Earlier quoted context omitted.
> My entire childhood growing up I never saw a single homeless person despite growing up in an impoverished rural area You didn't look hard enough. Here's an article about homeless people in Ulan Bator, where temperatures reach -40. http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/07/underground-and-off... http://visura.co/user/MikeA/view/40-96
>Evangelical groups, he said, lure the homeless with offers of food, clothing and showers. But their promises of salvation are ignored, with the men resting inside for a few days before returning to the streets and their stupors. The government, he said, has one hospital where alcoholics are taken for up to two years. But there are few opportunities for work once they get out, so the path often leads back to the stre…
To give you a personal experience: The other day, I ran into five or six panhandlers on the walk between my apartment and the local Target. Without exception, each asked for change and each -without exception- either wordlessly accepted my refusal, or offered some variant of "Okay. Have a nice day.".
Panhandlers and homeless are people like any other. Some of them are obnoxious as shit, just like any other random slice of humanity. Some of them are gaming the system. Some of them are in temporary, but dire need. Some of them will always be in need due to some sort of serious, lasting damage.
I heartily agree that our country has failed a huge chunk of the poor who are in need of psychiatric services. Reinstating funding for effective, humane, state-run mental hospitals is probably about as important as setting up a self-sustaining colony on Mars. [0]
> My entire childhood growing up I never saw a single homeless person...
My parents also shielded me from all sorts of ugly and unfortunate things while I was growing up. I'm not sure that this decision was wise, but it's far too late to change it now. It wasn't until much, much later in life that I learned a little about how to look for the homeless, beggars, and squatters, and the measures that The State employs to try to keep them out of the public eye.
> If [the homeless] choose to [continue to live in homeless outreach programs]...
You missed an important sentence in the bit that you quoted:
>> But there are few opportunities for work once they get out, so the path often leads back to the streets and drink.
If you don't have a way to make enough money to get a place, it's very, very hard to get a place. If you get a dollar a day, and you spend a dollar a day, you're pretty much never going to be able to materially improve your situation on your own.
[0] That is to say, very, very important.