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But a lot of people do advocate for exactly that. They say that to solve homelessness we should just give people a place to live and that it's ultimately cheape

But a lot of people do advocate for exactly that. They say that to solve homelessness we should just give people a place to live and that it's ultimately cheaper than any other solution (implying that all their other problems, such as addiction and criminal habits will just go away if they have a place to live.

staticassertion 5y ago
Who out there advocates for "give them a house and them stop, that's it, nothing else" ? I've never seen that, ever.
- slg 5y ago
  EDIT: Never mind I misread someone's comment and it is too late to delete since I got a response.
  - staticassertion 5y ago
    I don't read it that way at all. They're very clearly criticizing the idea that it would.
    - slg 5y ago
      Oops, you are right. I read that again and I misread it the first time.
nemothekid 5y ago
Again, you are missing the point, or the people who are advocating that are misleading you. I do believe if you give people a place to live it is cheaper than any other solution. On 20 year time frames. The homeless people who cause problems are now are, for a lack of a better word, fucked. It would cost tons of money to get these people the rehab, therapy, and education they need to reintegrate into society. It would be politically impossible (and probably financially unfeasible) to implement these changes. A better solution is just not creating these people in the first place. That is what housing first policy tries to achieve. The vast majority of these people stories are the same - due to systemic poverty issues they weren't able to have stable housing and could not go to school or land a stable job. It was then they started petty crimes like doing drugs/stealing, and once they had a dependency on that lifestyle, they became a regular criminal over 10-15 years. Anyone who tells you they are going to undo 15 years of trauma within the next 3 years is selling you a lie.
- eftychis 5y ago
  I agree. These people are going to give birth to kids. How do you ensure these kids are not going down the same path?
giraffe_lady 5y ago
There is a lot of evidence that it's very effective and cost-efficient just in practical terms, but that is not why I support those policies. I support them because everyone deserves a home. Choosing not to provide one to someone who needs it when we have the ability is vicious and immoral. What they do after that isn't really relevant to be honest. I'm not trying to polish people into perfect rule following members of society and anyway homeowners get addictions and commit crimes all the time as it is. We don't generally leap to questioning their right to have a place to live though. If giving homeless people houses solved no other problems it would still be correct and morally necessary.

staticassertion 5y ago

Who out there advocates for "give them a house and them stop, that's it, nothing else" ? I've never seen that, ever.

slg 5y ago
EDIT: Never mind I misread someone's comment and it is too late to delete since I got a response.
- staticassertion 5y ago
  I don't read it that way at all. They're very clearly criticizing the idea that it would.
  - slg 5y ago
    Oops, you are right. I read that again and I misread it the first time.

nemothekid 5y ago

Again, you are missing the point, or the people who are advocating that are misleading you. I do believe if you give people a place to live it is cheaper than any other solution. On 20 year time frames. The homeless people who cause problems are now are, for a lack of a better word, fucked. It would cost tons of money to get these people the rehab, therapy, and education they need to reintegrate into society. It would be politically impossible (and probably financially unfeasible) to implement these changes. A better solution is just not creating these people in the first place. That is what housing first policy tries to achieve. The vast majority of these people stories are the same - due to systemic poverty issues they weren't able to have stable housing and could not go to school or land a stable job. It was then they started petty crimes like doing drugs/stealing, and once they had a dependency on that lifestyle, they became a regular criminal over 10-15 years. Anyone who tells you they are going to undo 15 years of trauma within the next 3 years is selling you a lie.

eftychis 5y ago
I agree. These people are going to give birth to kids. How do you ensure these kids are not going down the same path?

giraffe_lady 5y ago

There is a lot of evidence that it's very effective and cost-efficient just in practical terms, but that is not why I support those policies. I support them because everyone deserves a home. Choosing not to provide one to someone who needs it when we have the ability is vicious and immoral. What they do after that isn't really relevant to be honest. I'm not trying to polish people into perfect rule following members of society and anyway homeowners get addictions and commit crimes all the time as it is. We don't generally leap to questioning their right to have a place to live though. If giving homeless people houses solved no other problems it would still be correct and morally necessary.