> "Productive" means able to get a job at McDonalds or a grocery store, both of which are desperate for people but neither of which would consider the guy at th

> "Productive" means able to get a job at McDonalds or a grocery store, both of which are desperate for people but neither of which would consider the guy at the homeless encampment next door. It just isn't going to end well. Which seems like a huge part of the problem to me. We need better reintegration paths that make the climb back easier. > These people are gone in a way that someone with brain damage isn't. I don't know what you mean. It's harder to be gone than severe brain damage. It took several dedicated foster families and ongoing support from social workers to get him to the point he is at. He has a job, but he can't function independently and didn't find it on his own. Severe drug addiction does have different challenges, but the possibility of reaching a stable, productive place is always possible. > It might be better just to cut our losses and focus on making sure people don't fall into the homeless/drug abuse trap at all, because once there coming back is really really hard. You are absolutely correct about the second part. Providing support for those on the edge is the most effective way to reduce homelessness. The longer you are on the street and the worse conditions you are living in, the harder it is to climb back out. However, I think that writing off people is a mistake in the long run. If you let the problem fester, it gets worse and costs more to deal with. > We have a whole homelessness industrial complex that has sprung up to collect and spend massive amounts of resources on trying to help these people ($100k/year/person is actually an underestimate). They aren't making progress, perhaps intentionally (so they can continue collecting the money) There is a problem here, but I'd also be cautious to paint the whole industry with such broad a strokes as there are some very dedicated, selfless people working in that field. Unfortunately, I think those are the people who are more likely to burn out and leave when they see poor results (I've known a several who have gone this route.) This leaves the less scrupulous / caring to lead the industry. I think those poor results there are due to structural problems around housing access, affordability, the path back to employability and the mental health system that we need to solve on a much larger scale. Only the can we start seeing significant progress at the smaller scales that these organizations work at.