2024 National Public Safety and Homelessness Poll
Recent national polling reveals strong bipartisan support for rehabilitation-focused and accountability-driven approaches to public safety and homelessness.
Nonprofit organizations are seen as the most effective in preparing inmates for reentry (51% overall). Most voters favor tying prison funding to rehabilitation success (52%) and providing bonuses for high success rates (56%). There is overwhelming support (73%) for incentives like reduced probation for completing job or mental health programs.
On homelessness, a majority identify mental illness and addiction as root causes (57%), support requiring participation in programs for housing benefits (69%), and prefer moving individuals into shelters over allowing camping (72%). Designated camping areas with services have wide approval (67%). Strong majorities favor stricter drug enforcement near service providers, including penalties for facilities permitting drug activity (60%). Auditing service providers enjoys broad agreement (66%).
Public frustration with homelessness and aggressive panhandling is evident, with 57% regularly avoiding affected areas.
Which of the following three entities do you think is best equipped to successfully prepare inmates for re-entry into society: the government, private for-profit businesses, or nonprofit organizations?
Prisons are funded primarily based on the number of inmates they hold. Would you support or oppose tying a portion of prisons’ funding to their inmate rehabilitation success rates?
Would you support or oppose providing bonus funding to prisons that have higher-than-average inmate rehabilitation success rates?
Would you support or oppose offering non-violent individuals time off the length of their probation or parole if they maintain steady employment or complete an approved job skills program?
Would you support or oppose reducing the length of probation or parole for non-violent individuals if they successfully complete a substance abuse or mental health program?
Which of the following two options do you think is the biggest root cause of chronic homelessness: mental illness and addiction, or lack of affordable housing and low wages?
Should homeless individuals be required to participate in job training, mental health, and sobriety programs as a condition of receiving taxpayer-funded housing benefits?
Do you think it is more compassionate to allow homeless individuals to camp wherever they choose or to move them into shelters?
Should homeless individuals be allowed to camp on public property such as sidewalks or city parks?
Would you support or oppose creating designated homeless camping areas with access to hygiene facilities and social services that are away from business and residential areas?
Would you support or oppose establishing drug-free zones around homeless service provider facilities?
Would you support or oppose increasing fines and penalties for selling drugs at or near homeless service facilities?
Would you support or oppose criminal penalties for homeless service providers who knowingly permit drug trafficking or drug use at their facilities?
Would you support or oppose revoking a homeless service provider’s license to operate if they are repeatedly found guilty of allowing drug trafficking or drug use at their facilities?
Would you support or oppose auditing taxpayer-funded homeless service providers for how they spend their funding?
How often do you or your family avoid areas where there are individuals sleeping on sidewalks or park benches?
How often do you or your family avoid places like convenience stores or gas stations where there are aggressive panhandlers?
Results for this poll were collected using a sampling frame that gathered responses from 1,117 likely national voters during live calls, online panels, and automated telephone interviews conducted by Cor Strategies, Inc.
The survey was conducted October 7–11, 2024. The margin of sampling error is ±2.94 percentage points. The margin of sampling error may be higher or lower for subgroups. Results presented may not always appear to total 100 percent due to rounding.
Data were post-stratified using weighted demographic information from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey Voting and Registration Supplement and the state election authorities.
Demographic information for actual voters in past elections was used to construct sample target weights.
Cicero Institute paid for all costs associated with this survey.
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