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AGREED, If this is supposed to be the main point to your thread, why have you have not shown ANY information at all to back this (what sounds like a completely insane guesstimate) up?
I CANT STAND IT, when people try to start off a great debate thread, with completely inaccurate information.
-1 Reputation for OP.
This from HUD secretary Shaun Donovan in 2012:
"The thing we finally figured out is that it’s actually, not only better for people, but cheaper to solve homelessness than it is to put a band-aid on it," Donovan said in the March 5, 2012, appearance. "Because, at the end of the day, it costs, between shelters and emergency rooms and jails, it costs about $40,000 a year for a homeless person to be on the streets."
We seldom think of the TOTAL cost of dealing with this growing segment of society, and, in light of the inane comments seen here as offered solutions, I'm guessing we will see this problem begin to threaten our entire society with regard to our health, security, and any remaining sense of our national dignity. This is about our general well being as much as it is about the well being of the homeless. When we help them, we help ourselves to a better society. The OP was referencing the COST of homelessness, but we have to know the real costs of not helping.
If the mentally ill, drug addicts, and alcoholics were off the streets we wouldn't even be discussing the homeless.
By lumping those three groups with hard working people who hit tough times we are doing a diservice to those people who are homeless thru no fault of their own.
A Minneapolis TV station did a report on the homeless years back and well over 50% of the homeless they interviewed had severe mental problems which would have resulted in them being in a mental institution years back before they were closed.
There still is a need for well run, well regulated mental institutions today .
A Minneapolis TV station did a report on the homeless years back and well over 50% of the homeless they interviewed had severe mental problems which would have resulted in them being in a mental institution years back before they were closed.
There still is a need for well run, well regulated mental institutions today .
The results of TV station investigations seldom suffice as valid data for serious consideration. The deeper causes of much of our homelessness in America are reflected in an economy that has abandoned a large segment of workers and the chronically unemployed to the ranks of those homeless people with mental health and drug abuse issues.
The most visible homeless are usually found living on the sidewalks of our cities, but the population of those who have little financial access to housing are suffering the effects of living in a technologically advanced society that has turned a corner with regard to the type of jobs these folks would have had at an earlier time. Estimates of those working and homeless are in the forty per cent bracket of all those counted as homeless.
Agriculture, heavy manufacturing, shipbuilding, steel production, and all the small businesses that supported these enterprises have either left America of have become bastions of mechanized labor. Why we as a country have so much trouble understanding the real consequences of this modern reality is beyond me. Many are looking at the homeless as a scourge on "our" society, seldom do we regard homelessness as the problem, preferring to blame those who are without shelter for their plight. And, some are definitely to blame for their plight, but the broad brush of admonishment paints a picture of these people as not being worthy of our consideration.
Segmenting the homeless into categories that cast them as drug abusers and the mentally ill ignores the facts surrounding the very real problem that many of the homeless suffer, i.e. working but not able to afford housing. These people are often able to stay out of sight (in cars or old motor-homes) of the general populace, and more to the point-- out of the sight of agencies that exist to help the homeless and therefore out of the statistical base we rely on for a reasonable headcount.
The homeless need a variety of services in order for them to survive without living like animals in our midst. Some need mental health treatment and safe housing, others need real job training that will lead to better paying jobs, many of the younger homeless come from our failed foster care system, leaving their abusive homes for the streets. Safe, heated shelters along with resources that supply real sustaining work are needed in order to begin the transition to getting off the cycle of street life.
We have spent billions going to war, and the vets coming home are all too often winding up homeless, spend that war money on education, job training, and minimal housing provisions for those who will try to live one more winter in the parks, and on our sidewalks. There is a price to pay for wanting to live in a decent society, fighting terrorism while failing to fight homelessness makes no sense, our national security also relies on how well our homeland functions.
A Minneapolis TV station did a report on the homeless years back and well over 50% of the homeless they interviewed had severe mental problems which would have resulted in them being in a mental institution years back before they were closed.
There still is a need for well run, well regulated mental institutions today .
Another good reason to bring back residential mental treatment facilities is to monitor and treat those who are at risk of hurting themselves and others.
Almost all of the mass shootings in the U.S. are a result of untreated mental illness. You could make an argument that the Muslim terrorists such as the ones in San Bernardino were not mentally ill but ideological extremists. But the others -- there were all kinds of signs that they were delusional if not dangerous.
We should work harder to identify such people early on, such as the kids with sociopathic behavior problems in middle school and high school. You can't just go picking up everyone who's a bit weird, of course. But you can make more help available. Several of the families of mass shooters have said "We knew something like this was going to happen." Some have said "We tried to get treatment for him but no one would listen." Well isn't that a shame. 25 dead elementary school kids, 15 dead church goers, etc. We have to do a better job. I'd rather error on the side of caution.
Getting back to homelessness.... What we really need is a better economy. Then, the bottom 25% would have income, states would have tax revenue, and we'd have the resources to deal with these problems.
I think we should give the churches and other nonprofits more credit for what they do, and help them do it better. There's my example above of the idiot bureaucrats in NYC shutting down a homeless shelter because of A.D.A. requirements (and how many other old buildings have been closed down by the A.D.A.?). There's a kind of hostility toward churches and synagogues among the liberal Left in the U.S. today that precludes cooperation. If you start targeting churches out of a misguided Constitutional separation of church and state, you knock down one of the major ways that society has helped the homeless for many centuries.
• Guaranteed minimum payments to all to cover living costs (rent, healthcare food and education if needed)
• Construction of more affordable housing
• Investment in mental health care
• Drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs
"The thing we finally figured out is that it’s actually, not only better for people, but cheaper to solve homelessness than it is to put a band-aid on it," Donovan said in the March 5, 2012, appearance. "Because, at the end of the day, it costs, between shelters and emergency rooms and jails, it costs about $40,000 a year for a homeless person to be on the streets."
We seldom think of the TOTAL cost of dealing with this growing segment of society, and, in light of the inane comments seen here as offered solutions, I'm guessing we will see this problem begin to threaten our entire society with regard to our health, security, and any remaining sense of our national dignity. This is about our general well being as much as it is about the well being of the homeless. When we help them, we help ourselves to a better society. The OP was referencing the COST of homelessness, but we have to know the real costs of not helping.
I could search for a lot longer, but I won't. Adding in the cost of jail is not a fair argument. People don't go to jail just for being homeless, and it certainly skews the numbers.
One thing that keeps a lot of low income people homeless is the requirement that you make 3x income as the rent. So, people like me who are unemployable and are stuck on disability which is now only $733/month are unable to find housing. The last time I was homeless I was even turned down for a $325/month studio even though I had all the month needed to move in. $733/month is far from the required $975/month.
The only way that I can see to end homelessness is to stop feeding the homeless. We see people asking for money all the time and some of these people can become violent in nature. At the same time I see large farms asking for help. None of the homeless are heading over to take any of those jobs though. Many large farms around here even offer rooms that the workers can live in.
You want to give to someone on the street? Why not give to an organization that takes care of homeless people. Too many homeless panhandlers using the money that they get for drugs, smokes, alcohol, and other habits that i don't want to support.
One thing that keeps a lot of low income people homeless is the requirement that you make 3x income as the rent. So, people like me who are unemployable and are stuck on disability which is now only $733/month are unable to find housing. The last time I was homeless I was even turned down for a $325/month studio even though I had all the month needed to move in. $733/month is far from the required $975/month.
use a long term hotel to, get your foot in the door.
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