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I have lived in SF for 20 years. There are no good single solutions once an individual becomes homeless. The barriers to re-entering housing are high and homele

I have lived in SF for 20 years. There are no good single solutions once an individual becomes homeless. The barriers to re-entering housing are high and homelessness is often the result of multiple problems making a single policy ineffective. In my opinion, I lack evidence, the money should be targeting preventing people from ever getting homeless in the first place. The intervention needs to happens earlier because once a person is homeless the problems that contributed to their situation become insurmountable.

Flatcircle 5y ago
The huge surge in homelessness is the result of drugs. Cheap opioids.
- craigmcnamara 5y ago
  It's a common misconception that people experiencing homelessness are all junkies, but it's not true. A large number of homeless people are working poor. Estimates vary from 25% all the way up to 60%. If you sleep in your car because you're priced out of an apartment and you have a job, you're still homeless. Not everyone that's homeless has a needle in their arm, shouting at traffic on the street.
  - Flatcircle 5y ago
    I would agree with you if this were 5 years ago. But the math you referenced is the data that’s been used to formulate a solution over the last decade and the problem’s only been getting significantly worse. So either your data is incorrect or the solution to build more housing is incorrect. Either way, the status quo problem/solution set is not working.
    - craigmcnamara 5y ago
      Every city in the state of California for many decades has failed to build enough housing to address the ever increasing demand for it and as a result people are losing housing. Every time rent increases significantly, homelessness increases significantly. The cost of housing in California cities and the Bay Area in particular has never decreased or even stabilized because we treat housing as an investment, keep it scarce through a number of local and statewide impediments to building, and expect outrageous returns on existing housing over time.
  - s1artibartfast 5y ago
    Most of the "problem homeless" are junkies. Overall homeless numbers include people in RVs, staying with a friend, and going to going to work day jobs. Different types of homelessness result in different problems and different solutions.
  - throwaway19937 5y ago
    They aren't all junkies but 68% (https://regionalhomelesssystem.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Count-Us-In-2020-Final_7.29.2020.pdf https://regionalhomelesssystem.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/0...) of Seattle homeless self-identified as having a substance problem.
  - jhatemyjob 5y ago
    The people you see shitting on the sidewalks in the Tenderloin are not working poor.
- riffic 5y ago
  does A cause B or does B cause A?
craigmcnamara 5y ago
> In my opinion, I lack evidence, the money should be targeting preventing people from ever getting homeless in the first place. The intervention needs to happens earlier because once a person is homeless the problems that contributed to their situation become insurmountable. The city of SF does this already. There are nav centers and they triage cases for people that are on the brink of becoming homeless. The first step is prevention, but in an area that has booming rents, booming homelessness is never far behind. If you grew up in SF and you become homeless you're likely going to return to the place you know even if you don't have a place to live. The complete inability of SF to build housing at any income level is the biggest driver.
agumonkey 5y ago
yes homelessness is often complex and multifactorial. years of abuse, psychological traits, bad luck. Pick any combinations in any order. I honestly don't know what homeless people need, if they even want to go back to 'normal' life. What I think is possible is helping the volunteers to do more with less to provide essential care (hygiene, medicine, basic nutrition and warmth). Then there's safety.. Even some free lockers would be a boon for them. Keeping critical stuff when you sleep is a luxury for most. All I know is that with not much funding, a bit of space, and smart care (invest in the easy to save, make them volunteers, and grow ~exponential self sufficient resources that way) you could tame these problems by a lot. Most naive solutions (renting hotels) backfire in cost or quality. I was quite stumped after hearing guys saying they'd rather sleep out than in a shelter, in the winter.. I don't want to assume but it's pretty telling.

Flatcircle 5y ago

The huge surge in homelessness is the result of drugs. Cheap opioids.

craigmcnamara 5y ago
It's a common misconception that people experiencing homelessness are all junkies, but it's not true. A large number of homeless people are working poor. Estimates vary from 25% all the way up to 60%. If you sleep in your car because you're priced out of an apartment and you have a job, you're still homeless. Not everyone that's homeless has a needle in their arm, shouting at traffic on the street.
- Flatcircle 5y ago
  I would agree with you if this were 5 years ago. But the math you referenced is the data that’s been used to formulate a solution over the last decade and the problem’s only been getting significantly worse. So either your data is incorrect or the solution to build more housing is incorrect. Either way, the status quo problem/solution set is not working.
  - craigmcnamara 5y ago
    Every city in the state of California for many decades has failed to build enough housing to address the ever increasing demand for it and as a result people are losing housing. Every time rent increases significantly, homelessness increases significantly. The cost of housing in California cities and the Bay Area in particular has never decreased or even stabilized because we treat housing as an investment, keep it scarce through a number of local and statewide impediments to building, and expect outrageous returns on existing housing over time.
- s1artibartfast 5y ago
  Most of the "problem homeless" are junkies. Overall homeless numbers include people in RVs, staying with a friend, and going to going to work day jobs. Different types of homelessness result in different problems and different solutions.
- throwaway19937 5y ago
  They aren't all junkies but 68% (https://regionalhomelesssystem.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Count-Us-In-2020-Final_7.29.2020.pdf https://regionalhomelesssystem.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/0...) of Seattle homeless self-identified as having a substance problem.
- jhatemyjob 5y ago
  The people you see shitting on the sidewalks in the Tenderloin are not working poor.
riffic 5y ago
does A cause B or does B cause A?

craigmcnamara 5y ago

> In my opinion, I lack evidence, the money should be targeting preventing people from ever getting homeless in the first place. The intervention needs to happens earlier because once a person is homeless the problems that contributed to their situation become insurmountable. The city of SF does this already. There are nav centers and they triage cases for people that are on the brink of becoming homeless. The first step is prevention, but in an area that has booming rents, booming homelessness is never far behind. If you grew up in SF and you become homeless you're likely going to return to the place you know even if you don't have a place to live. The complete inability of SF to build housing at any income level is the biggest driver.

agumonkey 5y ago

yes homelessness is often complex and multifactorial. years of abuse, psychological traits, bad luck. Pick any combinations in any order. I honestly don't know what homeless people need, if they even want to go back to 'normal' life. What I think is possible is helping the volunteers to do more with less to provide essential care (hygiene, medicine, basic nutrition and warmth). Then there's safety.. Even some free lockers would be a boon for them. Keeping critical stuff when you sleep is a luxury for most. All I know is that with not much funding, a bit of space, and smart care (invest in the easy to save, make them volunteers, and grow ~exponential self sufficient resources that way) you could tame these problems by a lot. Most naive solutions (renting hotels) backfire in cost or quality. I was quite stumped after hearing guys saying they'd rather sleep out than in a shelter, in the winter.. I don't want to assume but it's pretty telling.