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I don't even know what that means. It's a like a "move it along" policy to your problems. I hesitate to even ask: what tools do you imagine the feds have to fix

by aksss 3y ago

I don't even know what that means. It's a like a "move it along" policy to your problems. I hesitate to even ask: what tools do you imagine the feds have to fix homelessness, outside of driving a good economy, and perhaps protectionist measures to build low-skill industries back in the US (and all that entails)?

xenospn 3y ago
From my vantage point, a combined strategy of mental health facilities with accessible healthcare and a social safety net is a good starting point. (Most likely will never happen in the US) I seriously doubt that affordable housing or better employment opportunities are going to do anything, specifically because even people making six figures are struggling to find housing here (LA) so I doubt any amount of subsidized housing is going to solve or even make a dent in the number of homeless people.
asdff 3y ago
It's just a matter of sizing the scale of the problem to the correct budget so it can actually be solved. City of LA has 45,000 homeless people in it. Recent audits put the cost at half a million per unit, all services roped in with that number I believe, for a new shelter bed and staff. That's almost 23 billion dollars provided you have the land for this UCLA sized project cleared already, a whole lot more if you don't. City of LA's entire budget is 13 billion dollars; all it can do is fight the tide with a leaky bucket essentially. Federal government budget, on the other hand, is 6.1 trillion dollars, and they own the world money printer too, along with a huge amount of acreage all over the american west. The homeless crisis could be solved with a pen stroke from DC today.
mulmen 3y ago
Jobs aren’t a complete solution. Especially not low-skill industrial jobs. Some of these people are incapable of employment. They need full time professional care. It is a mental healthcare issue. Since the feds gutted mental healthcare under Reagan they can fix it too. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_Health_Systems_Act_of_1980 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_Health_Systems_Act_of...

by aksss 3y ago

xenospn 3y ago

From my vantage point, a combined strategy of mental health facilities with accessible healthcare and a social safety net is a good starting point. (Most likely will never happen in the US) I seriously doubt that affordable housing or better employment opportunities are going to do anything, specifically because even people making six figures are struggling to find housing here (LA) so I doubt any amount of subsidized housing is going to solve or even make a dent in the number of homeless people.

asdff 3y ago

It's just a matter of sizing the scale of the problem to the correct budget so it can actually be solved. City of LA has 45,000 homeless people in it. Recent audits put the cost at half a million per unit, all services roped in with that number I believe, for a new shelter bed and staff. That's almost 23 billion dollars provided you have the land for this UCLA sized project cleared already, a whole lot more if you don't. City of LA's entire budget is 13 billion dollars; all it can do is fight the tide with a leaky bucket essentially. Federal government budget, on the other hand, is 6.1 trillion dollars, and they own the world money printer too, along with a huge amount of acreage all over the american west. The homeless crisis could be solved with a pen stroke from DC today.

mulmen 3y ago

Jobs aren’t a complete solution. Especially not low-skill industrial jobs. Some of these people are incapable of employment. They need full time professional care. It is a mental healthcare issue. Since the feds gutted mental healthcare under Reagan they can fix it too. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_Health_Systems_Act_of_1980 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_Health_Systems_Act_of...