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The homeless problem is easily solved, but it is expensive and there is no political will.
A. Are you homeless?
B. Come with us to drug treatment/counseling?
C. You are refusing? Come with us to jail. Let us know when you would prefer drug treatment/counseling?
D1. Been through drug treatment/counseling 3 times and still homeless on this your 4th time free among the public?
D2. If drug treatment - go to jail, and you will be returned to jail each time you are caught homeless upon release.
D3. If mentally ill counseling, here we have a nice new padded cell to be your home unless or until we determine you can function in society.
The reason homelessness is exploding in big cities is because it is big money. Whether it is $90,000 per tent on paper, or $1 million an apartment unit on paper, most of that money is being siphoned off to the homeless services money, where a substantial amount is recycled into Democrat campaign coffers.
It is an industry.
Cities that strenuously crack down on homlessness do not have widespread problems. They have a few bums kicking around here and there in the day time who disappear at night, no tents to be seen. Just like it has always been.
It would take a furious amount of money. We just spent a furious amount of money, $6 trillion dollars in Covid economic stimulus. We could have treated every single drug addict and mental patient in the nation twice over for that money, if we were serious about fixing homelessness.
Homeless has a solution. They don't want to solve it. Homelessness generates way too much money for them to want to fix the problem.
For cities within the Ninth Circuit, the Martin v. Boise decision doesn't help.
Some people were cursed with abusive families from birth and feel safer not being around them.
Indeed, many of them got abused because they were compliant to a vile human being. There is man who is about 50 years old who lives in a state park. I worked with him when in child services when he was 14 or 15 and I was 25. He was generally considered an intelligent and untrustworthy kid, but the first day I met him he told me straight out that I am not going to do anything you tell me and you are going to hate me. The story was that his mother and grand father both should have been institutionalized.
Is there a cmmunity in the USA that has dealt well with the homneless issue?
I guess it depends on your definition of “dealt well”.
I live in a City that is on the Top 50 Largest Cities in the USA.
We do a homeless Count every year on New Years Day (if possible ot sometimes another designated day) and have a County wide Homeless Coalition.
Count is normally around 200 for my City, higher for the Large County) It dropped dramatically during The Covid-demic.
We saw a decrease in unsheltered homeless people, from 91 individuals last year to 33 in 2021. In the same timeframe, the number of sheltered individuals increased from 94 to 112, but the overall count of homeless individuals dropped from 201 to 145. I can’t find the number from the Point in Time Count for 2022, but I think it was in the mis-80’s.
We also have Police Units that work the Homeless Outreach Program and Enforcement, or HOPE. These rounds are how the HOPE unit locates homeless people and informs them they cannot stay in that area, per city and state law, while bringing them the resources they need to eventually find housing or get help.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kristinas_Cap
no, but in the bible belt we have a slight homeless problem but we do have many of the worst things in the world (according to some): Christian Churches. These malevolent tax free entities rely on volunteers and donations to serve the homeless in many ways beyond food and shelter. perhaps the solution doesn’t always come from our beloved government? i apologize in advance for mentioning government can’t solve everything. luckily comments aren’t downvoted here.
Basically, we have a broad coalition that addresses the homeless daily. Part of that is the Churches, but other Civic organizations are involved. It’s a full Community Outreach. Panhandling is not allowed and neither is camping - that is Countywide.
Maybe sending hundreds of billions of dollars to the Ukraine was a bad idea?
US is sending BILLIONS $$$$ that we don't have to other countries, DEMS support 100%, yet when Elon spends a few billion on Twitter the left goes nuts saying "he could have solved the world's hunger issues".
Simply, the Dems / Leftist need and perpetuate the homeless and drug addicts explosion.
Is there a cmmunity in the USA that has dealt well with the homneless issue?
Yes, actually. Providence Rhode Island.
Scroll to 44:00 in the video below from the KOMO documentary, "Seattle is Dying". They are doing rehab and mental health counseling through the prison system.
When I wrote my diatribe earlier in the thread, this is the type of treatment I was referring to.
Now, I don't care if it is done in private housing like Finland, or in safe prisons like Providence, Rhode Island. My entire point was simply that we can't have people living destitute, dangerous AND unsafe on the streets. We need to offer treatment. Those who refuse have to be locked up and then forced into treatment. Those who refuse treatment, can just rot in jail.
Now, if Finland has a better take on that, more power to them. Why not try a large scale, federally funded pilot program for a major city like Portland? I would love to see it.
Just beware that cultural differences between Finns and Americans means, what works in Finland may not work in America. We may have to do it from inside prison walls. But what have we got to lose by trying it Finland's way? At least we would know.
Providence, RI is leading the way here in America, AFAIK.
I think it is very telling that big American cities are not doing what, if Finland and Providence are doing. Why not? I take the cynical view that homelessness is solvable, but the big cities are addicted to the flow of money homelessness brings in for them. They don't want to fix it.
I've been living in Seattle for 3 years, now. It is not dying. There's construction everywhere and very high housing demand. The economy is great. There are issues, but it's doing fine. Every year has gotten better since the pandemic hit in early 20.
Homelessness and addict riff raff are still the same old issue, but the new mayor cleared out most of the major encampments.
I might even be generous enough to say that you can get one dose in your lifetime, on the off chance you truly "accidentally" overdosed. After that, no more.
Taxpayer funded overdose reversal distribution, along with open borders, is causing this crisis.
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