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I remember reading something about how one of the biggest hurdles of tackling homelessness is dealing with those who were made homeless through a history of men

by EnderMB 11y ago

I remember reading something about how one of the biggest hurdles of tackling homelessness is dealing with those who were made homeless through a history of mental illness. If someone suffers homelessness due to mental illness, I'm sure that chucking them in with a bunch of other homeless people in a shared home isn't going to fix the problem, so it'll be interesting to see how these people will be treated. $100m isn't really a lot, but if that money can be offered to help people that need more than money and a roof over their head, it could do some genuine good.

DanBC 11y ago
Rates of mental illness are higher in the homeless population than the general population. But it's important to recognise that most homeless or vulnerably housed people do not have a mental illness; and that sometimes it's the homelessness that has caused the mental health problem. I totally agree that the solution is not "just build more homes", but needs to include better access to debt management; better access to drug and alcohol rehab; better access to work; and better access to MH treatment. http://www.nationalhomeless.org/factsheets/Mental_Illness.pdf http://www.nationalhomeless.org/factsheets/Mental_Illness.pd... > According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 20 to 25% of the homeless population in the United States suffers from some form of severe mental illness. In comparison, only 6% of Americans are severely mentally ill (National Institute of Mental Health, 2009). In a 2008 survey performed by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, 25 cities were asked for the three largest causes of homelessness in their communities. Mental illness was the third largest cause of homelessness for single adults (mentioned by 48% of cities). For homeless families, mental illness was mentioned by 12% of cities as one of the top 3 causes of homelessness
- akshatpradhan 11y ago
  >But it's important to recognise that most homeless or vulnerably housed people do not have a mental illness This can't be right. A previous HN discussed how "almost half of homeless men had traumatic brain injury in their lifetime" Source: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7648933 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7648933
  - laserDinosaur 11y ago
    His next sentence was "and that sometimes it's the homelessness that has caused the mental health problem." so I'm assuming he meant previously existing mental health issues.
  - DanBC 11y ago
    Brain injury is not mental illness. It's brain injury. (It might lead to intellectual disability but there's nothing in your linked document that talks about the severity of the TBI.)
samstave 11y ago
This is completely off the top of my head; There is a tax in SF to provide healthcare to service industry workers -- waitstaff, cooks, bartenders, etc. SF pays ~25K/year on EACH homeless person (according to a study that was published recently -- ill go look for it in a sec.) That 25K goes to pay CITY workers who ostensibly are providing the "services" that hte homeless get... I argue that we, instead, pay the homeless a min income... AND provide several KEY services: Free clothing, hygenic facilities (showers and restrooms), micro housing and access to mental health care. Imagine providing a 'tiny-house', basic scrubs-like clothing and hygenic resources to the homeless population how different the situation would be. SF pays 25K per year per homeless person... thats $68 per DAY. What person could not survive on $68 per day? Assume that you take ~60% of that cost toward paying for the clothing and housing and showers.... That means that you have $40 per day to pay for the housing and showers... 28 for food. 28/3 is about $8 per meal... 3 meals a day. So - thats $1200/month in housing costs and 840/month in food. This is completely doable... Rather than WASTING 25K on "services" which is really a bunch of bureaucratic bullshit and inefficient failure... Finally, if you were to take the $840 that could be allotted to food stuffs, and come up with a "standard pantry" of items that is fully stocked for each -- then you could also train the homeless into feeding themselves healthily. This would be a great use of a "city tax" where every bill could have some small % charged against it. Keep the whole thing open and transparent... http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/matier-ross/article/S-F-spending-on-homeless-exceeds-many-5416839.php http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/matier-ross/article/S-F-spendi... And clearly the current efforts in spending are failing: https://www.reddit.com/r/sanfrancisco/comments/3dle26/number_of_homeless_living_on_sf_streets_remains/ https://www.reddit.com/r/sanfrancisco/comments/3dle26/number...
- beachstartup 11y ago
  san francisco can't even paint straight lines on the road (i saw it with my own eyes last time i was in the sunset - shockingly bad), do you it's because they lack the money or technology to do so?

by EnderMB 11y ago

DanBC 11y ago

Rates of mental illness are higher in the homeless population than the general population. But it's important to recognise that most homeless or vulnerably housed people do not have a mental illness; and that sometimes it's the homelessness that has caused the mental health problem. I totally agree that the solution is not "just build more homes", but needs to include better access to debt management; better access to drug and alcohol rehab; better access to work; and better access to MH treatment. http://www.nationalhomeless.org/factsheets/Mental_Illness.pdf http://www.nationalhomeless.org/factsheets/Mental_Illness.pd... > According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 20 to 25% of the homeless population in the United States suffers from some form of severe mental illness. In comparison, only 6% of Americans are severely mentally ill (National Institute of Mental Health, 2009). In a 2008 survey performed by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, 25 cities were asked for the three largest causes of homelessness in their communities. Mental illness was the third largest cause of homelessness for single adults (mentioned by 48% of cities). For homeless families, mental illness was mentioned by 12% of cities as one of the top 3 causes of homelessness

akshatpradhan 11y ago
>But it's important to recognise that most homeless or vulnerably housed people do not have a mental illness This can't be right. A previous HN discussed how "almost half of homeless men had traumatic brain injury in their lifetime" Source: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7648933 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7648933
- laserDinosaur 11y ago
  His next sentence was "and that sometimes it's the homelessness that has caused the mental health problem." so I'm assuming he meant previously existing mental health issues.
- DanBC 11y ago
  Brain injury is not mental illness. It's brain injury. (It might lead to intellectual disability but there's nothing in your linked document that talks about the severity of the TBI.)

samstave 11y ago

This is completely off the top of my head; There is a tax in SF to provide healthcare to service industry workers -- waitstaff, cooks, bartenders, etc. SF pays ~25K/year on EACH homeless person (according to a study that was published recently -- ill go look for it in a sec.) That 25K goes to pay CITY workers who ostensibly are providing the "services" that hte homeless get... I argue that we, instead, pay the homeless a min income... AND provide several KEY services: Free clothing, hygenic facilities (showers and restrooms), micro housing and access to mental health care. Imagine providing a 'tiny-house', basic scrubs-like clothing and hygenic resources to the homeless population how different the situation would be. SF pays 25K per year per homeless person... thats $68 per DAY. What person could not survive on $68 per day? Assume that you take ~60% of that cost toward paying for the clothing and housing and showers.... That means that you have $40 per day to pay for the housing and showers... 28 for food. 28/3 is about $8 per meal... 3 meals a day. So - thats $1200/month in housing costs and 840/month in food. This is completely doable... Rather than WASTING 25K on "services" which is really a bunch of bureaucratic bullshit and inefficient failure... Finally, if you were to take the $840 that could be allotted to food stuffs, and come up with a "standard pantry" of items that is fully stocked for each -- then you could also train the homeless into feeding themselves healthily. This would be a great use of a "city tax" where every bill could have some small % charged against it. Keep the whole thing open and transparent... http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/matier-ross/article/S-F-spending-on-homeless-exceeds-many-5416839.php http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/matier-ross/article/S-F-spendi... And clearly the current efforts in spending are failing: https://www.reddit.com/r/sanfrancisco/comments/3dle26/number_of_homeless_living_on_sf_streets_remains/ https://www.reddit.com/r/sanfrancisco/comments/3dle26/number...

beachstartup 11y ago
san francisco can't even paint straight lines on the road (i saw it with my own eyes last time i was in the sunset - shockingly bad), do you it's because they lack the money or technology to do so?