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California’s Human Rights Crisis
A WEBINAR ON INADEQUATE ACCESS
TO WATER & SANITATION BY HOMELESS RESIDENTS F EBRUARY 15, 2019
Webinar Moderator:Sandra Lupien, MPPClimate & Environmental Policy & Communications Strategist
Independent Consultant for EJCW
Lead co-author of “Basic & Urgent: Realizing the Human Right to Water & Sanitation for Californians Experiencing Homelessness.”
Webinar Host: Environmental Justice Coalition for Water
Cori Ring-MartinezSacramento Program Coordinator
The ReportCase Studies in Oakland, Berkeley, and Sacramento
Interviews with staff to elected officials, planners, service providers, people experiencing homelessness
Literature review
Promising practices from other states and regions
Analysis of Barriers/Opportunities
Recommendations
Report Link
Water is a Human Right
International:United Nations Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights: “[t]he water supply for each person must be sufficient and continuous for personal and domestic uses. These uses ordinarily include drinking, personal sanitation, washing of clothes, food preparation, personal and household hygiene.”
California:Assembly Bill 685: “…every human being has the right to safe, clean, affordable, and accessible water adequate for human consumption, cooking, and sanitary purposes.”
But, CA has, “no minimum standards for access to water and sanitation and there is no enforcement mechanism to incentivize jurisdictions to comply
Daryel Dunston,MPADeputy Division Manager of Community Housing Services, City of Oakland Department of Human Services
Gale Filter, JD, MPPPhotojournalist & Documentarian
Volunteer with Mercy Pedalers
Retired environmental prosecutor at CalEPA’s Department of Toxic Substances Control
Madeline Morcelle, JD, MPHStaff Attorney at Mississippi Centerfor Justice
Author: Health Justice for People Experiencing Homelessness: Confronting the U.S. Public Sanitation and Hygiene Crisis, for The Network for Public Health Law.
James Lee Clark“Faygo”Social justice, homelessness, and public commons activist and advocate
Homeless resident of Sacramento
California’s Human Rights Crisis
A WEBINAR ON INADEQUATE ACCESS
TO WATER & SANITATION BY HOMELESS RESIDENTS F EBRUARY 15, 2019
Access to Drinking Water by Californians Experiencing Homelessness (CEH)Sources:Various: See citations on p. 11 of “Basic and Urgent: Realizing the Human Right to Water and Sanitation for Californians Experiencing Homelessness.”
2017 Unsheltered Residents by City (from Annual Point-in-Time Count):
Berkeley: 664
Oakland: 1902
Sacramento: 2052
Access to Toilets Water by Californians Experiencing Homelessness (CEH)Sources:Various: See citations on p. 15 of “Basic and Urgent: Realizing the Human Right to Water and Sanitation for Californians Experiencing Homelessness.”
2017 Unsheltered Residents by City (from Annual Point-in-Time Count):
Berkeley: 664
Oakland: 1902
Sacramento: 2052
Los Angeles Central Providers Collaborative, Skid Row Community Residents and Partners, “No Place to Go” (June 29, 2017), pp. 8, 25. Available at, http://www.innercitylaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/170911_No-Place-To-Go-September-Update.pdf.
Many Unsheltered Californians face worse access to water and toilets than is required by international standards for refugee camps. Sources:Various: See citations on p. 7 & 8 of “Basic and Urgent: Realizing the Human Right to Water and Sanitation for Californians Experiencing Homelessness.”
United Nations Human Right Council (UNHCR) Standards
“Sphere” Standards for Humanitarian Assistance:◦ 15 liters (~4 gallons) of water/person/day◦ 500 meters (~1/3 mile) to nearest water source◦ 30 minutes max wait time
Standards for Planned Refugee Camps◦ 20 liters (~5.25 gallons) of water/person/day◦ 200 meters (~1/12 mile) to nearest water source◦ 1 shower per every 50 persons◦ 1 toilet per every 20 persons◦ No one should live less than 50 meters ( ~3/100 mile) from a toilet
California:
4th highest income inequality in U.S.
Sources:
2012-2016 American Community Survey, U.S. Census Bureau and Zippia
California:
2nd fastest income inequality growth rate in U.S.Sources:
2012-2016 American Community Survey, U.S. Census Bureau and Zippia
Rents keep increasing and households are “rent burdened” Source: Table pulled from Ballotpedia’sanalysis of California Proposition 10 on the November 2018 ballot; data sourced from U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development
Demand for Affordable Housing Overwhelms SupplyKey: VLI=“Very-low income:” households earning 31-50% Area Median Income
ELI=“Extremely Low Income:” households earning 30% or less AMI
Sources:California Department of Housing and Community Development Annual Progress Report Permit Table Summary, June 1, 2018
2017 Annual Point-In-Time Counts for Berkeley, Oakland, and Sacramento
“[Cities] are completely overwhelmed with the
number of people living on the streets, and we all
can’t just sit around waiting for housing to be built.
Even if it were being built in any kind of timely way,
which it’s not, we wouldn’t catch up and so we have
to do something in the meantime [to provide for the
basic needs of unsheltered persons].”
