4 ms·

I rather think it wasn't a result of decreased public housing but rather of the closing of the asylums.

• DanBC 11y ago
  You're operating under a couple of misunderstandings. 1) most homeless people do not have a mental illness. MI is over-represented in the homeless population, but only one fifth of rough sleepers have a mental illness. If you look at the chronically homeless (people homeless for over a year) you see that a third of them have a severe mental illness If four fifths of the homeless population or two thirds of the chronic homeless population are not mentally ill it's hard to see how mental health hospitals would have made much difference. 2) that people with a mental illness must have a hospital bed and nothing else will do. The UK also closed many large hospitals - currently only about 8% of the people accessing specialist mental health services need a bed. Most people need treatment in the community. It's safer, more effective, and cheaper.