Title
A Resolution to Establish a Bill of Rights for Persons Experiencing Homelessness in the City of Ann Arbor
Memorandum
The City of Ann Arbor recognizes that every individual, regardless of housing status, deserves to be treated with dignity, respect, and compassion, and is entitled to equal protection under the law. The City also recognizes its responsibility to promote public health and safety while maintaining safe, accessible, and welcoming public spaces for all who live, work, and visit our community. These responsibilities are not mutually exclusive, but rather reflect a shared commitment to the well-being and fundamental rights of all community members.
As homelessness and housing instability continue to present growing challenges, the City reaffirms its commitment to addressing these concerns through humane, equitable, and trauma-informed approaches that acknowledge the systemic barriers and complex circumstances contributing to homelessness.
This Bill of Rights for Persons Experiencing Homelessness establishes a framework to ensure that housing status alone does not become a barrier to fair treatment, access to public spaces, or essential City services, while preserving the City's responsibility to fairly and consistently enforce laws and ordinances that protect public health, safety, and the rights of others.
Through this resolution, Ann Arbor affirms that protecting individual rights, maintaining reasonable expectations for public conduct, and fostering a safe and inclusive community are complementary responsibilities that can and should be upheld together.
Budget/Fiscal Impact: There are no anticipated budget or fiscal impacts on the City.
Staff
Prepared by: Jonathan Laye, Supportive Connections Director
Reviewed by: Atleen Kaur, City Attorney
Jennifer Janetsky, Assistant City Attorney
Mariah Walton, Deputy City Administrator
Approved by: Milton Dohoney Jr., City Administrator
Body
Whereas, "Housing status" means having or not having a fixed, regular, and adequate place to live. This includes living on the street, in a shelter, in a temporary residence, or in a place not intended for sleeping;
Whereas, It is the long-standing policy of the City of Ann Arbor that no person should suffer from hunger, cold, or lack of shelter, or face discrimination because they are unhoused or perceived as unhoused. Homelessness is driven by a lack of safe and affordable housing, wages that have not kept pace with housing costs, eviction, unequal access to health care and services, and a shrinking social safety net, not personal failure;
Whereas, Homelessness in Washtenaw County has risen sharply. The homeless response system served 2,038 people experiencing literal homelessness in 2023, compared with 1,956 in 2019, while local providers continue to face serious funding and capacity gaps;(1)
Whereas, Homelessness in the United States is at the highest level recorded since federal data collection began in 2007. Children, youth, and older adults are among those experiencing the sharpest increases, with nearly 150,000 children experiencing homelessness on a single night in 2024;(2)
Whereas, Housing instability is a public health crisis. Children under five have the highest eviction filing rate of any age group, with Black children disproportionately impacted. Eviction and homelessness are also associated with a significantly increased risk of death;(3)
Whereas, People experiencing homelessness, especially people with mental and physical disabilities, are more likely to be victims of violence than perpetrators;(4)
Whereas, Proposed federal housing and immigration rules also threaten housing assistance for mixed-status families, including families with United States citizen children; (5)
Whereas New federal Medicaid work requirements and reductions to food assistance and other social safety net programs will place health coverage, food security, and housing stability at risk, particularly for people with disabilities and people with low incomes;(5)
Whereas, Federal policy changes have threatened approximately $7 million in permanent housing funding for Washtenaw County while directing more resources toward camping bans, encampment removals, civil commitment, and other punitive responses to homelessness;(6)
Whereas, Ann Arbor maintains its own Housing Commission, administers more than 2,000 rental assistance vouchers throughout Washtenaw County, and has supported 537 affordable apartments that are completed or under construction, with more than 900 additional homes in development. Research shows that increasing the supply and diversity of housing can slow rent growth and reduce displacement when paired with permanently affordable housing, accessibility, tenant protections, eviction prevention, and supportive services;(7)
Whereas, As shown in the 2026 Point-in-time (PIT) count, Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County have seen and 118% increase in persons who are unhoused from January 2022 to January 2026. This increase is outpacing the rate the services are able to be developed across the community; and
Whereas, In 2023, Ann Arbor prohibited discrimination based on the use of a valid government-issued identification card, including the Washtenaw County ID;(8)
RESOLVED, That no person's rights, dignity, legal protections as granted by Local, State, and Federal Laws and ordinances, or access to City services, shall be denied solely because they are unhoused or perceived as unhoused, and that every person experiencing homelessness shall have the following rights in the City of Ann Arbor:
1. The right to use and move freely in public spaces, including public sidewalks, parks, transportation, and buildings, on the same terms as other members of the public and without discrimination based on housing status;
2. The right to equal, respectful, and nondiscriminatory treatment by City departments, agencies, employees and service providers acting on behalf of the City;
3. The right to be free from employment discrimination based solely on not having a permanent mailing address or using the address of a shelter or social service provider;
4. The right to receive emergency medical care without discrimination based on housing status;
5. If the person is a United States citizen and otherwise eligible as set out in Michigan State law, the right to register to vote and vote without discrimination based on housing status;
6. The right to privacy and protection from the unauthorized disclosure of personally identifiable information by City departments, agencies, employees, and service providers acting on behalf of the City;
7. The right to use a valid government-issued identification card, including a Washtenaw County ID, when proof of identity is required to receive a City service, benefit, or program. Such identification shall also be accepted by places of public accommodation as required by Chapter 112 of the Ann Arbor City Code. An identification card establishes identity. It does not by itself establish eligibility for a program. A different form of identification may be required when required by federal or state law, a court order, or reasonable grounds to believe the identification is fraudulent; and
8. The right to request and receive reasonable accommodations from City departments and programs for a disability, consistent with applicable law.
