the thing is....imho...Nick and Shal are both right. Not every homeless person is there for the exact same reason. There is no one magic "cure-all". Yes, for many people, an effective treatment program may be the first and best step towards rehabilitation...and for others, just to get a roof over their heads would begin to turn things around rapidly. It is a far more complex problem that requires a multi-pronged solution in order to see progress. just my .02

This from a NYtimes Article.

Here is the link, but it is subscription.

This is a link to Pathways to Housing's publications page, where there are several publications documenting the approach and its outcomes.

It really does work. There is big controversy in the addictions field over abstinence vs. harm reductions strategies, but the research is really supporting the idea that helping people, and then helping them to cut down on drug use is a very effective approach. Eventually, they want to get clean, which is the key of course.

But think about it, if you were living on the street, why would you want to be straight?

....again its a individual choice ......... everyone has a different reason. Giving someone a roof is not going to make them a better citizen.something happened that puut them on the street.Maybe it starts with education ...being intelligent whatever. when I was homeleSs I did everything I could to get out of that stiuation ;some people sink into drugs because of it......they just completely give up on life.

Anyone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it the case that something like that 50% of homeless people have both mental illness and substance abuse problems. That's some evil synergy there.

Let's be clear about something okay? The fact that you were had a little vacation on skid row (that is according to your description, right?) does not make you an expert on homelessness. Regardless of your personal experience, the data seems pretty clear that Housing First initiatives do work.

40% of homeless people in LA are children. 20% of Homeless people in LA are victims of domestic violence. 25% of homeless people in LA suffer from physical disabilities. 25% of homeless people in LA are mentally ill. In short, there are lots of reasons that people become homeless (and the have little to do with how smart or educated they are.) 30 to 50% of people who are homeless are chronic drug users, did they use before they became homeless, after they became homeless, or was it incidental to their homelessness? I don't know and guess what? You don't either.

People need help. Even people who have given up on themselves need help. You have said very little about the circumstances of your homelessness, but I am betting that you didn't get out of it all by yourself - or if you did you are the one and only exceptional human being (which sort of makes me wonder how you became homeless in the first place, with all that character and personal strength).

Be skeptical if you want, but your conclusions about why people become and stay homeless amounts to nothing more than prejudice. It is the kind of prejudice that predominates in programs that do little more than keep people homeless.

The Housing First movement is an authentic, effective effort that helps people find permanent housing. Do they become "good citizens"? Well, I don't know. What we do know is that they get and keep housing. Who are we to judge beyond that?

i'm still waiting for the part where the people of Skid Row are quoted on their thoughts about their own lives.

that should provide plenty of time to start a study on why the people who study people, fellow human beings, in terms of problems and solutions, symptoms and disease, almost always forget to ask questions about their own viewpoint, about their own culture and belief system.

Godfrey Reggio speaks on a similar theme in interview segments on the dvd releases of Koyaanisqatsi and Poyaqqatsi. Baraka is a film that reminded me that Democracy, capitalism, consumerism, and all that has come with it is nothing the moment I forget I am a fellow human traveller on this planet in this time, in this manner.

.......lets stop the fighting first hand. I never claimed to be an expert on the homeless;only on what I have seen and been around. I use to work at a place which catered to recovering drug addicts ; mainly heroin users so I saw alot of people from different walks of life.I have known trust fund kids living on the streets next to your average disturbed homeless person. I do not argue that people need help but they also need to help themselves instead of milking the system.Statistics and percentages do not get you to know the people you are trying to help. You do not understand street culture unless you have been there in the gut undercover....try that instead of looking on from a distance . Go live with them and get a first hand experience. My situation was due to economics in which I was forced to live that way for a short while ..........and in turn I learned alot from it. All I am saying is that some people embrace the life.There are people I have tried to help but they did not want it;thet preferred and were cognitive of the way they were living. I use to go down to tent city at night and hand out supplies but the shelters asked us to stop doing it;why I do not know.

I have spent years working with the mentally ill and addicted homeless. From that experience I would put the number of people who are homeless as a lifestyle choice at less than 5%.

I am also aware the many drug users appear recalcitrant. My experience has been that that appearance rises more from the perspective and approach of the people trying to "help" them, than it does from them.

In any case, I have, in the course of the time I have worked with these folks never encountred a person who did not want to improve their lot in life and change the circumstances of their existance.

........so what do you do with the percentage that cannot be helped;meaning the incurable..?? I think most people in prison have it better than the homeless; you know shelter , consistent feeding, drugs...etc..etc.... was there not a time in the 80s when alot of mental facilities were closed and the people just released upon the streetS....??

There were two waves of hospital closures, in the 60's when people were just streeted and in the late 80's when they were supposed to be released to programs in communities. The technology has changed quite a bit in the intervening years, but efforts now focus on the basics, a place to live and some kind of work.

Prison - which is now the largest provider of shelter for the mentally ill is no good alternative. People in prison are victimized, abused and harmed in ways that are incomparable to anything they would experience on the street.

The "incurable" is actually quite a small number. Most people can be helped if you fiqure out the right approach. For that small number who cannot, well it is their right to refuse treatment and if they are able to make it on the streets and stay out of jail, that is a form of success.

The point of my posts has been to say that there are great methods out there for helping people - insisting that they be clean and sober before you get them housing is not among them.