LogFAQs > #970999892

Deedice posted...

What do you suggest people do? My job is to engage homeless people in Californa and I've had homeless people 9/10 times refuse services that I try to get them connected to. Services such as:

- Shelter and hotel voucher programs that provide food and shelter at no cost to them
- Medi-cal and IEHP insurance for health care at no cost to them
- Sobering center and Drug rehab programs that house and feed them at no cost to them
- Mental Health Urgent cares that help them stabilize their mental illnesses in a voluntary environment while helping them get connected to longer term mental health treatment. once again at no cost to them

What are some of your ideas?

If I was sure I had the answer and could implement it, I'd have already done it. These are all good starts, but a big part of the problem as I see it is that by the time you're approaching someone on the street, things have already broken down tremendously. For someone to end up there, they have to have no support system to speak of or their issues have to reach critical crisis level. It's hard to reach someone at that point. It's a DEEP and intense societal failure, akin to something like an active shooter or something and there's no obvious/easy solution at that point. It's hard to reintegrate into society when you've fallen out of it to that extent.

By far the most effective measure would be to provide all these things before the crisis point.

But in the short term, part of the issue is that these services are often offered almost as a threat or a last alternative to criminal punishment, which erodes trust. My impression is that they also often come with a lot of strings attached beyond cost (I don't know how they do it in California, but in Texas, almost all help seems to come with heavy religious pressure/control or police involvement). So one element to improve success could be to have the programs and their outreach designed by or at least with the input of people who have actually been in that situation, and without police involvement or threat.

Essentially permanent, free no-strings attached housing, combined with whatever other supports are necessary. And this should be provided both at the point of crisis and before.

And even if this doesn't improve the situation at all, physical attacks and further criminalization is not the answer. And that seems to be the only alternative people can think of. It's the only thing that's been suggested by the people expressing their sympathy with the business owner.