decided to stay.

County employees and contractors removed 54 vehicles – which were stored and then disposed of – along with 58 tons of trash along with personal property during a two-day operation with assistance from the Department of Land and Natural Resources of the state. The personal property was destroyed without going through a storage process, according to court documents.

The ACLU of Hawaii filed a lawsuit, calling the county’s actions unconstitutional.

On March 5, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that “The unabandoned property of homeless people constitutes property and was protected by Hawaii’s Due Process Clause.” Maui County had “violated the due procedural rights of homeless people by failing to provide them with sufficient notice” or a contested hearing for property seized during the sweep, according to the court report.

Bill 111 would define the roles of county agencies and community service providers during encampment removal procedures, set requirements for notice to homeless people and community service providers, establish how personal property will be stored, how and when people will have access to it, identify or provide alternatives. shelters before a sweep and establish cleaning procedures. It also states that the council must invest money in the budget to implement the law.

The proposal is receiving mixed reviews from service providers who work with Maui’s homeless population, some of whom testified at the committee meeting. While arguing that establishing sweep procedures could ensure that the homeless population is treated with more dignity, some service providers believe there should be no sweep at all.

“We treat people with disabilities like trash”

Mo’i Kawaakoa, who started a program called Holomua Outreach last year, thanked Johnson for raising the issue and working to improve how homeless people are treated during and after the raids.

But she said the county should stop sweeps altogether and allow people to shelter where they want.

“We lost two people on Holomua Road” Kawaakoa spoke of a homeless encampment in Paia between Hana Highway and the old Maui High School. One was moved from Lahaina during a sweep and went to the Holomua Road area, where she died, Kawaakao said. The other had traumatic experiences during two previous camps and “I chose to die on Holomua Road rather than go to hospital for treatment,” she said

“So please think about how to improve these policies so that we don’t continue to lose our citizens.” » » said Kawaakoa.

Jordan Hocker, community outreach educator at Maui Housing Hui, said she served as a legal observer for the National Lawyers Guild during the September 2021 sweep at Amala Place.

“The only good thing that came out of it was the affirmation of the rights of homeless people in the Hawaii Supreme Court.” Hocker said.

Maui’s housing crisis, combined with the high cost of living, is leading to homelessness on the island, she said, adding that “Continuing business as usual is, frankly, unethical. »

Hocker questioned the amount of taxpayer money spent on sweeps, both in litigation and repeating the process.

She also said research shows that substance abuse does not lead to homelessness; it’s the opposite.

“When you have no resources and nowhere to go, meaning your basic human needs and right to shelter are not met, substance abuse is a coping mechanism. It’s inappropriate and it’s ruining people, and we see it on our streets,” she said.

Anyone living on the street, “with almost 100% certainty” would test positive for post-traumatic stress disorder, Hocker said. PTSD and substance abuse are considered disabilities, she said, which would classify a large portion of the island’s homeless population as disabled.

“When we treat people like trash, we treat people with disabilities like trash. » she said.

An article published by the National Library of Medicine indicates that the relationship between substance abuse and homelessness is complex, with studies suggesting that substance use can be both a cause and consequence of homelessness.

The National Coalition for the Homeless released a study in 2017 revealing that homeless people often turn to drugs and alcohol to cope with their situation. Additionally, they may see it as necessary to gain acceptance into the homeless community.

The last time Nicole Huguenin testified before council was in December 2020, on a bill establishing fines of $100 to $400 for anyone giving money, goods or food to homeless people without a simultaneous effort from outreach services. Amid public outcry – and the proposal’s potential unconstitutionality – the council tabled the bill.

As executive director of Maui Rapid Response, a disaster response team made up of nonprofit organizations and community members, Huguenin said she and her team do not support sweeps or relocations. They are short-term oriented, punitive and economically unsustainable, she said. This position, she added, is also supported by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, the National Poverty Law Center and the ACLU.

“I really hope we look at the cost of each sweep.” said Huguenin.

During a sweep at Wahikuli Park in Lahaina last July, she said, county staff relied heavily on outreach worker relationships and harm reduction training to communicate with the people living in the park and defusing two tense situations that ultimately resulted in the arrest of two homeless people.

Fewer homeless people counted in Maui County

The committee worked on Bill 111 for the first time last week. Sinenci said at the start of the meeting that his intention was to hear testimony and possibly include amendments. There was a significant number of testimonies.

The committee approved some changes proposed by the administration and deferred larger amendments for further discussion at the next meeting.

According to the latest point-in-time count by the nonprofit Bridging the Gap, there were 654 homeless people on Maui in January, including 369 sheltered and 285 unsheltered.

The majority of Maui’s homeless population, 443 people, were in Central Maui, including 97 who were unsheltered. Lahaina had the second largest population, with 82 residents, but none were homeless. The hinterland had 54, including 23 homeless. Kihei had 45, and none homeless. Lower Waiehu had 30, and none homeless. Hana had no homeless people listed.

Bridging the Gap conducts a point-in-time count of homeless people in Maui, Kauai and Hawaii counties one night in January each year.

The homeless population on Maui has been steadily declining since 2016, when it reached 1,144 people. In 2023, Bridging the Gap’s point-in-time survey counted 704 homeless people on Maui.

On Kauai, the numbers have been steadily increasing since 2020, when 424 individuals were counted in the survey. This year, the number of homeless people on Kauai was 523. On Hawaii Island, the homeless population increased from 2018 to 2023, when it reached 1,003 people, but it decreased this year. year to 718.

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This story was originally published by Honolulu Civil Beat and distributed through a partnership with the Associated Press.