Discrimination based on housing status should be illegal. But in Delaware, it is not. HB 415 protects families and individuals experiencing homelessness from discrimination based on housing status. We need to act now to make sure this bill passes.

Many people experiencing homelessness also experience the infringement of their right to move freely in public spaces. They face discrimination from state and local agencies, can be discriminated against when trying to access medical care, registering to vote, while occupying a car, or even while eating and sharing food. Delaware is one of six states with laws restricting sitting and lying down in particular public places and one of 16 states with laws restricting loitering, loafing, and vagrancy state-wide. Advocates deem such restrictions dehumanizing and unjust when often people experiencing homelessness have no other place to go.

This is why we urge the Delaware General Assembly to enact HB 415, which would protect the civil and human rights of people who are unhoused by allowing individuals to report discrimination.

This bill would provide a mechanism for investigating alleged acts of discrimination and is key to addressing harms that prolong homelessness, criminalize poverty, and are oppressive to the unhoused.  

Housing instability is a serious problem in Delaware caused in large part by a lack of affordable housing and high rents. According to the Housing Alliance of Delaware, of the more than 100,000 renter households in Delaware, 26,000 are extremely low-income (ELI) households. Three out of four ELI renter households are severely housing cost burdened, spending more than 50% of their monthly income on housing costs. This places renters at a high risk of experiencing homelessness.

In fact, the Housing Alliance of Delaware reports that from 2019 to 2022, the number of people experiencing homelessness in Delaware on any given night more than doubled. On one night in January 2019, 921 people were experiencing homelessness. On one night in February 2022, the number of people experiencing homelessness was 2,369-- many of them children.

Limited shelter beds make the issue worse, with many houseless families and individuals forced to sleep in uninhabitable spaces (e.g. in a park, abandoned building, or car). In July 2022, more than 1,100 households contacted Centralized Intake at Housing Alliance Delaware because they were without housing or having a housing crisis. Of those households, 362 reported sleeping in a place not meant for human habitation, according to the Housing Alliance of Delaware.

This bill would provide persons experiencing homelessness protection from discrimination when seeking housing, employment, and temporary shelter. The bill would also provide basic legal and civil protections to ensure equal treatment during the use of public spaces and buildings. Those that believe they have been discriminated against based on their housing status could file a complaint with the Human Relations Commission, who would investigate the claim.

This would be a huge step in stopping the stigma around homelessness and protecting one of Delaware’s most vulnerable populations.

Please urge the Delaware General Assembly to pass HB 415 now.