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I can't speak directly the US situation but in the UK homelessness services funding is important but it's treating the symptom not the cause. It sounds really o
by flave 6y ago
I can't speak directly the US situation but in the UK homelessness services funding is important but it's treating the symptom not the cause. It sounds really obvious but the main problem experienced by homeless people is the lack of long term accommodation caused by their not being able to afford long term accommodation.
In the medium and long term people develop severe substance abuse habits and lose their ability to get and hold down a job (sometimes called economic scarring).
You can use additional money to do basically do poverty relief programs on the medium and long term homeless and from a humanity point of view that's really important - but I don't know of any programs that have consistently shown reintegrated of these populations. That is, they are working other than in services aimed at the homeless population.
It needs to be partnered with stopping putting people on the front of the belt (the short term homeless) which is only really achievable through bringing down the cost of long term accommodation. I only know of one way to do that which is to build more homes.
- agumonkey 6y agoAlso most society is not capable of helping. Just asking for low wage jobs when you're on a thin line will increase rejection rate. Your stress may push away people. Asking for less pushes away people. Quick vicious circle.
- michaelt 6y agoWe in the UK also don't much like shifting homeless people to low-cost-of-living areas - after all, it cuts them off from what little social support they had, like parents helping with childcare. So if someone is homeless in London, we pour £££ of taxpayer money into private landlords' pockets.
- DanBC 6y ago> You can use additional money to do basically do poverty relief programs on the medium and long term homeless and from a humanity point of view that's really important - but I don't know of any programs that have consistently shown reintegrated of these populations. That is, they are working other than in services aimed at the homeless population. I feel like you've created your own definition of "homeless" and are using that to say that schemes to prevent homelessness are not working. When you look at official definitions (eg, "statutory homeless") you see much greater "churn" in the homeless population. Many people become homeless, are helped, and stop being homeless. There are a smaller number of people who are trapped in vulnerable housing or in hostels or rough sleeping. I'm not suggesting the support is good though. There are many problems in England. For example, the way that people are forced to be evicted before councils provide help, or the use of very expensive and very low quality B&B accommodation. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/923123/Annual_Statutory_Homelessness_Release_2019-20.pdf https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/...
- ikrenji 6y agothis really isn't rocket science. proven solutions do exist, whats lacking usually is the political will. https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/jun/03/its-a-miracle-helsinkis-radical-solution-to-homelessness https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/jun/03/its-a-miracle...
- imtringued 6y agoA housing guarantee is an amazing concept. Government prevents housing from being built? Good! Now the government is suffering from its own stupidity.