How would you solve the homeless problem if you were responsible for doing so?

[msc545]

[Dargil]

I would strengthen vagrancy laws so vagrants could be housed in policed villages that include medical mental care. They would be provided with work opportunities and counseling. Yes, it would be a little like prison or a concentration camp but the purpose would be help and protection of themselves and the people around them, not incarceration and punishment.

[msc545]

That certainly not the worst idea in the world except for the fact that it would be expensive as hell. And it would also break about 50 laws. In a perfect world we might be able to do something like this but not in this world.

[Dargil]

The homeless are expensive as it is.

[Desertbabs702]

Here in Las Vegas there is a lot of homeless folks and many of them are drunks/junkies but there are some who are hard workers just down on their luck so I wouid seek out those ones as well as the ones who want to get off the drugs and streets only if they were given the chance. Then I would coordinate w Steve Wynn or Trump to deligate a few floors of their fancy hotels to offer these select few willing to work inside the hotel as cooks, janitors, housekeepers, etc. and if they are addicts then they would first need to complete treatment at the rehab located on floor whatever.

[LaFemmeFatale_1]

I would assist homeless people with housing and after they have safe homes, I’s provide them with jobs.

[Daniela1982]

But what kind of jobs? A lot of homeless don't want to work or follow rules.

[LaFemmeFatale_1]

@Daniela1982 Each and every person has a desire to somehow feel needed and contribute to the society, we just need to train and encourage them.

What kind of jobs?

Not the same job for every homeless person, but the jobs that are suites to their personal interests and skills.

[RealMarek]

Clear the current elites out of power, expropriate their assets without compensation, sharply curtail immigration, bring back insane asylums, break up all global corporations, and transition to family-owned agriculture. Devolve as much power to the community level as possible and distribute federal bureaucracy geographically. The homeless crisis would quickly resolve itself.

[strateguy632]

you described PRECISELY what china did in 1950s and it led to disasters.

[RealMarek]

@strateguy632 Well, there were big differences. They didn’t allow for anything to be privately or family owned and had a centrally planned and controlled economy. They incentivized a massive birth rate. They promulgated a monolithic, anti-cultural ideology. If you look at the USG, it is has massively centralized power and concentrated wealth, it promulgates an anti-cultural ideology (the “woke”), and is transitioning to a controlled economy via the regulatory state, monopolistic or duopolistic megacorporations, and ESG. I would not do any of these things.

[GoodGuyBreakingBad]

Find these bigger houses and confort them into smaller houses to help the homeless out.

[strateguy632]

what about the owners of the big house? don't you need permission to divide and convert it?

[GoodGuyBreakingBad]

@strateguy632 These big houses I would have own since I bought them

[KrakenAttackin]

These houses will end up a crack/meth/phenyl houses. I know this from experience. Just giving these people a roof won't cure the issue.

[strateguy632]

i liked the idea, that i read of rural work camps with simple shelters, free in exchange for community service and mandatory drug tests.

like move from the homeless rows of cots to rural shelters.

and of course guidance counselors to get them reintegration.

[KrakenAttackin]

@strateguy632 Oh bro, you would IMMEDIATELY have the left accusing you or running "concentration camps".

I do like the idea of a collective of some kind where people have meaningful work to do and where they can learn a skill while getting assessed and treated.

[OfMiceandMen]

See if I could find someone that has land on the outskirts of the city that could be subdivided and subsidized tiny homes put on each lot. It would be a way for homeless people interested in getting back on course that have seen hard times.

[Daniela1982]

@OfMiceandMen But... they would be expected to work in their community, growing crops or something, and not sit back and drink and snort powder, right? That would just be enabling their homelessness and not a cure for it.

[strateguy632]

i disagree they need shared housing same as college students.

[Daniela1982]

@strateguy632 College students pay for those dorms. They don't get it for free. But if they spent less on Ukraine and 5 new Aircraft Carriers, the homeless may get some help.

[OfMiceandMen]

@Daniela1982 I agree, it has to be people that are truly down on the their luck and just need a helping hand to get back on their feet again. People addicted to drugs etc. would have to clean themselves up.

[goaded]

Universal Basic Income and building affordable housing (which doesn't really have to be great, but safe and considerably nicer than a car), with usable public transport to the nearest population centre, if necessary.

[exitseven]

so just more handouts to pander to another special group?

[goaded]

@exitseven No. "Universal" means "for everyone", and governments don't have to make a profit on housing, so rent can be priced according to the price of building and maintenance. Anyone could rent one, most people would want something nicer. Public transport is always a good thing.

[Daniela1982]

@goaded So maybe no one should work and just expect to get paid for not having a job on the taxpayer, who bust their asses for what they have? The saying goes, "If they will not work, neither shall they eat." I am not for free rides. Nothing in life is free.

[goaded]

@Daniela1982 You understand that it's not much money, right? Enough to survive on, but not a life anyone would choose for themselves.

[strateguy632]

i disagree as candace owen explained so well "handouts don't fix problems".

