AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 10 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO HOMELESSNESS.

Plain English Breakdown

The official source does not provide specific details on funding for the changes.

Act to Help Homeless People

The act allows homeless individuals to conduct life-sustaining activities and store personal property safely in public spaces, while protecting them from unnecessary penalties for parked vehicles.

What This Bill Does

• Permits an individual experiencing homelessness to conduct life-sustaining activities in public as long as such activities do not obstruct pedestrian or vehicular traffic and create a hazard to others.
• Mandates that homeless individuals receive the same protection for personal property stored in public places as they would have if those items were kept at home, including protections against unreasonable search and seizure.
• Prohibits local governments from requiring homeless people to move vehicles parked on public property unless the vehicle blocks traffic or is dangerous.
• Requires that homeless individuals be given time to relocate their vehicles before getting a ticket or having their car towed if it obstructs normal movement of traffic or creates a hazard.

Who It Names or Affects

• Homeless individuals
• Local governments and law enforcement agencies

Terms To Know

Life-sustaining activities

Activities that help people survive, like sleeping or storing personal items.

Sovereign immunity

A rule that usually stops the government from being sued, but this act says it can be waived in some cases.

Limits and Unknowns

• This Act does not prohibit State and local governments from making and enforcing reasonable time restrictions on public spaces as long as those restrictions apply to everyone.
• It is unclear how much funding will be provided to support these changes.
• The act has passed the legislature but needs more signatures before it becomes law.

Official Summary Text

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 10 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO HOMELESSNESS.
Because Delaware lacks an adequate amount of emergency shelter beds, housing support services, and affordable housing units, only 952 out of 7,131 households that contacted the Housing Alliance Delaware’s homelessness hotline in 2024 were referred to housing assistance. Without adequate shelter available, thousands of individuals experiencing homelessness are forced to seek shelter on the streets, parks, parking lots, and sidewalks, which puts them in constant conflict with local residents, businesses, and the police. Instead of providing adequate housing, local governments are using emergency services, hospital services, and the criminal justice system to remove unhoused individuals from public spaces, exacerbating the barriers unhoused individuals face to achieve stable housing and wasting taxpayer money. This Act seeks to incentivize localities to coordinate or create adequate emergency housing, permanent housing, and wrap-around services for individuals experiencing homelessness, which will ease the financial burden placed on emergency services, hospitals, and the criminal justice system, while providing unhoused individuals stability and dignity.

To that end, this Act does the following:
1. Permits an individual experiencing homelessness to conduct life sustaining activities in public, so long as such activities do not obstruct the normal movement of pedestrian or vehicular traffic in such a manner that creates a hazard to others, unless adequate alternative indoor space is available to the individual in a given jurisdiction and has been offered to the individual, including transportation for the individual and their belongings.
2. Mandates that an individual experiencing homelessness receive the same degree of protection for personal property stored in public places as personal property stored in a private dwelling, which includes protections against unreasonable search and seizure.
3. Prohibits the State or local jurisdiction from requiring an individual experiencing homelessness to move a motor vehicle or a recreational vehicle provided that the vehicle is parked on public property and the vehicle is not parked in a position to obstruct the normal movement of traffic or create a hazard to other traffic upon the highway.
4. Provides that, if a motor vehicle or recreational vehicle must be moved because the vehicle is obstructing normal movement of traffic or creates a hazard to other traffic on the roadway, the individual experiencing homelessness must be permitted to relocate the vehicle before a parking ticket is issued or the vehicle is towed.

This Act does not prohibit State and local governments from making and enforcing reasonable time restrictions on public spaces (including public parks and parking lots) so long as those time restrictions apply to everyone and are not disproportionately enforced against individuals experiencing homelessness.

This Act further permits an individual experiencing homelessness to raise a violation of this Act as an affirmative defense to any charge of violating a statute or ordinance that prohibits life-sustaining activities protected under this Act. The attorney general may commence a civil action against any State or local government, government agency, or government official that violates this Act and this Act also contains a private right of action. This Act specifically waives sovereign immunity.

This Act is named in honor of Dr. DeBorah Gilbert White.