To Fix Homelessness, Stop Fixating On Housing

[Kamaji]

To Fix Homelessness, Stop Fixating On Housing

The homeless are often both mentally ill and addicted. Yet the government persists in treating homelessness as almost entirely a housing issue.

BY: BRUCE CHAPMAN
MAY 30, 2023

Homelessness affects cities across the country, but it’s not just a local issue, though media cover it that way. Nor is homelessness mainly about housing; rather, it’s largely about untreated mental illness and drug addiction. Consistently misdiagnosed, homelessness is being wrongly addressed. And the policies that give rise to homelessness largely come from Washington, D.C., not localities. A bill called “Housing PLUS” has been introduced in Congress by Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., with 22 sponsors, to start to rectify these policies.

A national mental illness crisis has been building since the deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill began in the 1960s. Drug addictions also have increased and most surveys show that the “homeless” are often both mentally ill and addicted. Cases like the recent death of subway disrupter Jordan Neely in New York City underscore the frightening dangers of untreated psychotic behavior. Yet the Biden administration, Congress, and many regional officials have persisted in treating homelessness as almost entirely a housing issue.

Until now — maybe. “Housing PLUS” would redirect 30 percent of federal housing funds to mental illness, addiction services, and job training. North America Recovers, a new alliance seeking to reform government’s approach to homelessness and addiction, supports more sweeping changes, but sees Barr’s bill as a good start.

Eric Adams in New York City is unusual among mayors in budgeting for increased mental health and addiction treatment, not just housing. San Antonio has reduced street-level homelessness by 85 percent over the past 14 years by prioritizing long-term treatment. Voters in King County, Washington (Seattle’s metro area), recently approved a property tax increase to fund $1.2 billion for such purposes over the coming decade.

Federal Efforts Failing
But the big bucks for homeless programs come from the budgets of the departments of Housing and Urban Development, Veterans Affairs, and Health and Human Services, and from the National Institute of Mental Health. There they typically encounter relatively little interest, let alone congressional scrutiny.

HUD emphasizes housing vouchers, virtually as a cure-all, ignoring other strategies. Success is measured by how many housing vouchers are distributed, not by how many homeless people progress to greater independence. The “housing first” policy began under President Barack Obama, when it was predicted the policy could end homelessness by 2023. But here we are, it’s 2023, and while some improvements have been seen nationally, many communities have more street people than ever.

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Source:  https://thefederalist.com/2023/05/30/to-fix-homelessness-stop-fixating-on-housing/

[DefiantMassRINO]

I attended a Jesuit high school that had us perform community service during our last senior semester.  I did mine at a homeless day shelter on the fringe of Boston's old Combat Zone.  The clientele were:

mentally ill
addicts
domestic violence victims
mothers and children with sick, dead, or absent primary provider
runaways
Vietnam-era veterans
elderly individuals on fixed income
chronically ill person without family to care for them
illegal immigrants
criminals

In theory, many of these should have been help by liberal "social safety" net programs in a Dem state with a Dem legislature and a Dem governor.  Those programs were not working.  The program directors were not being held accountable by the Governor's office nor the legislature, but they would ask for more tax revenue so they could double down on failed policies and failed administration.

[Smokin Joe]

Eric Adams in New York City is unusual among mayors in budgeting for increased mental health and addiction treatment, not just housing.

Psssst: That's for the staff!

[Texas Yellow Rose]

Skip the first 4 minutes if you like ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brQRVbtayK4

[PeteS in CA]

While housing prices are very high in some parts of the country, most of the problems underlying homelessness are chemical dependence, mental illness, and government stupidly subsidizing irresponsible and improvident lifestyles and choices.

[Maj. Bill Martin]

I attended a Jesuit high school that had us perform community service during our last senior semester.  I did mine at a homeless day shelter on the fringe of Boston's old Combat Zone.  The clientele were:

mentally ill
addicts
domestic violence victims
mothers and children with sick, dead, or absent primary provider
runaways
Vietnam-era veterans
elderly individuals on fixed income
chronically ill person without family to care for them
illegal immigrants
criminals

In theory, many of these should have been help by liberal "social safety" net programs in a Dem state with a Dem legislature and a Dem governor.  Those programs were not working.  The program directors were not being held accountable by the Governor's office nor the legislature, but they would ask for more tax revenue so they could double down on failed policies and failed administration.

The problem with the system treating all of them as just a "housing" issue is that it lumps in those who actually just need housing with those who don't really want it, and often destroy it if it is provided.