After living in France for most of my life, I can confirm this is true: underinvestment remains the main choke-point though. Homeless shelters can be violent an

After living in France for most of my life, I can confirm this is true: underinvestment remains the main choke-point though. Homeless shelters can be violent and unsanitary places; before making them psychiatrically sound, you need to increase their ability to separate visitors. I am not in Scandinavia, were homelessness can not be a year-long issue (-30°C day round). There are far less beggars even in Summer because the State is not just more generous, but seemingly a lot less focused on red-tape. Most cases of denying help that I’ve heard (from charity work and working at a teacher in jail) were related to not ticking the right boxes, something for which mental health is a big handicap, but being sane isn’t remotely enough. For instance, what appears to be the main trigger for homelessness is a couple separation: the less motivated employee, gets fired and can’t pay for his temporary accommodation anymore. That is a classic case where leniency in proving you can’t live in the house in which you are registered helps.