How Utah Reduced Chronic Homelessness
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Re: How Utah Reduced Chronic Homelessness
#2Imo housing first has always been the best option. Think about how hamstrung people feel trying to conduct their lives out of hotels... now imaging being homeless.
Re: How Utah Reduced Chronic Homelessness
#3I wonder if better/more accessible health care would eliminate homeless as a side effect. It seems much of the homeless in Boston, anyway is mental health/health related.
I doubt anyone will say that what Utah did here is bad, but you have to wonder what's preventing a more comprehensive solution (the answer is politics, but ideally you'd get a more specific answer).
Re: How Utah Reduced Chronic Homelessness
#4[2015]
Re: How Utah Reduced Chronic Homelessness
#5> Utah says it won 'war on homelessness', but shelters tell a different story
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/apr/27/utah-homeles...
Re: How Utah Reduced Chronic Homelessness
#6> For Joe Ortega, it means ... getting used to being alone.
I would not have figured that moving off the street would be more isolating than living on the street. Don't these housing options mean that someone else is living just in an adjacent room or across the hall?
Re: How Utah Reduced Chronic Homelessness
#7I wonder if better/more accessible health care would eliminate homeless as a side effect. It seems much of the homeless in Boston, anyway is mental health/health related. I doubt anyone will say that what Utah did here is bad , but you have to wonder what's preventing a more comprehensive solution (the answer is politics, but ideally you'd get a more specific answer).
Some yes, some no.
Let's remember that mental health care is not as easy as a magic pill. It can take months to stabilize someone. Someone with schizophrenia may have difficulty staying on a regimen. (The side effects are bad in many cases, and the drugs aren't a magic cure.) Some people would do best in a psychiatric ward more permanently, for example, but that's including housing.
Bipolar treatment can stop working and it can take months to get things readjusted.
Inversely, homelessness exacerbates mental illness in many ways, and stabilizing the housing situation goes a long way toward stabilizing the mental illness.
Re: How Utah Reduced Chronic Homelessness
#8I'm confused by this. My brother has an office in downtown SLC near the Rio Grande building, and it's pretty clear when I visit him that there are hundreds of homeless people living in that neighborhood alone. Pioneer Park is also covered in homeless people.
If that is less than 200 people either I don't understand what "homeless" means or something is... off. How does one define "chronic homelessness?"
I really want it to be true. I have seen first hand how hard so many people work to help the homeless; through nonprofits, the government, and the LDS Church. But declaring "victory" over homelessness rings pretty hollow if you walk the streets of Salt Lake City.
Re: How Utah Reduced Chronic Homelessness
#9I'm confused by this. My brother has an office in downtown SLC near the Rio Grande building, and it's pretty clear when I visit him that there are hundreds of homeless people living in that neighborhood alone. Pioneer Park is also covered in homeless people. If that is less than 200 people either I don't understand what "homeless" means or something is... off. How does one define "chronic homelessness?" I really want…
One thing that sticks in my mind after a business trip to SLC (SaltConf last year) were the ubiquitous red signs urging people to turn away panhandlers. If people actually take notice, I'd be willing to bet this results in the problem being hidden a lot more than it is in some other cities.
The admittedly surface impression I got was that the city is hostile to the homeless.
Re: How Utah Reduced Chronic Homelessness
#10I wonder if better/more accessible health care would eliminate homeless as a side effect. It seems much of the homeless in Boston, anyway is mental health/health related. I doubt anyone will say that what Utah did here is bad , but you have to wonder what's preventing a more comprehensive solution (the answer is politics, but ideally you'd get a more specific answer).
The line between safe housing and healthcare really starts to blur when you start talking about people with severe mental health issues. Another side is that debt from expensive medical care can result in homelessness. It all should be considered basic welfare that we should be providing instead of gutting.