These narrative approaches are maybe designed to 'humanize' the homeless for the benefit of the readers of the LA Times and I suppose that's fine, but a more st

These narrative approaches are maybe designed to 'humanize' the homeless for the benefit of the readers of the LA Times and I suppose that's fine, but a more statistical approach is what you'd want if you actually wanted to solve the problem. As far as solutions: 1. Triage first. There's a small fraction of the homeless population incapable of caring for themselves because they've got serious mental issues, and probably need institutional care. Mixing these people in with everyone else is a recipe for disaster. 2. Housing second. Putting people in even minimal housing, like tiny homes, where they can keep their pets too, and have a little bit of privacy and access to bathrooms (shower, toilet) and kitchens (sink, stove, fridge), means they can start getting their lives in order. 3. Jobs third. Once you've got a place to live, you can likely get a job of some kind. This really improves mental well-being, you're part of something else. Doesn't really matter what it is: you have a place to show up to and something useful to do and if you can keep that together, that's a huge help. Now, even with this there will be failures. Some people will be drug addicts and alcoholics (same thing, really) and won't be able to keep down jobs or keep their places in a livable condition. They probably need health care intervention of some kind. As far as the plausibility of all this, well, look at every other country will this kind of basic safety net for their citizens which prevents them from falling below a certain line. They don't have the homeless encampments in every city in their country, do they? But sure, keep on with the tax cuts for the wealthy and the CEOs who make 50X what the entry level workers do and the expensive private health care, and the situation will stay as bad as it is or even get worse. It'll look a lot like Cuba under Batista in the early 1950s, or like Germany's Weimar Republic, and then you'll get either fascist or communist authoritarianism, fun times.