A decade of homelessness: Thousands in San Francisco remain in crisis (Daly City: subsidized, housing)

[economix-nole]

Originally Posted by mysticaltyger

And I really wish people would stop blaming the dumping of mentally ill people on the streets all on Reagan. He's been out of office for what? Over 25 years now? And longer than that in California. If something's not working, then it's time to reverse course. What have subsequent federal, state, & local governments done for the mentally ill. If I recall correctly, I believe California raised the income tax on millionaires awhile back. Where the heck is that money going?

Reagan shouldn't take the blame. Trickle-up economics has been working quite well for us 1%ers.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Originally Posted by mysticaltyger

And much of our inability to institutionalize the mentally ill stems from a 1975 Supreme Court decision, not on Reagan.

O'Connor v. Donaldson - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Yes, the can of worms is there largely because of the 1975 Supreme Court Decision, which was made 5 years before Reagan was even elected.

Well, I would have been a 19 year old hippy at the time, smokin' too much pot. That's my excuse for not knowing this and I'm stickin' to it.

But, seriously, I do appreciate learning this. It explains a lot.

Originally Posted by economix-nole

Reagan shouldn't take the blame. Trickle-up economics has been working quite well for us 1%ers.

LOL! Yeah, those of us at the bottom waiting for some trickle to make it's way to us, weren't real thrilled with his trickle down theory.

[dalparadise]

I personally think Reagan was the rare combination of evil and incompetence. I still hang a lot of domestic issues on his presidency.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by mysticaltyger

The thing about homelessness is that not having a place to live is a symptom of a whole bunch of other problems these people have (mental health, drug addition, etc.). You can't fix their problems just by giving them free places to live.

For starters, there is no "these people." There are several distinctly different kinds of homeless people, with different needs, that require different approaches to work with effectively.

And I really wish people would stop blaming the dumping of mentally ill people on the streets all on Reagan. He's been out of office for what? Over 25 years now? And longer than that in California.

In fact it was the Supreme Court of the United States that emptied the mental institutions, with rulings beginning in 1975 that ended involuntary hospitalization unless the patient was potentially a danger to themself or others.

It's a vexing problem, but it won't go away by itself, so we're on the hook as a society to find a way to deal with it effectively, and compassionately.

[Ace_TX]

take it upon yourself to individually help the homeless

if you have means, throw a couple of dollars their way, fix em some sandwiches, take em clean clothes

dont rely on the govt, the govt has a long history of wasting money, govt also prefers to help people outside america instead of here

in alot of places the local govt will actually fine/ticket you if you try to feed some homeless people


donate if you think that helps https://fundly.com/hlr-emergency-fund/donate?

[pch1013]

Originally Posted by mysticaltyger

And much of our inability to institutionalize the mentally ill stems from a 1975 Supreme Court decision, not on Reagan.

O'Connor v. Donaldson - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Yes, the can of worms is there largely because of the 1975 Supreme Court Decision, which was made 5 years before Reagan was even elected.

I wonder if Laura's Law will help.

[ProjectMersh]

This has been a good thread....i learned quite a bit. Downtown Los Angeles has intractable homeless issues as well. Really bad actually.

And I agree...it is too easy to say to it was Reagan's fault (though he didn't do much to help either).

In reality it was John F. Kennedy who signed the 1963 legislation which helped get the ball rolling on deinstitutionalizing the mentally ill. And I say that as a moderately left of center liberal who has never voted Republican. Granted it was not until the 1970's and early 1980's when the sharp rise in homeless began (spurred on by the Supreme Court in the 1970's and some tough economic times).

Community Mental Health Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Blackhawk4440]

GalacticDragonfly:

If I were mayor of SF, I would annex some unincorporated or derelict district of the county, give it some ridiculously-PC sounding name like Portland's 'Dignity Village' and move them all out there. Then I'd send the 'homeless advocates' out there right behind them and put them on City payroll and tell them they're in charge of managing it now.

[shooting4life]

Originally Posted by mysticaltyger

The thing about homelessness is that not having a place to live is a symptom of a whole bunch of other problems these people have (mental health, drug addition, etc.). You can't fix their problems just by giving them free places to live.

And I really wish people would stop blaming the dumping of mentally ill people on the streets all on Reagan. He's been out of office for what? Over 25 years now? And longer than that in California. If something's not working, then it's time to reverse course. What have subsequent federal, state, & local governments done for the mentally ill. If I recall correctly, I believe California raised the income tax on millionaires awhile back. Where the heck is that money going?

People blame Reagan because it is easy. Of course they know nothing of the SCOTUS ruling which released the majority of those in institutions
https://www.aclu.org/organization-ne...l-institutions

I agree with the decision. Many time people want to lock the crazies away so they don't have to deal with them. The problem is being crazy is not illegal and as long as you are not a danger to yourself or others the government cannot force you to do anything. Of course this doesn't mean the homeless problem cannot be addressed

Eta: looks like this has been brought up already, that's what I get for posting without reading the entire thread.

[GalacticDragonfly]

Originally Posted by mysticaltyger

The thing about homelessness is that not having a place to live is a symptom of a whole bunch of other problems these people have (mental health, drug addition, etc.). You can't fix their problems just by giving them free places to live.

And I really wish people would stop blaming the dumping of mentally ill people on the streets all on Reagan. He's been out of office for what? Over 25 years now? And longer than that in California. If something's not working, then it's time to reverse course. What have subsequent federal, state, & local governments done for the mentally ill. If I recall correctly, I believe California raised the income tax on millionaires awhile back. Where the heck is that money going?

Of course, but the purpose of a homeless shelter is a fall back while you attempt to get a job and clean up whatever unfortunate ills you gain. In a place like the Bay Area, when much of the homeless isn't even born here, it's obvious that they're not concerned about a place to live but probably enjoy the comforts or excitement of being homeless in a very generous region.

Again, it makes no sense for homeless to move to one of the most expensive cities in the country if they're sincere about escaping their misfortune.

Well what can we do, we can't just round up those deemed mentally ill and pile them into institutions again. We already have a massive prison population, and the area would be up in arms about it--saying it's systematic abuse or whatever. I thanked Reagan in a sarcastic manner by the way.