Homeless groups blast Trump's civil commitment order
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Denver-area homeless advocates are pushing back against President Trump's new executive order encouraging involuntary civil commitment of people experiencing homelessness.
Why it matters: The order calls on local governments to use a controversial practice that puts people with mental health disorders into treatment without their consent, raising civil liberty concerns.
Driving the news: The order Trump signed Thursday seeks to put homeless individuals into "long-term" institutions for treatment to "restore public order," the administration says.
- It directs officials to determine whether federal resources can be used to ensure that those "with serious mental illness" are not released into the public solely because government facilities lack enough beds to hold them.
The other side: The Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, in a statement Thursday, called the order "harmful" and suggested it "cruelly" targets the unhoused.
- The coalition blamed the federal government's failure to invest in housing solutions and slammed — as a violation of privacy — the order's directive to collect and share health data with law enforcement.
The Metro Denver Homeless Initiative, which oversees the annual point-in-time count, issued a statement Friday saying it would review the order's "potential implications" for the unhoused and for service providers.
- The Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition on Friday issued a statement condemning the order, saying it "stokes division and creates hate and fear towards people without housing."
What they're saying: "The disorder in our nation is that we do not have homes affordable and accessible to everyone in our communities nor adequate healthcare for all," Colorado Coalition for the Homeless president and CEO Britta Fisher said in a statement to Axios Denver.
State of play: Colorado law allows short- and long-term involuntary civil commitment — but under specific circumstances, such as someone posing an immediate danger to themselves.
- Alexis Whitham, a spokesperson for the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, said using involuntary holds has "never been common practice" for the unhoused in the metro area.
Context: Involuntary civil commitment has historically been used as a preventative method to confine people with mental health disorders before they harm themselves or others.
- It most frequently affects vulnerable groups such as LGBTQ+, people of color and people with disabilities, according to several studies.
What's next: The state's Behavioral Health Administration, which oversees involuntary holds, is evaluating how the order will apply to Colorado, a spokesperson for the state agency tells us.