-- Lara Tannenbaum, City of Oakland Housing & Human Services
Source: Basic & Urgent: Realizing the Human Right to Water & Sanitation for Californians Experiencing Homelessness
Gale Filter, JD, MPPPhotojournalist & Documentarian
Volunteer with Mercy Pedalers
Retired environmental prosecutor at CalEPA’s Department of Toxic Substances Control
Homeless in Sacramento: Cruel & Unusual Punishment Gale Filter
Madeline Morcelle, JD, MPHStaff Attorney at Mississippi Center for Justice
Author: Health Justice for People Experiencing Homelessness: Confronting the U.S. Public Sanitation and Hygiene Crisis, for The Network for Public Health Law.
Madeline Morcelle, JD, MPH
Staff Attorney, Mississippi Center for Justice
[email protected] / @mtmorcelle
February 15, 2019
Advancing the Human Right to Sanitation Through Public Health Law & Policy
California’s Hepatitis A Emergency: 2016–18
52%
61% 71%
of Californians
experienced
homelessness on a
given night (2017
POC), yet . . .
of Californians
DIAGNOSED with
Hepatitis A reported
experiencing
homelessness
of Californians
HOSPITALIZED with
Hepatitis A reported
experiencing
homelessness
of Hepatitis A-related
DEATHS affected
Californians
experiencing
homelessness
0.003%
Email from Sarah New, Epidemiologist, CA Department of Public Health, to Madeline Morcelle (April 17, 2018, 10:36 MT) (on file with author).
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30 30
divestment from public sanitation
and hygiene services
inequitable health care access
California’s Hepatitis A Emergency
30
Public Health Law
Core
public
health
laws
Laws targeting
health-related social
factors, e.g., zoning
(built environment)
Constitutional +
common law
Adapted from WENDY E. PARMET, LAUREN A. SMITH, MEREDITH A. BENEDICT, POVERTY, HEALTH AND LAW
READINGS AND CASES FOR MEDICAL-LEGAL PARTNERSHIPS 23 (Elizabeth Tobin Tyler et al. eds., 2011)
Public health pursues high
levels of health for all,
consistent with social
justice. Public health law
consists of government’s
legal powers and duties to
assure the conditions for
people to be healthy, and
limits on government’s
power to constrain
individual rightsAdapted from LAWRENCE GOSTIN & LINDSAY WILEY, PUBLIC HEALTH
LAW: POWER, DUTY, RESTRAINT 5 (3rd ed., 2016)
Available at www.networkforphl.org
Public Health Law & Policy Solutions
32
33
Health in All Policies
Public Health
Health Care
Public Works
Human
Services
Law
Enforcement
Environmental
Services
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participatory processes
craft
recommendations
create
action
plan
articulate
community
vision
assess
environment
Municipal Public Toilet Strategies
Example:
Greater
Bendigo,
VIC, AU
City of Greater Bendigo, Greater Bendigo Public Toilet Strategy (Dec. 2017), available at www.bendigo.vic.gov.au
Restroom Access Legislation
35
Daryel Dunston, MPADeputy Division Manager of Community Housing Services, City of Oakland Department of Human Services
Inherent tension between short-term and long-term interventions
Direct Outreach Services / Temporary Shelter Optionsvs.
Affordable Housing Development
“With regard to the unsheltered population, policy positions will continue to be debated -however, access to water is not debatable. Any proposed policy alternative or policyrecommendation, whose aim is to mitigate the negative impact of unstable housing, must at aminimum, include a provision to guarantee access to potable water.” - Daryel R. Dunston
Approximately 250 people
Access to drinking water, showers, toilets, and laundry services
Homeless Shelters
Community Cabins ProgramApproximately 120 people
Access to drinking water, showers, toilets, and laundry services
Approximately 230 people
Access to drinking water, showers, toilets, and laundry services
Transitional Housing Program
Throughout Oakland
• Cases of drinking water provided by outreach services
• 20-30 portable toilets
• 15-20 mobile wash stations
Direct Services to Encampments
Lava Mae has partnered with the City to provide mobile showers at three designated locations, twice per week.
An exploration of expanding mobile shower and mobile laundry services is underway.
Mobile Shower Services
California’s Human Rights Crisis
A WEBINAR ON INADEQUATE ACCESS
TO WATER & SANITATION BY HOMELESS RESIDENTS F EBRUARY 15, 2019
Webinar Host: Environmental Justice Coalition for Water
Cori Ring-MartinezSacramento Program Coordinator
Panelist Contacts
Sandra Lupien, Moderator & Producer:
510-681-3171
James Lee Clark “Faygo”[email protected] https://www.facebook.com/OccupySac247
Daryel DunstonCity of [email protected]
Gale FilterMercy Pedalers (Sacramento)[email protected]
Madeline MorcellMississippi Justice [email protected]
California’s Human Rights Crisis
A WEBINAR ON INADEQUATE ACCESS
TO WATER & SANITATION BY HOMELESS RESIDENTS F EBRUARY 15, 2019