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Well, if you were King and had the power to solve the homeless problem, you would also be a tyrant. Because, as a person that has dealt for years professionally with the homeless, they don’t take to doing something or “rules”. You would literally have to force them, period. They like being homeless and doing what they want to do and don’t want society telling them what to do. Basically, spoiled brats who are adults. They like getting high or drunk, period. Or, they are mentally ill with no family that gives a damn or isn’t able to handle them plus, the Government legally can’t do anything thanks to the ACLU.
I think I have to rewrite the last sentence. I just reread it and I see where you may see a different meaning than was intended.
We fail as a society if we do not take care of those who cannot take care of themselves. That is what I meant.
I agree.
But I think that we would need more flexibility than currently exists in the "social safety net" programs, and well trained people to engage with these cases. Because for me, the more important question is "Why?" I don't see most homeless or struggling Americans as people who just want to run wild like perpetual children. I've known plenty, and each one has a story...where they were trying to participate like everybody else, but something went wrong and they never bounced back from it.
I don't think that, as some here have said, they just have this rebellious impulse to reject all rules, structure and authority. I think that somewhere along the way, the "rules" of life put them in what seemed like a double bind, and they just could not see a path to prevent the dominoes from falling. Addressing the "Why?" could remedy their whole situation, though in plenty of instances it won't be easy to do.
I also, by the way, take a different view of the concept of "prison" than most. I no longer even like the whole notion of "criminal justice" as it stands. I don't like the way people think of it as justice meaning retribution, "punishment" for having been bad. I'm not saying that prison serves no purpose, but it should, I think, serve a different one as its main focus. Protecting society from the relatively few irredeemably broken human beings who are a persistent danger to others. You put them where they can't hurt other people. That is the point. Sure, if any of them can be "saved" or rehabilitated, that's great, but I can acknowledge that some probably cannot.
I'd love to see more solutions, but at every level I would want them to be more voluntary, more about autonomy, freedom, and personal choices, than not. So rather than FORCING people to do this or that, provide more and better options to make their lives better.
And buckle up, 'cause I'm about to get kinda dark here, and I think many won't agree with me on this...
I include the option of ending one's own life. Humanely. Though I believe that one should be a certain age (late 20's at least) and have regular interaction with a Social Services person to document their intentions over a period of time (maybe 2 years) and if they were offered every other possible route available to them and they still want out more than anything....a painless exit with some really nice drugs would be available. It would never be a punishment, but it would be available as a CHOICE to the incarcerated as much as to anyone.
I also believe that if the young who struggle with suicidal ideation knew that if they just hang in there and keep trying to live, then if nothing else a kind and painless exit is available at a certain point in their lives...they might be a bit less desperate to make it happen in their teens and they might give themselves the time to survive a tough period and possibly reach a better place. Especially if the other structures of American life have been shifted to offer more hope than they do now.
But most of my philosophies center on the reduction of SUFFERING, more than just life for life's sake. I am not so keen on the notion that anyone would feel like "No one wants me to die but no one will help me to live." And I've known too many people who feel that way.
A lot of talk about "bringing back" mental institutions... I hope it should go without saying that these places should not be as brutal or nightmarish as what they used to be. There are good reasons why they were closed.
Quality of care for children, elders, medically incapacitated and mental health patients needs to be tightly regulated with frequent and random inspections. Abuse of our most vulnerable should not be tolerated.
Personally, I would like to see places that I guess could best be described as a kind of "group home" for not only the mentally ill but also people who could go voluntarily, who just don't really know what they are doing in their lives. A place that is not a brutal nightmare to be in, but a kind place. Yes, people there who are able would be expected to do some kind of work, but it would be made as pleasant as possible and there would be options. Working in the garden to grow the food. Learning to work in the kitchens preparing it. Crafting or light unskilled labor type work.
But you know what...something like that (vaguely like that, and it's not perfect, but...) sort of exists. And a lot of Americans don't know about it. At least, for the young it does. Job Corps.
One of my sons went. Unfortunately it could be far better run than it is. His impression was that it was kind of like a halfway house for juvenile delinquents. But the idea behind it isn't bad.
I worked for a state agency that had institutions. I think now all but a couple of them are closed. I was assigned to several different offices during my time there and one I went to regularly was on the site of one of these institutions. It really wasn’t what you would think of as a typical institution. It had a campus with lots of midcentury ranch-style homes. One person in my department lived on the campus voluntarily. I think now she’s probably retired, but I think she was there for more than 2 decades. She led a choral/dance group with some of the residents and traveled with them.
At my home office, we had another complex come up on our property that provided a somewhat supervised living option. This sounds like the “Group home” environment you are discussing. The people living there had disabilities but also had to work part time. The homes were typically single story duplexes with one or two people in each unit. I went to the grand opening celebration and the first residents were so excited. Unfortunately, due to regulations currently in place about congregate housing for disabilities being considered “institutional” it took a while for these places to get approved. While agency staff had mixed feelings about it, the interest level from community members who would qualify to live in this complex was absolutely incredible. It was to the point where people from out of state were moving in just to try to get their family members a slot. The demand is there, but there needs to be a bigger push to change regulations to allow them. The neighborhood had a big community center with a type of HOA fee that residents paid to participate in activities. I think there are plans to eventually build a Y on property too that is available to everyone in the neighborhood.
