Written by Danielle Amrine, CEO of Welcome House in Covington. House Bill 5, recently passed by the Kentucky legislature, has sparked significant debate about how communities should address homelessness. For those of us working directly with vulnerable populations, it’s vital to emphasize that homelessness is a social and economic issue-not a criminal one. While the bill may reinforce certain punitive measures, there’s a better way forward. In Northern Kentucky, we’ve built a model that highlights collaboration over criminalization, and we believe this approach can be adopted by other communities nationwide.