Lawmakers are challenging the recent clearings of homeless encampments in Maine’s major cities with several new bills that may go before the Legislature this winter.
Two bills from Rep. Ambureen Rana, D-Bangor, propose bans on clearing homeless encampments, while a bill from Rep. Grayson Lookner, D-Portland, proposes establishing areas for emergency encampments in certain cities.
One of Rana’s bills includes banning the clearing of homeless encampments altogether, while the other bans the clearing of encampments without first providing “proper housing options.” The bills may go before the Legislature in January. No bill text is available at this time.
“Sweeping people along when they have no place to go isn’t helping anybody,” Lookner said.
The encampments in Maine’s major cities are stark reminders of the growing homelessness crisis, and proponents of clearing the encampments cite safety issues such as substance use, cold temperatures and lack of first responder access. The goal of Rana’s proposed bills, however, is to make sure cities are not removing people without giving them other housing options, not necessarily to keep the encampments where they are currently located.
“It’s not as simple as offering people housing,” Rana said. “We also need to be offering people services, mental health services, recovery services, making sure they have what they need to stay fed and have their medical needs met.”
Bangor’s homeless population grew quickly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. There were 170 people sleeping outside in 2022, up from 140 people in 2020, the Bangor Daily News reported. The people in the city’s two adult homeless shelters and one youth shelter are not included.
Providing alternative housing options helps prevent some of the instability that homeless people often face, Rana said. She’s been working with advocates and stakeholders to work out next steps and how to help people.
Bangor cleared one encampment this spring along Valley Avenue, spending three months working to clear an encampment of people from property along the Kenduskeag Stream. City officials, police, social workers and specialists with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development worked together.
The city said 19 of 20 people at the Valley Avenue encampment received housing in April. The BDN found nine households received permanent housing and three received temporary housing. It’s unclear how many people make up those 12 households.
Six months later, the city does not know how many people from the Valley Avenue encampment remain housed.
People are still living in a wooded area behind the Hope House Health and Living Center in Bangor.
Ending the sweeps will also help people who often lose their possessions, including items like health documents and identification, during the clearings, Rana said.
When Portland sweeps homeless encampments, the city promises to store belongings of people and return items in good working condition, but many people say that isn’t the case, the Portland Press Herald reported in September.
When Bangor cleared the Valley Avenue encampment, residents were told to mark items that could be thrown away when public works crews cleaned up the area.
The homeless encampment at the Marginal Way park and ride in Portland will be cleared Nov. 1, the Maine Department of Transportation said.
Bangor City Council Chairman Rick Fournier said he supports the proposed bill titles and wants to see what the full bills will address. Having housing issues addressed instead of just kicking people out makes sense, he said.
“It’s inhumane to tell people to leave without having any direction or any support for what they may or may not need,” Fournier said.
The proposed bill from Lookner would create emergency locations for encampments for various cities, including Bangor and Portland. He did not have proposed locations within each city, because it would be better for local and state officials to work to find spots.
“This is a stopgap over sweeps sending people away with no place to go,” Lookner said, as he and Rana agreed the bills are short-term fixes.
For the long term, the state of Maine needs to dedicate more funding for housing and create permanently affordable housing, Lookner said.
The proposed bills will go before the Legislature Counsel, where they determine what bills meet the criteria of being emergency issues and things not yet addressed in this session.
“I’m confident that we will see them moving forward in some shape,” Rana said.