Iowans’ Demand on Homelessness
The poll highlights growing concerns among Iowa voters about homelessness, with 53% believing it is increasing and 46% viewing homeless encampments as a public safety threat. A majority of voters—especially conservatives—support policies that restrict street camping and panhandling while favoring structured solutions like secure camping locations (82%) and increased access to shelters.
Voters overwhelmingly identify addiction and mental illness (52%) as the root cause of homelessness rather than economic factors. Accordingly, mental health and substance abuse programs (53%) are preferred over subsidized housing as a long-term solution.
Additionally, 56% of voters support mandatory treatment for individuals with severe mental illness.
There is widespread dissatisfaction with the efforts of elected officials, as 57% say leaders in Des Moines are not doing enough.
Recommended Legislative Actions
- Expand Mental Health and Addiction Treatment
- Increase funding for involuntary treatment programs for severe mental illness.
- Prioritize sobriety-based housing and recovery programs over subsidized housing.
- Implement Strict Encampment Policies with Alternative Housing
- Enforce statewide bans on street camping (57%), coupled with the expansion of secure, regulated encampments with sanitation and security (82%).
- Increase Accountability for Homeless Service Providers
- Ensure funding goes to evidence-based solutions, prioritizing addiction recovery and mental health support.
- Enhance Public Safety Measures
- Give law enforcement greater authority to clear encampments (59%), particularly in response to concerns about sex offenders within homeless populations.
- Address Housing and Employment Barriers
- Expand transitional housing programs tied to employment and recovery efforts.
- Incentivize businesses to hire the homeless through job training and work placement initiatives.
Key refinements to legislative recommendations:
Balancing Criminalization and Supportive Solutions
Law-and-order approaches gain support when paired with treatment-based alternatives.
Mental Health & Addiction Treatment Expansion
Prioritize mandatory treatment for severe mental illness fund wellness programs over subsidized housing.
Encampment Policies with Alternatives
Support for banning street camping (57%) jumps to 69% if shelters with security and medical care are available. A strong bipartisan agreement (82%) favors secure, regulated camping locations over public encampments.
Public Safety Measures
With 59% supporting stronger police authority to clear encampments, laws restricting panhandling and public camping could gain traction with provisions ensuring treatment-based approaches.
POLL RESULTS
1. Do you think homelessness in lowa is increasing, decreasing, or staying about the same?
2. Do you think homeless encampments on streets and in other public places pose a threat to public safety?
3. How often do you avoid areas where individuals are living in tents on the streets and in other public places?
4. How often do you avoid gas stations or convenience stores where there are aggressive panhandlers on the property?
5. Some cities around the country have outlawed panhandling. Should lowa outlaw panhandling?
6. Would you support or oppose requiring cities to enforce their bans on street camping as a condition of receiving increased homelessness funding?
7. Would you support or oppose requiring the state to audit taxpayer-funded homeless service organizations for how they spend their money?
8. What do you think is the biggest root cause of homelessness: addiction and mental illness or lack of good-paying jobs and affordable housing?
9. Which of the following two taxpayer-funded programs do you think is more helpful in reducing long-term, chronic homelessness: subsidized housing programs or mental health and substance abuse programs?
10. Do you think individuals suffering from unmanaged, severe mental illness, such as schizophrenia, should be legally compelled to enter a healthcare setting where they can be treated and stabilized?
11. Should homeless individuals have a right to camp on the streets or in public places, such as parks?
12. Should lowa prohibit camping on streets and sidewalks?
13. Would you be more likely to support a ban on street camping if there were increased access to homeless shelters and camps with access to security, sanitation, and medical treatment away from residential areas?
14. New research indicates that nearly 40 percent of unsheltered homeless individuals may be registered sex offenders. Knowing this, do you think law enforcement should have more authority to identify homeless individuals and remove street encampments?
15. Do you think it is more compassionate to allow homeless individuals to set up camp wherever they choose or move them to secure camping locations with access to water and hygiene facilities?
16. Do you think elected leaders in Des Moines are doing enough to help reduce homelessness in the city?
17. Generally speaking, do you think laws that criminalize homelessness would help improve public safety in lowa?
Results for this poll were collected using a sampling frame that gathered responses from 1,117 likely Iowa voters during live calls, online panels, and automated telephone interviews conducted by Cor Strategies, Inc.
The survey was conducted January 28–February 1, 2025. The margin of sampling error is ±2.93 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.