Respond to behavior
Address blocking entrances, threats, theft, trespassing, or sanitation problems—not someone’s appearance.
← How to help
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Community playbook
When homelessness is affecting your business
Protect staff, customers, and property while responding to disruptive behavior consistently, safely, and without treating homelessness itself as misconduct.
Use what you can actually sustain.
Choose the parts of this guide that fit your role, resources, risk level, and community.
Quick start
Four principles to keep in mind
Give staff a script
Employees should know what they may say, offer, document, and when to call for help.
Separate emergency from inconvenience
A medical crisis or threat requires a different response than someone asking for food or resting outside.
Build a referral path
Keep a small, current list of local resources so staff are not improvising case management.
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Create a written response ladder
A predictable process reduces fear and inconsistent reactions among employees.
- ✓Define what staff should do when someone is simply asking for help, when someone is violating a property rule, and when someone is threatening or violent.
- ✓Identify the manager or security contact who handles repeated problems so frontline employees are not left alone to negotiate.
- ✓List local non-emergency outreach or service contacts where available, along with 911 for immediate danger and 988 for mental-health or substance-use crisis support.
- ✓Train staff not to chase, physically remove, or confront someone when doing so creates unnecessary danger.
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Use clear, neutral language
Staff can enforce boundaries without humiliating or escalating the person.
- ✓State the behavior and the requested change: “This entrance has to stay clear,” “Customers cannot be threatened,” or “You cannot sleep inside after closing.”
- ✓Avoid arguments about whether someone is “really homeless,” deserving, lazy, dangerous, or mentally ill.
- ✓If you are offering a resource card, do so separately from enforcement so the assistance does not sound like a condition for basic dignity.
- ✓If the person complies, end the confrontation rather than continuing to lecture or shame them.
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Design the property to reduce recurring conflict
Some recurring problems are environmental and can be reduced without hostile architecture.
- ✓Keep entrances, dumpsters, loading zones, restrooms, lighting, locks, and exterior storage areas well maintained.
- ✓Post operating hours and property rules where they are easy to understand.
- ✓Coordinate with neighboring businesses, property management, outreach teams, or the city when the same location generates repeated concerns.
- ✓Where sanitation is a recurring issue, ask local officials and providers whether public restroom, trash, outreach, or cleanup options are available rather than relying only on repeated displacement.
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Document patterns, not stereotypes
Good records make it easier to distinguish a recurring operational problem from a one-time interaction.
- ✓Record dates, behavior, response, and outcome when incidents materially affect safety or operations.
- ✓Do not create informal lists based on appearance or suspected housing status.
- ✓Use recurring incident information to ask service providers or local government for targeted help.