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/JohnHazardWandering 10d ago

So pay for 24 hour care?? or just pay half that in social services and housing for them to be on their own. 

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u/HungryIndependence13 10d ago

Or give them land where they can sleep, have it guarded by police and provide showers. 

So many people - if they’re just given a place to sleep and shower- will work and get small apartments and no longer be homeless. 

It isn’t that hard to solve. I don’t know why we don’t do it. 

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u/Senior-Midnight-8015 10d ago

I've volunteered in multiple shelters or assistance centers for homeless people. I think of homeless folks in two groups, though it's obviously possible for people to swap between the groups, particularly the downward way. 

The first group is people who will bounce back if given the tiniest help at all. 1-3mo of shelter, food, and medical care, and boom, they will be back on their feet. Helping them isn't just kind and moral, but of so little cost versus such great benefit that it's financially stupid not to help them. They are motivated to be normal, contributing members of society. Numerically, this is the majority of homeless folks.

If you go to a major city or a large shelter, however, the second group of homeless folks will be much, much more visible. These are people with severe biological or behavioral needs that will require intensive or specialized management for years, or who are categorically unwilling to play by society's rules. Most citizens do not want to have to interact with these people. They are often challenging or distressing to deal with. They may scream epithets, threaten violence, offer obscenities, urinate or defecate on public transport, hit people, etc. Society in general doesn't care what happens to these folks, as long as it stops them from interfering with society. Send them to live in the middle of nowhere, plug them in an institution (mental hospital or prison), let them OD -- just get rid of them. I don't have a good answer for how to react to this group. I'd like to say we should help everyone, but my city+county has a program that spends $50k/yr PER PERSON trying to help this group, and some require more help than can be given. It's hard to see them have such resources directed at them, and they still yell slurs and threaten to kill you while peeing on the seats of the commuter train, and not become resentful or dismissive of them.

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u/HungryIndependence13 9d ago

I get that these people are out there. For sure. 

And there are crazy people who don’t do any of those things but who are also hard to help. 

It’s a tough job and isn’t for everyone.