The next big boondoggle - free housing for the homeless
A lot of people who live on the streets have mental or addiction issues and rather than addressing these problems directly, our government would rather cut them a check (our money), hand them a tranche of Free Government Cheese (our money again) and send them on their (not so) merry way; doing nothing to help the base reason they are homeless in the first place.
Now, everyone is going to have the most bestest time playing house.
From
Yahoo/McClatchy Newspapers:
Obama administration vows to end homelessness
The Obama administration on Tuesday unveiled an ambitious plan that aspires to end homelessness among some of society's most vulnerable groups within the next decade.
"Opening Doors," a "Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness," calls for ending child and family homelessness in 10 years while wiping out chronic homelessness and homelessness among veterans in five years.
According to the 74-page plan, "Stable housing is the foundation upon which people build their lives � absent a safe, decent, affordable place to live, it is next to impossible to achieve good health, positive educational outcomes or reach one's economic potential."
The plan is a significant breakthrough because there's never been a comprehensive federal effort to end homelessness with a timeline and measureable goals, said Nan Roman , the president of the National Alliance to End Homelessness.
"To me that's really important, because we know that when the Bush administration made a commitment to end chronic homelessness, it really made a huge difference," she said. "It changed how resources were allocated. It caused better coordination, and the result has been that the chronic numbers have gone down. Now they're taking that same approach and they're expanding it to the other homeless populations. I think that's significant."
A noble desire but a very foolish cause. The article states: "
a government report showed that nearly 1.6 million people, including more than 170,000 families, spent time in homeless shelters last year as the recession, mounting foreclosures and record unemployment sent people scrambling for shelter"
This is 0.3% of the US Population -- one for every three hundred citizens, and the mention is not long-term, it is 'spent time in'. Reasons given were foreclosures (ie: people being able to borrow well beyond their means -- Earth to Barney) and record unemployment (Earth to Obama, Keynes, et. al.)
People that work with the homeless often refer to the 35 percenters -- these are the chronic abusers and mental patients so that drops the number down to 0.1% -- one for every thousand citizens.
Considering that these people aren't going to respond very well to any kind of palliative care -- from the
Houston Chronicle:
They talk, instead, about "the 35 percenters" � a reference to a 2005 study, funded in part by the city, that found that 35 percent of our homeless are "severely compromised by mental illness, chronic substance abuse, or mental retardation and will require lifelong, highly structured care" such as supervised housing. (Another 55 percent will likely need occasional help, such as access to food pantries, for the rest of their lives.)
Back when I was growing up, there were State and Federal funded institutions where people like this would live. There will always be a percentage of misfits in society and it is our charitable duty to see them given some measure of support as they are incapable of surviving on their own. It needs to be done in an institutional setting to keep the costs down and to maximize access to medical care and psychological treatment. They should not be given a rent-free apartment.
During the 'enlightened years' of Johnson's Great Society, these institutions were considered by the cultural elites to be inhumane and, as there was no alternative for them, these poor people were turned out on the streets: You are Free to Go Home... What a sick fscking joke.
This is just another huge political entitlement scam, a boondoggle that will treat people badly.
As a final note, there is a housing project in Seattle for intransigent alcoholics. It is located next to a favorite restaurant of mine in Chinatown. The Liquor Locusts now hog the front counter and the last two times I have been there, they are changing the atmosphere of the place from a good cheap Cantonese dive to their own clubhouse and the poor staff do not know what to do. The place was almost empty both times I was there. If these alkies want a place to hang out, it should be away from private businesses that will be impacted. They will not be able to tell the difference and it will save a small business.
Sorry for the rant but I am feeling very ticked off at the over-reach of this regieme...
Posted by DaveH at June 23, 2010 8:23 PM