St. Joseph County officials invoke sex offenders to oppose South Bend homeless shelter

SOUTH BEND — Multiple St. Joseph County Republican officials continued their campaign against South Bend's proposed site for a low-barrier homeless shelter this week by pointing out that six convicted sex offenders are affiliated with the program.

Five men who live at Motels4Now, the shelter at the former Knights Inn Motel on Lincoln Way West, and one man who works there are convicted sex offenders, according to St. Joseph County's public registry of offenders.

Gathered in Tom's Car Care Center, a nearby business owned by a staunch opponent of the proposed location, county officials noted that within a mile of the new shelter would be a day care, a Catholic parish school, two large apartment complexes and a public park.

County officials did not, however, note that there are already nine sex offenders registered within a mile of the proposed site on the 3000 block of Bendix Drive, the registry shows. Three live in the neighborhood and six more work or volunteer there.

Regardless, four Republican county officials — commissioner Derek Dieter and councilors Joe Thomas, Amy Drake and Randall Figg — attended a press conference Tuesday to draw attention to the sex offenders and stoke fears about the shelter moving to a new site on the city's far northwest side.

Their comments build on several days of county backlash to the city's thwarted attempt last week to buy land on the 3000 block of Bendix Drive that would eventually house a new 80-bed shelter. The city would pay $277,750 for the land owned by the South Bend Community School Corp. and donate it to shelter leaders. A public meeting is planned Thursday night at The Beacon Resource Center to further discuss the proposal.

Sheila McCarthy, director of Motels4Now, told The Tribune that the low-barrier shelter and the St. Peter Claver Catholic Worker are the only two homeless service providers she knows of in the county that offer emergency housing to convicted sex offenders.

Sex offenders' struggle to find housing is a known issue. Federal rules bar registrants from federally subsidized options like the Housing Choice Voucher program or public housing.

And placement on the registry is often a lifelong designation. Four of the people affiliated with Motels4Now were convicted for offenses more than 20 years ago and remain under restrictions governing where they can live.

"It is very challenging for many of the sex offenders to find locations to live," St. Joseph County Sheriff's Deputy Joseph Hamer, who monitors the county's more than 470 registered sex offenders, told The Tribune in an interview.

But homelessness was linked to a higher risk of being re-arrested among people convicted of sex offenses, according to a 2022 study conducted in Michigan.

Moreover, while sex offender registration laws haven't been shown to reduce rates of reoffending, stable housing has shown promise, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

McCarthy said she worries about targeting people who have doubtless made mistakes but have complied with the criminal justice system by registering as sex offenders. If the goal is to keep track of offenders and reduce the likelihood of repeat crimes, public shaming seems to be the wrong approach, McCarthy argued.

"If you're targeting people," McCarthy said, "their response will be to disappear from anything official and terrorize your home and business because you have not made it possible for them to live."

More broadly, the past week's backlash is about Motels4Now's housing-first approach. The shelter houses up to 120 guests without mandating any medical treatment or active income. The 80-bed New Day Intake Center would use the same model and be run by Our Lady of the Road, the Catholic ministry overseeing Motels4Now.

City leaders cite growing evidence that housing-first programs help people to break the cycle of chronic homelessness — homelessness that persists for more than a year — more effectively than programs that require medical treatment or active income. But county officials reject that data and say people who are homeless should be held accountable with incentive-based programs.

"What housing-first means is there's no requirements," Drake said. "You're not required to be off drugs. You're not required to take your meds. You're not required to have a job. You're not even required to have job training.

"When we talk about a $14 million new facility being built here with no rules, I think that's our worry: Who's it going to attract?"

The New Day Intake Center is projected to cost between $12 million and $16 million to build. Leaders have already acquired about half of the needed funding through grants from the state and city. Much of the remaining money would come from private donors, leaders say.

Similar to Motels4Now, leaders say, the New Day center would host on-site counselors who specialize in the treatment of addiction and mental illness. Residents wouldn't be required to participate but would be encouraged.

Our Lady of the Road leaders said the site would be surrounded by a 10-foot-high fence and feature 24/7 on-site security. McCarthy said the same three rules that apply at Motels4Now will likely remain in place: no outside guests, no violence or threats, and no loud noise between 10 p.m. and 10 a.m.

In a statement, South Bend Mayor James Mueller sharply criticized Republicans' decision to host the press conference Tuesday.

"These bad-faith political attacks on homeless service providers and our most vulnerable residents are a new low from County Republicans," Mueller said in a statement. "This right-wing witch hunt against Motels4Now does not reflect South Bend values and is a distraction from finding real solutions.

"South Bend values people over politics," Mueller added, "compassion over cruelty, and proven solutions like housing-first over extremism."

IF YOU GO

What: The city will host a public meeting to share more information about the New Day Intake Center.

When: Thursday, Feb. 1, at 6 p.m.

Where: The Beacon Resource Center, at 4210 Lincoln Way W.

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly said the proposed site would be in compliance with state legal restrictions on where some registered sex offenders can live.

Email South Bend Tribune city reporter Jordan Smith at JTsmith@gannett.com. Follow him on X: @jordantsmith09

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: SJC GOP decries sex offenders at Motels4Now, opposes housing-first model