Homelessness [split from Leadville and Salida Ranger Districts]

[WanderingRose]

An interesting article about a proposition in California that would reinstate involuntary confinement of the mentally ill.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/01/california-mental-health-care-policy

From the article:

“In the 1960s, we began the process of shutting down our psychiatric hospitals,” Newsom said at a Thursday rally promoting the proposition. But as the state got rid of its psychiatric beds, it did not provide enough investment in community programs and care homes as alternative treatments, he continued, saying: “Is it any surprise what we’re experiencing and those that are struggling and suffering are experiencing? It’s because of our neglect.”

California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, who proposed the measure as a crucial part of his plans to solve the state’s dire homelessness crisis, has said it would “prioritise getting people off the streets, out of tents and into treatment”.

 

[Gr8ful]

I googled it & got this, AHAR revealed that 653,104 people nationwide were homeless
What percentage of homeless people have mental illness?
21 percent of individuals experiencing homelessness reported having a serious mental illness, and 16 percent reported having a substance use disorder. A 16 percent increase among individuals experiencing chronic homelessness between 2020 and 2022.Nov 15, 2023

 

[RonDean]

I googled it & got this, AHAR revealed that 653,104 people nationwide were homeless
What percentage of homeless people have mental illness?
21 percent of individuals experiencing homelessness reported having a serious mental illness, and 16 percent reported having a substance use disorder. A 16 percent increase among individuals experiencing chronic homelessness between 2020 and 2022.Nov 15, 2023

And I think we can add in a sizable percentage of homelessness caused by a lack of affordable rentals. I recently watched a news story about
the Az "AG suing Arizona landlords for 'corrupting' market, colluding to keep rents high." In other news: a federal jury’s $1.8 billion verdict for Missouri-area home sellers who said they paid artificially inflated real estate commissions. There is no real surprise there, but all this drives rental and RE sales higher than they need to be and reduces the number of cheap rentals that many people can afford.

It's easy to blame the homeless for their own failures and situation. But they are not the only factors in this equation.

 

[BelgianPup]

And I think we can add in a sizable percentage of homelessness caused by a lack of affordable rentals. I recently watched a news story about
the Az "AG suing Arizona landlords for 'corrupting' market, colluding to keep rents high." In other news: a federal jury’s $1.8 billion verdict for Missouri-area home sellers who said they paid artificially inflated real estate commissions. There is no real surprise there, but all this drives rental and RE sales higher than they need to be and reduces the number of cheap rentals that many people can afford.

It's easy to blame the homeless for their own failures and situation. But they are not the only factors in this equation.

Well, up here in the Pacific Northwest, it must be different. I read that 60% of the homeless are chronic drunks, about 32% are druggies, and the rest are just homeless. The people who operate the rehab facilities say that a large majority of both the drunks and druggies discover there are actual RULES that must be obeyed (no alcohol, no drugs), so those inmates head for the exit door very quickly.

One thing that I wish would happen is differentiating between addicted and simply homeless people. They're simply not the same.

 

[bullfrog !]

^^^All of them need help one way or another.

 

[RonDean]

Well, up here in the Pacific Northwest, it must be different. I read that 60% of the homeless are chronic drunks, about 32% are druggies, and the rest are just homeless. The people who operate the rehab facilities say that a large majority of both the drunks and druggies discover there are actual RULES that must be obeyed (no alcohol, no drugs), so those inmates head for the exit door very quickly.

One thing that I wish would happen is differentiating between addicted and simply homeless people. They're simply not the same.

Well, I spend most of my time in the Pac NW as well. Portland used to be my favorite city. Now... not so much. It certainly has a homeless problem. And homeless people living on the street in a cold wet place might be more likely to abuse something to get through the day/night. I don't think any of us believe they are blameless. I DO think there are contributing factors beyond their control. We too often hide behind our political ideology and many problems go unsolved because of it. And the homeless have no corner on the addiction market.

Also, I'm no expert on the subject but I am fairly sure that just telling someone to kick their addiction to get into a shelter is not going to work. I remember being addicted to nicotine and how many times it took me to kick that habit/addiction. Many people who are addicted to gambling, sex, food, shopping, or any number of other things also seem to have a minor problem with stopping those activities just because someone tells them to. And comparatively, I don't think many of them are as difficult to quit as hard drugs.

I wish we could get beyond judging or blaming people and just deal with what IS. When we find a solution that doesn't work, stop and try something else. Take a look around at what does work and try to copy that. This particular issue impacts all of us - not just those without a roof over their heads.

 

[Carla618]

Well, up here in the Pacific Northwest, it must be different. I read that 60% of the homeless are chronic drunks, about 32% are druggies, and the rest are just homeless. The people who operate the rehab facilities say that a large majority of both the drunks and druggies discover there are actual RULES that must be obeyed (no alcohol, no drugs), so those inmates head for the exit door very quickly.

One thing that I wish would happen is differentiating between addicted and simply homeless people. They're simply not the same.

Where are your figures from? They are three times higher than in this piece about Seattle:

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattl...ss-in-seattle-look-upstream/?dicbo=v2-4AXmwYK

 

[RonDean]

Where are your figures from? They are three times higher than in this piece about Seattle:

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattl...ss-in-seattle-look-upstream/?dicbo=v2-4AXmwYK

I also found an article that says, "...influenced by a growing body of research that has found high costs of living to be the primary drivers of homelessness and argues that addiction and mental illness are more treatable when people are under a roof. As a result, many shelters created under the approach do not require participants to be clean."

 

[Gr8ful]

As I posted above in post 422 16 percent reported having a substance use disorder according to AHAR.
Here's more info https://endhomelessness.org/blog/hu...the-current-state-of-homelessness-in-america/

 

[Morgana]

Here's a New York Times opinion piece on homelessness --- "Criminalizing Homelessness Won't Make It Go Away" (mostly video with a brief text introduction):
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/16/...e_code=1.k00.XfZ4.hq_J3LHRxNsZ&smid=url-share

Here's a website with more videos by the same person:
https://invisiblepeople.tv/

Here's a story on the Supreme Court case, scheduled for a hearing next week, that sparked this attention (Johnson vs. Grants Pass):


And here are a couple of more advocacy-oriented (not "straight news") resources on the Supreme Court case:
https://homelesslaw.org/statement-johnsonvgrantspass/
https://johnsonvgrantspass.com/

Caveat: I haven't read all of these yet and I'm not swearing that they're The Truth (and even if I did swear that, you should check for yourself and see what you think .

FWIW.