Civil Commitment vs Housing First | Minneapolis News

Minneapolis News Today | 2 Min News | The Daily News Now! · Jul 29, 2026 · 2m

The federal government is rolling out a bold new strategy to tackle homelessness: giving states more power to civilly commit mentally ill or addicted individuals into long-term care, reversing years of “Housing First” policies. With an executive order last year targeting street encampments, states like Utah are pouring millions into tracking and supervising chronically homeless people, while Indiana and Louisiana are criminalizing camping and offering “Homelessness Courts” with treatment instead of jail. Critics warn this approach criminalizes homelessness, wastes money, and ignores the root…