The Phoenix City Council recently passed an ordinance that changes rules for needle exchange programs, redefines food distribution events, and criminalizes medical service providers who offer unpermitted assistance in public parks.

Critics call the ordinance shortsighted and say it will result in more unhoused people and busier hospitals. The city says the ordinance establishes new requirements for medical providers to offer treatment while keeping parks safe for residents.

The ordinance went into effect over the weekend. The city will approve two permits per park each month for food distribution or medical treatment events.

Image

Will Knight, decriminalization director at the National Homelessness Law Center, said the ordinance will have far-reaching consequences for people who need the services most.

“It means that unhoused folks in Phoenix are going to lose access to the medical treatment that they rely on right now that helps keep them alive and helps keep them from overburdening our already overburdened hospital rooms and emergency medical system,” Knight said.

A violation of the city code is a Class 1 misdemeanor, which can carry a penalty of up to $2,500 in fines or six months in county jail.

In the ordinance, the city says it is committed to ensuring that public community spaces are safe and that people who need services can access them in an organized and equitable way.

Knight said the ordinance will send people “into the shadows” instead of getting them the medical care they need.

“The city of Phoenix is trying to criminalize the people who are actually helping our vulnerable unhoused neighbors,” Knight said. “This is part of the broader attack on homeless people that's happening across the country in an effort to invisibilize them, so that we don't have to see humans suffer.”

There are exceptions under the ordinance. It does not penalize first responders, family members offering medical help or people administering naloxone in parks in the event of an opioid overdose.