The biggest problem comes for people who are dual diagnosis folks. There are few facilities that provide long-term residential treatment for people who have drug/alcohol problems and mental health problems, even though they commonly go hand in hand. It is unrealistic to think that people are going to be able to do a short detox or 28-day residential program and go on their way without relapsing. The VA does have long-term programs that provide a lot of great therapies, but they may be hard for veterans to access and they are not available to non-vets. A lot of the so-called rehab centers aren’t really run with qualified staff like the VA centers that have people qualified in a variety of therapy techniques.
One of the saddest things about trying to help people is knowing what needs to be done and working with people who are unwilling to do it.
It's a crazy paradox. If we meet their needs without an expectation of improvement we enable their situation. If we do nothing we look like heartless people. Which of these two outcomes is more life-threatening?
The truth is you can't help people long-term. You can only offer them a blueprint and mentorship which they may or may not accept.
There seem to be a rising percentage of people who would rather not work. Do we only care about them? What will happen to the good-hearted society when they are outnumbered by the needy? What will happen when Joe gets housing because he isn't working and Fred starts thinking about all the years he's worked and paid taxes but no one has helped him?
We see the results now. That's why we were promised equal opportunity and not equal rewards.
Reminds me of the old story we all know. The least well-adjusted kids in the family get the inheritance because they need it the most. That's what a paternalistic society does.
Is it possible to maintain a strong, cooperative society, allow the outliers to go their own way with room for them to re-enter when they realized what must be done to have their modicum of success?
This theory works well in the world of addiction. When an addict loses his last enabler he either sobers up or he dies. Keep giving him money to maintain his lifestyle and you become a participant in sending him down a path that leads to a miserable death anyway.
I believe in principles of tough love and they are in line with standards of behavior modification. While people fear being labeled by practicing them, I think they work better for everyone than playing Santa to needy people. That makes us feel good but doesn't inspire change.
Obvious disclaimer: I am talking about the average-abled. It's been a delusion and impossibility to convince us that we should all have the same circumstances.
That's my view-point and I was in the people-helping professions my whole working life. We helped people, a minority, but it worked only if they really wanted the help and not a quick fix.
Approach me on the street today and you'll be offered transportation to the nearest place of help. No one has ever accepted that offer.
they probably have been to the 'nearest place of help',more than once.
Those help places are staffed with workers who need a paycheck just like all of us and they are tired of seeing the same people same story,and they cant really help with the personal problems nor do they have a special elixir custom tailored for that person.which he can take ,the only solution is reincarnation or a miracle.
However I know a person who is an alcoholic and used to sleep on the street,then moved to a one bedroom apt with no heat , no hot water with a wife and 4 kids .
But he became a VP of finance ,he died from all the complications stemmed from his earlier life style
they probably have been to the 'nearest place of help',more than once.
Those help places are staffed with workers who need a paycheck just like all of us and they are tired of seeing the same people same story,and they cant really help with the personal problems nor do they have a special elixir custom tailored for that person.which he can take ,the only solution is reincarnation or a miracle.
However I know a person who is an alcoholic and used to sleep on the street,then moved to a one bedroom apt with no heat , no hot water with a wife and 4 kids .
But he became a VP of finance ,he died from all the complications stemmed from his earlier life style
They do, a few. That's the miracle. And I used to wonder how many people the money it cost to help them could have helped. The system is inefficient but can work. The "saving one starfish method."
The big solution, also impossible, lays in MQ's idea of good heartedness. If each of us opened our hearts and took one other struggling person under their wing. (Then they better know what to anticipate or their heart, family and pocketbook can be broken.) It's a big gift but some families do it.
I tried to delete my long post before anyone responded. Too grim for Christmas. I know those who care are out there now doing what they can.
There's a realistic but jaded edge to my thoughts from experience. Good thing the young come up all enthusiastic about what they think will work.
You know the government is quite generous with these homeless people,under Medicaid,they can check into a nursing home and get a bed and 3 meals a day.
There are so called agents who get a bounty fee bringing in those folks into privately run nursing homes ,it could run into a few hundred dollars.
Long ago I was visiting a lawyer,I overheard him talking on the phone ,it turns out that they all funded a nursing home which take care of these patients,and they are monitoring how many patients were brought in,as the weather turns colder,they are expecting more.
Besides him,the other investors are local judges and private businessmen ,some are pillars of prestige and morality in their neighborhood.
I have a feeling,that the brain has a memory ,and it tends to do what it is accustomed to and easiest to do ,if lying on the street with other bums and not to worry about where the next Rent money comes from and no hustle bustle like the people who just walk by,no getting dressed up to go to work,more so,if you hate your job,have no ambition and just need a fix.
Most of us go to work so we can pay for roof over our head,food to feed our stomach ,raise a family and do what other Joneses do and pay all the bills ,it is called the RAT RACE!
They probably are physically not able to survive in a society which requires us to stay fit
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