I hate Gavin Newsom as much as the next guy, and I saw these headlines earlier and was pissed.
But…
…if you actually read the articles, he’s following that with trying to appropriate 3 billion to address the problem of homelessness in a more practical way. And, that’s the smart thing to do, because letting them live on the street and addressing it through policing and prisons is not only ineffective, but vastly more expensive.
Though, ideologically, I agree that criminalizing homelessness is a step backward.
This is really the crux of it, pairing enforcement with housing, emergency shelter, and treatment is the way to go.
There’s a genuine question to ask…if you’ve offered someone all the support you can muster to move into their own apartment, fully paid for with support staff on site, and that person says no, they’d rather live in a tent in the park, what options are left?
Finland is a very different place than California. If you don’t have your wits about you outdoors in Finland for at least 3 months of the year, you will die. The weather, in a way, forces solutions on people. Finland also has universal healthcare, and it’s hard to overstate how impactful easy access to competent mental health and substance use treatment is.
In California, you can wear shorts all year, and mental health and substance use treatment are difficult to access and largely administered by for-profit companies providing awful care.
What alternative universe California are you from? In this one where I live, anywhere except the Southern Cal coast, it’s too cold in fall and winter because valley and desert weather are extreme.
It’s often stuff like forcing spouses to separate in order to get housing, concerns that the provided housing is unsafe, or mental illness which prevents sleeping inside.
I hate Gavin Newsom as much as the next guy, and I saw these headlines earlier and was pissed.
But…
…if you actually read the articles, he’s following that with trying to appropriate 3 billion to address the problem of homelessness in a more practical way. And, that’s the smart thing to do, because letting them live on the street and addressing it through policing and prisons is not only ineffective, but vastly more expensive.
Though, ideologically, I agree that criminalizing homelessness is a step backward.
This is really the crux of it, pairing enforcement with housing, emergency shelter, and treatment is the way to go.
There’s a genuine question to ask…if you’ve offered someone all the support you can muster to move into their own apartment, fully paid for with support staff on site, and that person says no, they’d rather live in a tent in the park, what options are left?
Finland has, essentially, solved the problem of homelessness. They still have approximately 1000 willfully homeless people.
There is no perfect solution, but we can get really, really close, and that’s what California (and the US) need to do.
Finland is a very different place than California. If you don’t have your wits about you outdoors in Finland for at least 3 months of the year, you will die. The weather, in a way, forces solutions on people. Finland also has universal healthcare, and it’s hard to overstate how impactful easy access to competent mental health and substance use treatment is.
In California, you can wear shorts all year, and mental health and substance use treatment are difficult to access and largely administered by for-profit companies providing awful care.
I get that.
That’s why I say there are perfect solutions. We can only ever get most of the way there, which is what California and the US should shoot for.
What alternative universe California are you from? In this one where I live, anywhere except the Southern Cal coast, it’s too cold in fall and winter because valley and desert weather are extreme.
They think all of Cali is IB, lol
You figure out why they’re saying no.
It’s often stuff like forcing spouses to separate in order to get housing, concerns that the provided housing is unsafe, or mental illness which prevents sleeping inside.
This is the correct answer, and it’s sad it has any downvotes.
I work in homeless services and can tell you first-hand it’s not that simple
Definitely not. But just force people isnt going to do anything but send people to jail.