r/NoStupidQuestions • u/Garey_Coleman • 10d ago

Where are the homeless supposed to go?

Cities have been cracking down on homeless people so they can’t have encampments or stay on sidewalks. At the same time usually the shelters are full. So those who are unable to get into a shelter, where are they supposed to go?

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u/pikashroom 10d ago

There is no answer from this administration (or any others) but there is clearly a solution. Not a fool proof one, just the first couple of steps.

Fund social programs that help homeless get housing and jobs and maybe medication and put them back on a track to living a good life.

When I was in the mental ward, quite a few of those people didn’t have housing. There’s a vicious cycle between mental illness and not living a life worth living. And Substance Abuse Disorder is a mental illness. These people need assistance. And when we have this infrastructure in place, we could build shelters with police preventing crime for the people who don’t want assistance

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u/lizerlfunk 10d ago

My late husband was a mental health technician at a Baker Act receiving facility from 2006-2007. (Baker Act = the law in Florida permitting involuntary hospitalization for people whose mental health is making them a danger to themselves or others.) He saw the same unhoused people over and over and over again. They’d get arrested, get Baker Acted, held for 72 hours, get back on their meds, be stable, be released once the 72 hours was up, and they don’t have anywhere to go or any way of staying on their meds. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Maybe if they had help with achieving a stable living situation it would be easier to break the cycle.

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u/MissDisplaced 10d ago

I had an uncle who was mentally unwell and he ended up in a halfway house (not sure if they still have those). It seems these resources are shrinking.

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u/MikeWise1618 10d ago

Not only would the cost be immense, but it doesn't tackle the root cause, which is probably rising income inequality. So no matter how much money you throw at it, it would eventually not be enough.

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u/MissDisplaced 9d ago

The only thing I could see are some sort of dormitory style temporary housing, combined with job training and social programs designed to get people back into regular apartments and jobs.

But you’re right it looks bleak, as income inequality keeps rising plus those programs get cut. And what do you do with people too sick to work?