List of homeless relocation programs in the United States

For several decades, various cities and towns in the United States have adopted relocation programs offering homeless people one-way tickets to move elsewhere. Also referred to as "Greyhound therapy", "bus ticket therapy" and "homeless dumping", the practice was historically associated with small towns and rural counties, which had no shelters or other services, sending homeless individuals tickets to the nearest large city. More recently, a nationwide investigation by The Guardian in 2017 found that many homeless relocation programs are offered by cities with high median incomes, helping people move to places with cheaper housing and a lower cost of living, but also fewer economic opportunities. While some individuals welcome assistance to help them relocate, others say that they have felt "targeted" and forced to move, under the threat of arrest by police.

Debate over effectiveness
Proponents argue that there are legitimate reasons for seeking to reunite homeless people with their friends and family in other locations. Returning to places they have lived before can help people reconnect with their support networks and find a place to sleep until they are able to rebuild their lives.

Critics counter that while some instances can result in positive outcomes for the individuals being relocated, the programs in general have served as a convenient way for cities to reduce their own homeless populations and associated policing, medical, and support costs. In aggregate, they argue, the programs have essentially pushed homelessness to other jurisdictions, rather than provide support services or eliminate homelessness.

Data on long-term outcomes
In 2017, The Guardian published the findings of an 18-month investigation, obtaining data from 16 cities with homeless relocation programs. The cities themselves were able to offer almost no information about the long-term outcomes for bus ticket recipients after they had reached their destinations, making it difficult to assess the success of those programs.

While some relocation programs check whether individuals are subject to local arrest warrants before helping them leave town, others do not. An investigation by The Sacramento Bee published in 2013 suggested that dozens of mental health patients who received bus tickets after being discharged from Rawson-Neal Psychiatric Hospital were later involved in a range of crimes and found that some of them were suicidal.

Many cities count every homeless person given a free relocation as a person who successfully "exited homelessness", thereby making cities' homeless programs appear more successful than they are, especially considering cities rarely even attempt follow up to determine whether the person was able to find housing at their destination. For example, in one three-year period, half of the people that San Francisco claimed to have successfully moved out of homelessness had simply been given bus tickets to be moved out of San Francisco.