[Jdodkfndosn]

Food is a powerful motivator. Remove all access to free food except at the shelters. If they addicted to something, remove their right to leave and get them help they need until they are no longer addicted. Then offer jobs like be an advocate for the next group of addicts, offer discounts to companies for tax rebates if they hire others

[Jdodkfndosn]

That's the nice answer. What is actually do is round them up and tell them I'll give them $1k + a plane ticket to another city outside of the state

[exitseven]

Enforce the laws about sleeping on the sidewalk, public intoxication, public urination etc. Do not allow tent cities. Create training programs for welfare recipients and make it mandatory. Open up the mental hospitals again and stop letting illegal aliens into the country and use the tens of billions spent on them and use it to help citizens

[msc545]

Where do you expect homeless people to sleep?

[msc545]

@-what- do you think they could be trained to do, and who would pay for your training programs?

[exitseven]

There were homeless people years ago. The cops did not let them sleep in tents on the sidewalk. If they tried to they would go jail. If the cops would enforce the laws these people would find a place to go.

[exitseven]

There are lots of homeless people that are just unlucky at life. They are not junkies or crazy they just need some help. They can be trained and can become productive members of society.

[msc545]

@exitseven Really? like maybe your street?

[exitseven]

No. I moved into a pretty affluent town to get away from that stuff and I have no problem telling that to people. I am not like the people of Martha's Vineyard who are hypocrites.

[msc545]

People that are homeless are not necessarily addicts or mentally ill.

[exitseven]

@yes, some people are just victims of circumstances. There was a vietnam vet that lost his job as a taxi driver and was too old to find something else. He ended up living in his van in the gas station parking lot on the Maine turnpike.

[msc545]

Not everyone has a van to live in

[strateguy632]

to @msc545 , content pay, exit said from the budget of undocumented first help homeless CITIZENS, maybe none left for undocumented but priority citizens. just read exit good ideas.

[AnusNdaPainus]

Simple.

Get these drugs off the street they’re simply too easy to access

a common thing you’ll see in homelessness is addiction and substance abuse

[MJtheCoach]

stop sending billions to F##KIN UKRAINE!

[Agape93]

Exile them to a remote wilderness with some supplies.

[msc545]

You might as well just shoot them all, or gas them. Faster and more humane than what you suggest.

[Agape93]

So it's more humane to gas the or execute them, then give them a chance at life in a beautiful place with supplies and a chance at a self sufficient life?

[msc545]

They would almost all die, nice scenery or not. You know that.

[KrakenAttackin]

Soylent Green!!!

[Daniela1982]

No! Causes too much farting.

[KrakenAttackin]

@Daniela1982 Oh.. yeah, good point. 🤔

[KrakenAttackin]

Actually, the homeless problem has to be rooted in addiction and mental illness. We need to start with treatment before people become homeless. Once homeless there are a numerous additional challenges for sure.

[Daniela1982]

@KrakenAttackin The problem is, mental health specialists are overworked. It takes weeks to get an appointment which doesn't help anyone in a "Now" crisis who desperately needs help.

[KrakenAttackin]

@Daniela1982 I agree. We need to make huge investments in mental health.

[msc545]

Unfortunately, more money won't help. You need to finish high school, get very good grades in 4 years of college, and at least 2 years of grad school a Master's degree, and 2 years of residency to even get a license to do this. That is just the start. Getting a doctorate takes about 5 - 7 years more.

[Daniela1982]

And that is why there is a shortage of good psychologists.

[msc545]

@Daniela1982 It takes that long to learn these things - people are complicated.

[KrakenAttackin]

@msc545 By chance, have you ever seen the book "Where there is no dentist"? It's a short and sweet field guide to expedient dentistry. The author makes a great point in that 90% of dentistry can be done with someone who have about 16 weeks of training, with the other 10% of cases being referred to large cities with real dentists. The author makes the case that (especially in the third world) we should train people with this 16 weeks to handle the bulk of work, which is MUCH easier then sending full-fledged dentists to the field.

Do you think there is some equivalent in the mental health field?

[msc545]

I have seen this equivalent sort of attempted (2 years of training) with disastrous results. It cannot be done safely or effectively at all.

[KrakenAttackin]

@msc545 Fair enough, just a thought.

[msc545]

It is what it is - the subject is ungodly complex...

[Daniela1982]

I don't know. Everyone comes here to G@G with their problems. Question is, are they real or fake problems? I went to a counselor once. I was paying $75 a week in just co-pays, or $300 a month. At the time I couldn't afford it any longer so quit going. In today's world I believe health insurance should cover a bigger part of mental health. There would be far less problems if it were as more people could afford to get the help they need.

[Iron_Man]

To get them a free house

[Daniela1982]

Why should they get a free house? Then half the country would become homeless in order to get a free house.

[Iron_Man]

@Daniela1982 well if it was one of your relatives would you want to see them get a free house

[Astarlessnightsky]

Put them into homes.

[msc545]

@Astarlessnightsky What homes?

[Daniela1982]

@Astarlessnightsky You mean like the Poor House? Maybe put them where the illegals live and send them packing. The homeless should be willing to work if that were to be an option, and many don't want to work. That is how most of them got homeless.