Changes in the "War on Homelessness"
In the past couple of months there have been changes in laws around the country that deal with how homeless people are treated. In many places things like sleeping in public parks are illegal while city workers have been deconstructing the ramshackle houses the homeless live in. However around the country there is a growing trend of city governments trying to help the homeless population instead of enforcing laws that criminalize it.
This is similar to the reform movements of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Over the course of history the punishments for many things have become far less severe. People used to rot in debtors' prison for years over debts as small as a dollar or two. Mental hospitals used to be little more than prisons. Hopefully, as has happened in the past, the punishment for an unfortunate circumstance, like homelessness will be lessen by the government.
http://www.npr.org/2015/11/03/454249044/tide-starts-to-turn-against-the-crime-of-being-homeless
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