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This skirts pretty close to saying that homelessness is an issue of "personal responsibility" while claiming to be apolitical. Homelessness is a complicated is

This skirts pretty close to saying that homelessness is an issue of "personal responsibility" while claiming to be apolitical. Homelessness is a complicated issue but the core of the solution is very simple: Provide housing. Whether that is a short term stay in a shelter or a lifelong stay in permanent housing is going to depend on the individual. But either way, you need a safe place to sleep and live before you can start seriously addressing other problems.

wombat-man 3y ago
Author seems to suggest that housing first won't work. I might have missed it but I don't know why. What do they suggest instead?
- unknown_user_84 3y ago
  I get the sense that they are suggesting a housing + services approach. My read on why they think Housing First is flawed is that housing was offered and services were withheld. This implies some kind of public counseling service for the newly housed which could have its own set of issues. But in my opinion seems worth trying... if they're going to throw billions at this thing hiring a few qualified therapists couldn't hurt.
- chmod600 3y ago
  It seems like the suggestion (by implication) is mandatory treatment for substance abuse and mental health issues.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
nelsondev 3y ago
That’s an oversimplification and relies on the word “homeless” as an explanation and solution. If the condition was called, “street living”, perhaps you would consider solutions that don’t solely address the lack of permanent dwelling, and instead look at why some people choose to live on the street. Of course there are people whose problem is fundamentally lack of a home, in which case providing a home is the solution.
- shuntress 3y ago
  "Housing First" is not "Housing Only". It's in the name. When you provide housing first, it is essentially a multiplier for all other services. If someone is safe, happy, and healthy living on the street then they don't need services. But that is obviously not the case in the vast majority of cases.
woah 3y ago
I don’t think this piece is apolitical at all. It is stating the author’s political opinion on homeless treatment, apparently formed over a long career working with the homeless.
acover 3y ago
Housing costs have sky rocketed and vacancy rates for rentals are often under 1%. A 1 bedroom apartment often costs more than minimum wage earns. How is this not a failure of housing policy? The home owning majority have voted for restricted supply.
- major505 3y ago
  See SF for example. The city where the council fights against zoning laws that allows the building of high rises. In the meantime the population complains about having to fight with meth addicts in the streets while active voting this this council members.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
    - fragmede 3y ago
      Are there really "so many earthquakes"? There's the occasional magnitude 3 or 4 earthquake, and everyone rushes to social media to report they felt it, but the last meaningful one in my mind was the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989.
leet_thow 3y ago
[flagged]
- shuntress 3y ago
  So, you are saying it is my "personal responsibility" to help people on an individual level?
Eumenes 3y ago
> This skirts pretty close to saying that homelessness is an issue of "personal responsibility" Can it not be personal responsibility? Does it _always_ have to be a systemic problem with our economic system? Believe it or not, there's always been segments of the population who can't cope with day to day responsibility and life. For every homeless person whose down on their luck or deeply involved in a drug addiction, there's 1000s who came from disenfranchised backgrounds who 'made it'
- shuntress 3y ago
  What you seem to be driving towards is the idea that jail houses need to exist in order to house the people who "can't cope with day to day responsibility and life". I don't disagree. Exactly like you say, some people just need a little more help to 'make it' some people simple can't handle it and need to be taken care of for their entire life.
- SketchySeaBeast 3y ago
  > For every homeless person whose down on their luck or deeply involved in a drug addiction, there's 1000s who came from disenfranchised backgrounds who 'made it' Given that there are ~528,000 homeless people in the United States that's an impossible statistic.
- avgcorrection 3y ago
  Not necessarily with the economic system but any pattern in a large group can be explained as a group problem, yes. Then you propose the group-level fixes. Imagine a personal development coach who said that “personal responsibility doesn't exist”. That's pretty absurd. Then imagine a sociologist that says that “group-level problems don't exist”. Equally absurd.
xg15 3y ago
As I understand the author, his main objection wasn't the housing (I hope) but rather, that it's only housing, folloed by a "hands-off" approach for aid workers, which requires the homeless to seek out any psychiatric help, anti-addiction programmes, etc themselves - even though, they might not be willing or capable to do so. I can kind of understand this sentiment of the author, (at least as far as it concerns willing but incapable persons)

wombat-man 3y ago

Author seems to suggest that housing first won't work. I might have missed it but I don't know why. What do they suggest instead?

