HOUSING FIRST IN VIRGINIA

Everyone deserves a safe place to sleep. Our communities thrive when everyone has access to housing. However, homelessness has been on the rise in Virginia and across the country as housing becomes increasingly difficult to afford. In a time of increased demand, it is crucial to support the utilization of evidence-based strategies, like Housing First, that are proven to reduce homelessness by addressing the root cause: a lack of affordable housing.

7,141

total people experiencing unsheltered homelessness in Virginia, based on Point in Time (PIT) counts. (HUD, 2024).

20,784

homeless children and youth enrolled in public school in Virginia during the 2023-2024 school year, based on the McKinney-Vento definition of homelessness. (Project Hope, 2025)

21,504

units required to meet the needs of people currently being served in crisis and institutional systems. (CSH, 2024)

Evidence-Based Best Practice

As the name implies, a Housing First framework prioritizes providing a stable, safe place to live without preconditions. Paired with access to support services, this approach rapidly ends homelessness and is proven to positively impact quality of life and the health of our communities in the long term.

Housing First is widely recognized as the best practice by experts and is supported by significant evidence and research. Several national studies have found that this approach:

The Housing First approach recognizes that homelessness is a systemic problem that stems from a lack of affordable housing. In contrast, when lawmakers opt to address homelessness as an individual issue, they may employ policies that penalize homelessness. Such policies punish people experiencing homelessness for partaking in necessary, life-sustaining activities, such as sleeping, eating, sitting, or requesting resources from others in public spaces. Punishments can range from fines and fees to criminal arrests and incarceration. Unfortunately, these punitive policies are on the rise in cities and states across the country in recent years, according to the National Homelessness Law Center. We know that this strategy is not only harmful, costly, and inefficient, but it often exacerbates the problem rather than addressing it. The real solution is providing access to housing people can afford and the support services they need to become stable.

Johnson v Grants Pass: Case and Ruling Overview

During the summer of 2024, the Supreme Court considered Johnson v. City of Grants Pass, a case that debated whether individuals experiencing homelessness possess a constitutional right to camp on public property when they cannot access adequate alternative shelter. In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Grants Pass, determining that arresting or fining people for sleeping outside does not constitute “cruel and unusual punishment,” regardless of alternative shelter availability. This ruling will make it easier for states and localities to pass or more rigorously enforce laws that criminalize homelessness rather than invest in proven solutions to address the primary causes of homelessness.

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Does Virginia Criminalize Homelessness?

Virginia does not have state-level laws that directly criminalize homelessness from the top down. However, Virginia code does enable local governments to restrict the life-sustaining activities of the unhoused through ordinances in many different ways. For example, localities are given authority to prohibit loitering and solicitation in public places. Additionally, localities may use laws against trespassing, obstructing public right of way, creating public nuisances, and storing belongings or relieving waste in public places to police those without access to a home of their own in which to conduct such activities. Because these enabling laws are not prescriptive in nature, localities have broad discretion in how they define and penalize such actions.

Unfortunately, many localities have exercised this authority and passed ordinances that in some way or another criminalize homelessness. The interactive map below provides several examples of these ordinances and in which localities they exist. Note: While we are tracking many such laws, this is not an exhaustive list of all that exist across Virginia. Furthermore, some of the language may not be enforced or may be out-of-date.

Misdemeanor Classes and Sentencing Guidelines

According to the Office of the Attorney General of Virginia, a misdemeanor is “a lesser crime punishable by local jail time of not more than one year and/or a possible fine.”

Class 1 misdemeanor: Confinement in jail for not more than 12 months and/or a possible fine up to $2,500.
Class 2 misdemeanor: Confinement in jail for not more than six months and/or a possible fine up to $1,000.
Class 3 misdemeanor: A fine up to $500.
Class 4 misdemeanor: A fine up to $250.

Do you have information about other examples of criminalization in Virginia that are not shown in this map?

If so, please contact us using the form below.