RESOLVED, That Ann Arbor rejects the criminalization of homelessness and reaffirms its commitment to a humane, trauma-informed, and Housing First response that prioritizes outreach, shelter, voluntary services, eviction prevention, and permanent housing over punishment, even when federal funding and other resources are inadequate or uncertain;
RESOLVED, That the City will strive to increase the supply and diversity of housing, including by allowing more housing in appropriate areas, while investing in permanently affordable housing, accessible housing, tenant protections, eviction prevention, and supportive services;
RESOLVED, That this resolution does not preclude the enforcement of laws, ordinances, rules, or regulations regarding the use of, occupancy of, or conduct in, public or private spaces in the City of Ann Arbor;
RESOLVED, That the City may enforce lawful rules governing conduct in public places, but enforcement shall address conduct rather than housing status and shall be consistent, and nondiscriminatory; and
RESOLVED, That the City Administrator shall review relevant City policies, contracts, employee training, and complaint procedures and report to City Council within 180 days with any recommended policy, budget, or legislative changes needed to carry out this resolution.
Sponsored by: Councilmembers Ghazi Edwin, Harrison, Briggs, Cornell, and Watson
(1) Washtenaw County Homeless System Funding Gap Report, August 2024, pp. 1-2, <https://a2gov.legistar.com/View.ashx?G=505481FE-B2ED-4B34-9A92-FDB26536D1E1&GUID=8734470D-5E5F-4589-893C-23D7FB9CB697&ID=13669720&M=F>
(2) U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2024 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report to Congress, Part 1, December 2024, <https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/2024-AHAR-Part-1.pdf>
(3) Eviction Lab, 'Who Is Evicted in America,' https://evictionlab.org/who-is-evicted-in-america/; Nick Graetz et al., 'A Comprehensive Demographic Profile of the U.S. Evicted Population,' Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2023; Nick Graetz et al., 'The Impacts of Eviction on Mortality: A Longitudinal Study of the United States,' Social Science & Medicine 340, 2024, <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116398>; James White et al., 'Mortality in People Experiencing Homelessness: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis,' International Journal of Epidemiology 55, no. 5, 2026, <https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyag129>
(4) Hargrave et al., 'Violence Experienced by People Experiencing Homelessness in California,' JAMA Internal Medicine, 2024, <https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2024.5336> Jeanne Y. Choe, Linda A. Teplin, and Karen M. Abram, 'Perpetration of Violence, Violent Victimization, and Severe Mental Illness,' Psychiatric Services 59, no. 2, 2008, <https://doi.org/10.1176/ps.2008.59.2.153>
(5) Jasper Ward, 'Trump Administration Moves to End Housing Assistance for Mixed Immigration Families,' Reuters, February 19, 2026, <https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/trump-administration-moves-end-housing-assistance-mixed-immigration-families-2026-02-19/>
(6) Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 'Community Engagement,' https://www.medicaid.gov/resources-for-states/working-families-tax-cut-legislation/community-engagement; Benjamin L. Howell et al., 'Association of Medicaid Expansion With Eviction Judgments and Eviction Filings in the United States,' JAMA Network Open 6, no. 1, 2023, <https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.49361>
(7) Washtenaw Housing Alliance, 'A Timeline and Update on HUD's Continuum of Care Program Funding,' updated through 2026, https://www.whalliance.org/news-events/2026/1/22/a-timeline-and-update-on-huds-continuum-of-care-coc-program-funding; Executive Order 14321, 'Ending Crime and Disorder on America's Streets,' July 24, 2025, <https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/07/ending-crime-and-disorder-on-americas-streets/>
(8) City of Ann Arbor, 'Ann Arbor Affordable Housing Millage Has Supported More Than 500 New or Developing Apartments in First Five Years,' July 30, 2026, <https://www.a2gov.org/news/posts/ann-arbor-affordable-housing-millage-has-supported-more-than-500-new-or-developing-apartments-in-first-five-years/>; City of Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor Housing Commission, <https://www.a2gov.org/housing-commission/>; Pew Charitable Trusts, 'More Flexible Zoning Helps Contain Rising Rents,' April 17, 2023, <https://www.pew.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2023/04/17/more-flexible-zoning-helps-contain-rising-rents>
Ann Arbor Ordinance ORD-23-05, adopted February 21, 2023, sponsored by Councilmembers Ayesha Ghazi Edwin, Linh Song, and Travis Radina, <https://a2gov.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?FullText=1&GUID=FBC92F25-79E8-42DF-A260-8A2841E4400C&ID=6008862&Options=&Search=>