Homeless hampered by new State Photo I.D. requirement
by Joe Narkin

(Plain Press, December 2009) Unsheltered homeless people live in places that are not designed for human habitation. Many stay largely out of sight within campsites in secluded urban niches under freeways, along railroad tracks, or in weedy, abandoned areas. Others live in more visible places, such as doorways, parks, and public benches.

The majority of unsheltered homeless people are people who, by reason of multiple factors that can include poverty, social isolation, familial rejection, mental illness, or addiction, cannot or will not stay with friends or relatives. They are people who are not amenable to staying in crowded, often dangerous, public shelters.

According to an interpretation of a new rule established by the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV), the unsheltered homeless, people who lack a legal street address or proof of residence, are not eligible to obtain a state photo I.D. Therein lies a significant Catch-22 for the unsheltered homeless in trying to improve their circumstances since, in order to obtain services in the community to help them obtain housing and meet other basic needs, a state photo I.D. is commonly required.

“Even if the homeless can’t prove their existence to the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles, we know that the men and women, who are most affected by these new, unreasonable requirements, do exist; we meet them every single day at our doors and struggle with them to break down barriers to work, to decent housing, and to basic human services,” said Eileen Kelly, Director of the St. Colman Church Outreach Ministry.

“By building these new barriers to obtaining an official I.D, it seems that the Ohio BMV is now in the business of preventing some of our most vulnerable neighbors from providing for themselves, from working, from living in decent housing, from voting,” said Kelly. “You have to be really motivated to get an I.D.,” she said, adding that many homeless and low-income people who are vulnerable to being defeated by bureaucratic barriers “will just say, ‘forget it.’”

In a case cited by Kelly, a 45-year-old homeless male was turned away recently from the Warren Village BMV office without obtaining an I.D. on two consecutive days because he did not have a satisfactory proof of residence despite the fact that he had in his possession his birth certificate and social security card. This man had been homeless, often unsheltered, for at least the past ten years, but was well known to the local social service community.

He was granted an exception and obtained his I.D. only when Dee Dee Scoville, an Outreach Worker with the Community Corner Program of the West Side Ecumenical Ministry, intervened by making a phone call, writing a letter, and personally accompanying him to the BMV office.

The BMV made it clear that such an exception would not become routine, however, since each request for exception would need to be presented in writing and require an independent determination by the BMV in Columbus. In addition to the difficulty experienced by the person seeking an I.D., this process would also further strain the staff resources of community organizations providing assistance to the homeless, according to Kelly.

“We do not want to obtain an I.D. for a people who are not who they say they are, but there has to be a point where paranoia stops,” said Kelly.

“This new rule is keeping people homeless and presents a continuing burden on the community; it doesn’t make sense,” said Jim Schlecht, an outreach worker to the homeless with Care Alliance.

Jim is currently trying to assist a 50-year-old man who, despite one-year of sobriety, is still living on the streets, but has been unable to take advantage of an opportunity to obtain a HUD subsidized apartment due to a lack of identification. This man had not even reached the point of approaching the BMV since he still needed a birth certificate when last contacted by Schlecht. In attempting to obtain his birth certificate at Cleveland City Hall, this man encountered yet another common bureaucratic barrier.

The Catch-22 here is that a photo I.D. is required to get into the Bureau of Vital Statistics within City Hall for security reasons. While the City of Cleveland has developed a protocol whereby a staff member will come out to the lobby in front of the security desk in order to complete a birth certificate transaction for a person without I.D., this protocol often fails when a security guard has not been properly trained, as was the case when Schlecht’s client went to City Hall.

As evidenced by the birth certificate process, the new BMV rule is only the latest in a growing number of bureaucratic barriers facing homeless, indigent, and low-income, people, according to Schlecht. “When you operate out of fear, when you think only of self-protection, you create a situation where we become more isolated from one another,” he said.

“A person has to be connected to be credible,” said Kelly, adding that people who try to navigate the system without the help of a community organization stand little chance of success. And it is not just the homeless that are suffering as a result of bureaucratic barriers to obtaining an I.D. according to Kelly.

Kelly cites the case of a 46-year-old single mother whose 20-year-old son had to move the family to another apartment while she was hospitalized. Upon her release from the hospital, she needed a current photo I.D. in order to have the utilities turned on and went to the BMV. Despite having an expired state I.D., birth certificate, and social security card, she was turned away since she did not have a lease, utility bill, or other proof of residency for her new home.

In another case cited by Kelly, a 55-year-old man who lived with his brother was turned away from the BMV when seeking an I.D. because he was not on the lease and had no bills issued in his name at his brother’s address.

All three cases presented by Kelly for this article occurred within a two-day period and came to the attention of a single small agency, thereby indicating the extent to which problems in obtaining an I.D. from the BMV have become a widespread issue throughout the community, according to Kelly.

Barriers to obtaining an I.D. also have been used to deprive unsheltered citizens of the right to vote in the past and voter disenfranchisement is likely to become far more prevalent for all citizens due to the new BMV rule, according to Brian Davis, Executive Director of the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (NEOCH).

A photo I.D. is now required to vote in Ohio, a requirement that is currently being contested through a pending lawsuit filed by the ACLU on behalf of homeless citizens.

“The fundamental expression of American democracy is voting, and Ohio requires identification for those who want to vote in person on Election Day,” said Davis. “These new rules will make homeless people into second class citizens on election day, unable to vote in person,” he said.

“In 2008, we were able to help over 2,000 homeless people vote,” said Davis. He, however, cited the case of a 49-year-old, ex-Marine who was transported to the correct polling place for his former home address by NEOCH, but was challenged at the polls. “He was singled him out because of his homeless status and it was very uncomfortable for the guy,” said Davis. While this veteran was able to vote by provisional ballot, Davis wonders if his vote counted. “In 2008, a very high percentage of provisional ballots were excluded,” he said.

Davis, Kelly, and Schlecht are the founding members of the Identification Crisis Collaborative, a nearly 10-year-old coalition of local ministries and agencies that recognized early on that policies designed to inhibit terrorism and identity theft were having the effect making it increasingly harder for homeless and other low-income people to obtain legal proof of their existence.

Agencies participating in the Identification Crisis Collaborative are the West Side Catholic Center, St. Colman’s Outreach Ministry, Lutheran Metropolitan Ministries, 2100 Lakeside Shelter for Men, NEOCH, Community Women’s Shelter, Mental Health Services, Care Alliance, St. Malachi Center, Project SAVE, The Church, Catholic Charities, Bishop Cosgrove Center, and Emergency Services at St. Augustine.

Residents requiring help due to problems in obtaining a State Photo I.D. should call First Call for Help by dialing 211 for a referral to a member agency of the Identification Crisis Collaborative. Individuals seeking more information about the Collaborative or opportunities for volunteer involvement should call Linda Stamm at (216) 631-4741 or Eileen Kelly at (216) 751-0550.

News & Articles | Archives