To be clear, we're talking about the people on skid row and in similar situations. I've volunteered extensively with BRC in NYC, I'm very familiar with the con

To be clear, we're talking about the people on skid row and in similar situations. I've volunteered extensively with BRC in NYC, I'm very familiar with the conditions of shelters in the US as well as the laws governing them. I'm very curious what rules you think are designed to prevent job searches: curfew? alcohol prohibition? no visitors? The ones who are refusing these services, the ones out in the streets, below the highways, sleeping on subway cars are almost all suffering from substantial mental health or addiction issues, and both the number of psychiatric beds and the ability to compel the sick into them has disappeared over time leaving them on the street. LA homeless outreach is quite extensive - not quite at the NYC level with right to shelter laws that are causing the enormous spillover into commercial hotels - but to compare the people on skid row to lower wage service workers who might find themselves unable to pay rent for two months is wildly disingenuous.