unknown_user_84 3y ago
I get the sense that they are suggesting a housing + services approach. My read on why they think Housing First is flawed is that housing was offered and services were withheld. This implies some kind of public counseling service for the newly housed which could have its own set of issues. But in my opinion seems worth trying... if they're going to throw billions at this thing hiring a few qualified therapists couldn't hurt.
chmod600 3y ago
It seems like the suggestion (by implication) is mandatory treatment for substance abuse and mental health issues.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

nelsondev 3y ago

That’s an oversimplification and relies on the word “homeless” as an explanation and solution. If the condition was called, “street living”, perhaps you would consider solutions that don’t solely address the lack of permanent dwelling, and instead look at why some people choose to live on the street. Of course there are people whose problem is fundamentally lack of a home, in which case providing a home is the solution.

shuntress 3y ago
"Housing First" is not "Housing Only". It's in the name. When you provide housing first, it is essentially a multiplier for all other services. If someone is safe, happy, and healthy living on the street then they don't need services. But that is obviously not the case in the vast majority of cases.

woah 3y ago

I don’t think this piece is apolitical at all. It is stating the author’s political opinion on homeless treatment, apparently formed over a long career working with the homeless.

acover 3y ago

Housing costs have sky rocketed and vacancy rates for rentals are often under 1%. A 1 bedroom apartment often costs more than minimum wage earns. How is this not a failure of housing policy? The home owning majority have voted for restricted supply.

major505 3y ago
See SF for example. The city where the council fights against zoning laws that allows the building of high rises. In the meantime the population complains about having to fight with meth addicts in the streets while active voting this this council members.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
  - fragmede 3y ago
    Are there really "so many earthquakes"? There's the occasional magnitude 3 or 4 earthquake, and everyone rushes to social media to report they felt it, but the last meaningful one in my mind was the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989.

leet_thow 3y ago

[flagged]

shuntress 3y ago
So, you are saying it is my "personal responsibility" to help people on an individual level?

Eumenes 3y ago

> This skirts pretty close to saying that homelessness is an issue of "personal responsibility" Can it not be personal responsibility? Does it _always_ have to be a systemic problem with our economic system? Believe it or not, there's always been segments of the population who can't cope with day to day responsibility and life. For every homeless person whose down on their luck or deeply involved in a drug addiction, there's 1000s who came from disenfranchised backgrounds who 'made it'

shuntress 3y ago
What you seem to be driving towards is the idea that jail houses need to exist in order to house the people who "can't cope with day to day responsibility and life". I don't disagree. Exactly like you say, some people just need a little more help to 'make it' some people simple can't handle it and need to be taken care of for their entire life.
SketchySeaBeast 3y ago
> For every homeless person whose down on their luck or deeply involved in a drug addiction, there's 1000s who came from disenfranchised backgrounds who 'made it' Given that there are ~528,000 homeless people in the United States that's an impossible statistic.
avgcorrection 3y ago
Not necessarily with the economic system but any pattern in a large group can be explained as a group problem, yes. Then you propose the group-level fixes. Imagine a personal development coach who said that “personal responsibility doesn't exist”. That's pretty absurd. Then imagine a sociologist that says that “group-level problems don't exist”. Equally absurd.

xg15 3y ago

As I understand the author, his main objection wasn't the housing (I hope) but rather, that it's only housing, folloed by a "hands-off" approach for aid workers, which requires the homeless to seek out any psychiatric help, anti-addiction programmes, etc themselves - even though, they might not be willing or capable to do so. I can kind of understand this sentiment of the author, (at least as far as it concerns willing but incapable persons)