Idaho Falls non-profit responds to SCOTUS allowing bans on homeless encampments

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI)—Two weeks ago, the United States Supreme Court ruled that cities can enforce bans on homeless people sleeping outdoors in areas without shelters.

The Johnson v. Grants Pass ruling has sparked nationwide controversy, with several state non-profits calling the decision "heartbreaking".

Tyler Perkins, director of the Idaho Falls Rescue Mission, calls the decision a double edge sword.

"We think it's a win for responsible cities that are involved in taking care of the homeless," said Perkins. "We believe that it's probably not a win for cities who don't care about the homeless. Now they can just kind of sweep them under the rug."

On any given day, Idaho Falls shelters house up to 100 people. They also provide resources for 100 to 150 people who choose not to stay in the shelters.

"That chronic population, a lot of times, it's really hard to help if they don't want the help," Perkins said.

Perkins said the mission of their non-profit is to help people move from homelessness to sustainability. He believes encampments and tent cities enable people to stay in a bad situation. 

"You should not have the right to camp anywhere on somebody's front lawn or the city's sidewalk outside of society," said Perkins. "It can be proved out by again looking at some of the larger cities and what's going on there. We don't want Idaho Falls to go down that path."

Idaho Falls City Councilmembers have compared the court ruling to a 2022 ordinance limiting access to city parks after 11 pm.

The council wrote the ordinance in response to an encampment that popped up in the Japanese Friendship Gardens of Idaho Falls in 2022. With it the city tracked increased vandalism and health concerns.

City council leaders felt the ordinance was a proactive solution.

"When I voted for that ordinance, I had in my mind this concept that the people in Idaho Falls who pay for the parks have a right to use the parks also," Idaho Falls City Councilman Jim Francis told Local News 8. "No individual group can dominate a park. It's not illegal to be homeless. Your status is not what's illegal. It is not legal in Idaho Falls for people to be in the park from 11 to 5, except for a few exceptions."

Perkins believes that ordinance like the new ruling can be a benefit to their work.

"We believe that it was a good move and that it has helped," said Perkins. "It has helped keep our parks a little bit, cleaner and safer and, has helped some of the chronic population, move into some of the resources now. Again, there's always going to be a small population that we just are struggling to figure out how to help there."

Experts say there are several problems that lead to homelessness, for example; inflation, divorce, alcohol and drugs or bad luck.

According to the Idaho Falls Rescue Mission there really isn't what they call "a cookie-cutter answer."

Perkins said the main thing to remember Is that people experiencing the issue are human and provide the empathy that entails.