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Housing IS a Human Right But What Does That Mean? The Law Center joins those who have experienced homelessness to demand a human right to housing and an end to homelessness once and for all.    In the United States we must do more than talk about a human right to housing; we must learn the existing rich international legal content, discover the strengths and weaknesses of other countries’ approaches, and prioritize the progressive realization of the right here at home.  @homeless_law What does it mean to say #housingisahumanright? We explain what a [...]

All Reports & Publications A collection of reports by the Law Center and our partners to help advocates fighting homelessness in America. 2025 The Criminalization of Homelessness and Mental Health Conditions in the United States Created in collaboration with the University of Miami School of Law Human Rights Clinic, this report examines the current policies which enable the criminalization of homelessness and mental health, violations of international human rights standards, and potential evidence-based alternatives to provide mental health support to unhoused individuals. ICE Raid Guidance for Homeless Service Providers: [...]

Civil Rights Resources Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Comment The Law Center submitted a comment in response to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s Proposed Rule, “Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing.” The Law Center strongly opposes the adoption of HUD’s Proposed AFFH Rule and supports the continued implementation of the 2015 Rule because it creates a fair housing planning framework that emphasizes meaningful community participation, requires HUD review, and provides data and maps to better inform fair housing analysis.   2019 Alone Without A Home: A National Review of State Laws [...]

Criminalization Resources Helpful resources for combatting communities' growing habit of criminalizing homelessness. Housing Not Handcuffs: 2021 State Law SupplementOn, December 1, 2021, The Law Center released the first national study on state laws criminalizing homelessness. Housing Not Handcuffs 2021: State Law Supplement shows that states are increasingly targeting homeless people with criminal penalties and incarceration for acts of survival such as public sleeping, camping and asking for charity. This report supplements the Law Center’s Housing Not Handcuffs 2019 report,  which reviewed municipal level laws criminalizing homelessness in 187 cities across the country. Housing Not Handcuffs: Ending the Criminalization of [...]

2013 Press Releases The National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty released its 2013 Human Right to Housing Report Card today, marked globally as human rights day, reviewing U.S. compliance with the human right to housing in the context of American homelessness over the past year. The report card found that while there were areas of improvement, much more needs to be done. Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released new data indicating that 610,042 people were homeless as of January 2013, a decrease of 3.8 percent from the 2012 numbers. Maria Foscarinis, Executive [...]