They have come up with a very complex solution to a problem that doesn’t require one. It only requires three things:
- Free mental health care.
- Free addiction rehabilitation.
- Free housing.
But the will is not there.
I used to think the same thing but this video with Mark Laita from SWU changed my mind. Basically all of those things are available to the residents of Skid Row but it hasn’t made an appreciable difference in the problems there.
This is a complex problem that probably does require complex solutions.
That was very interesting, I appreciated his opinion, thanks. While there’s certainly a lot of reasons why someone would fall into unhealthy life patterns that often lead to homelessness, homelessness itself is strongly tied to the cost of rent. As for drug use, many homeless people start using drugs after they become homeless.
For [homeless] who did use drugs in the last six months, 40% of people started using — more than 3 times a week —after becoming homeless. …
research finds that individuals frequently use methamphetamine to help them stay awake at night to protect themselves and their property from assault and theft.
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2023-10-04/homelessness-drugs-addiction-encampments-substance-abuse-unhoused-policeIt seems the stress of homelessness has a way of causing mental problems and drug addiction even in those who started out healthy.
That’s quite the hot take you have there.
What if they don’t want to live where the housing is at?
What if they don’t want rehab?
What if they don’t want mental health care?
Homelessness isn’t a symptom of a single issue, or even a few issues. It’s the end result when society has failed. There are no easy ways to fix it other than building a time machine and going back 50+ years to create policy that pre-empts the problems leading to it.
Those three things may not be magic bullets, but pretending that there’s nothing we can do is just lazy thinking. Obviously we don’t have a time machine, so the next best is housing, healthcare, and rehab. All things that many homeless people would take advantage of if it existed. You are correct that not all will, but many, many will.
Don’t let perfection become the enemy of progress.
I agree, we should be providing these things, but you need a magic wand to get them done. To think it’s simple, easy, or straightforward to combat homelessness isn’t helpful because every solution requires money, time, physical space in amounts that are nearly unimaginable.
To start, find money, time, and space to house 60,000 people in Los Angeles that need local access to unique healthcare and, due to their circumstances, require unique security services too.
Now consider that Los Angeles can barely create a single housing situation at a metro stop without years of planning and lawsuits.
I will always vote and support opportunities to fix this problem but I’m well aware that society may never be able to fix it beyond a few percentage points.
Society has failed them due to the healthcare and housing situation.
What if they don’t want to live where the housing is at?
decriminalize/stop persecution of people living on the streets
What if they don’t want rehab?
offer safe drugs and places to use them
What if they don’t want mental health care?
keep the offer open and let them make their own decisions
This article is kind of garbage. They praise Austin for being a bright spot and greatly reducing their homeless population, and have explanations for what’s working.
But they don’t mention that Texas criminalized homelessness.
Forcing people to go somewhere else doesn’t give them a place to live, they go somewhere else. It’s like paying off one credit card with another credit card.
I’m curious if all the stuff around Martin v. Boise and Grants Pass case has impacted those unsheltered numbers.
