"I want to watch you pee into this paper cup to see if you have been taking drugs."

Homeless Shelters:
A Feeble Response to Homelessness
Betty Reid Mandell


HOW WOULD YOU LIKE SOMEONE to say to you, "Come with me into the bathroom? I want to watch you pee into this paper cup to see if you have been taking drugs." That is what is happening in some shelters for homeless families in Massachusetts. Steve Valero, a lawyer at Greater Boston Legal Services, is indignant about this and has been telling shelters that it is an illegal practice. Some shelter directors claim they had no idea it was illegal. They thought it would be better to have all residents tested for drugs rather than singling out one person.

Valero said that he tells those directors they have it backwards. It might be legal to single out a person whom you suspect of being on drugs if that person was behaving as if she is drugged -- for example, if she seems completely stoned and is neglecting her kids. But to test everybody routinely is an illegal invasion of privacy.

One shelter resident said that she had to undergo drug testing every week for over 40 weeks, with a staff member watching her pee, even though she has never taken drugs.

The war on drugs has invaded shelters for the homeless, treating homeless people as criminals. In this article I discuss the causes of homelessness, how the shelter system, which was presumably a temporary response to homelessness, has become institutionalized as the dominant response, and how it is used for social control. I discuss the various approaches to ending homelessness, many of them distractions from the main cause -- poverty.

~ snip ~

Blaming the Victim

I AM BEMUSED by announcements that come over the radio from time to time by foundations or institutes saying they are studying the causes of homelessness and seeking cures. In fact, the causes are quite simple and have been studied quite enough. Homelessness is caused by poverty, insufficient affordable housing and insufficient money to pay for housing, and a weak or nonexistent safety net of income maintenance and support services. It is true that many of the homeless are alcoholics or drug addicts, but they need a home while they are coping with their problem, and they need treatment programs, and both are in short supply. It is also true that many of the homeless have emotional problems. Who wouldn't have emotional problems if they were homeless? But they need a home while they are coping with their problems and they need support services. Both are in short supply. A disproportionate number of foster children who have "aged out" of the foster care system are homeless. A disproportionate number of veterans are homeless. It is the fault of the government that they are in this condition, but the government has deserted them. A large percentage of homeless women have been abused.29 While they may need a temporary refuge to escape the abuser and counseling to help them heal, they also need permanent housing, childcare, a job that pays a living wage, and social supports.

The focus on individual problems shifts attention away from structural problems and obscures the real causes of homelessness. It leads to stereotyping of homeless people as deviant and degenerate, drunk or drugged, or crazy. When these stereotypes are embedded in people's minds, they view every beggar as a scammer. Stereotyping leads to criminalizing the homeless, allowing cities to sweep them from the streets.30 It gives implicit permission to delinquent thugs to beat them up. One man made a series of documentaries in which homeless men fight each other, while being plied with liquor. Reality show producers took the homeless on shopping trips as a subject of amusement. On the Boston radio station WBCN-FM, DJs Opie and Anthony ran an event called the Homeless Shopping Spree, taking street people to a high-end shopping center, giving them liquor and money to shop, and ridiculing their purchases for the amusement of their listeners. Boston's Mayor Menino publicly expressed his outrage at the show.


Much, much more to read @ http://www.wpunj.edu/~newpol/issue43/BMandell43.htm#n43



"Homelessness is caused by poverty, insufficient affordable housing and insufficient money to pay for housing, and a weak or nonexistent safety net of income maintenance and support services."


"Homelessness is caused by poverty, insufficient affordable housing and insufficient money to pay for housing, and a weak or nonexistent safety net of income maintenance and support services."


"Homelessness is caused by poverty, insufficient affordable housing and insufficient money to pay for housing, and a weak or nonexistent safety net of income maintenance and support services."


"Homelessness is caused by poverty, insufficient affordable housing and insufficient money to pay for housing, and a weak or nonexistent safety net of income maintenance and support services."


"Homelessness is caused by poverty, insufficient affordable housing and insufficient money to pay for housing, and a weak or nonexistent safety net of income maintenance and support services."

Can also be caused by serious substance abuse problems. that being said the whole watching someone pee in a cup thing is a little extreme. they don't even do that on a drug test for employment.

... and obscures the real causes of homelessness."

"Homelessness is caused by poverty, insufficient affordable housing and insufficient money to pay for housing, and a weak or nonexistent safety net of income maintenance and support services."


"Homelessness is caused by poverty, insufficient affordable housing and insufficient money to pay for housing, and a weak or nonexistent safety net of income maintenance and support services."


"Homelessness is caused by poverty, insufficient affordable housing and insufficient money to pay for housing, and a weak or nonexistent safety net of income maintenance and support services."


"Homelessness is caused by poverty, insufficient affordable housing and insufficient money to pay for housing, and a weak or nonexistent safety net of income maintenance and support services."


"Homelessness is caused by poverty, insufficient affordable housing and insufficient money to pay for housing, and a weak or nonexistent safety net of income maintenance and support services."

Drug use doesn't cause homelessness.

And if staying off drugs prevented homelessness, that would be great news for lot of residents of shelters like these!

I really wish the canards of how homeless people are addicts/mentally ill/choose to be would die out. I can't tell you how many people, including progressives, will repeat these RW myths about it.

I've seen at least one homeless person on this board try to make these points, though they did so very inartfully and with a big chip on their shoulder. But now I see it with great clarity, thanks to Sapphire Blue's laser focus on that one line:

The focus on individual problems shifts attention away from structural problems.

And, having fallen or been pushed all the way to the bottom, don't you dare be trying to feel good. A homeless man may work for shit wages on a construction site all day in the hot sun, but he may not have a cold beer when he gets off. Apparently, he has forfeited all right to be a human being, and must now submit to the whims of whatever religious martinets have got hold of him. He must do what they say or go away. But that's a minor point. The main thing is:

The focus on individual problems shifts attention away from structural problems.

I'd like to print that out in 48-point type and hang it on the wall for a few days, until it sinks in completely. It seems so obvious, but it's not. Good thread so far. I'm loathe to read the rest, because I think I know where it's going to head.

I'm thankful if I helped in any way!

That deserves repeating.

The way this has showed up in my own life is, when I tell people I work but don't have any medical insurance through my employer, they may urge me to try to get a benefited position at my current employer (Gosh, I never thought of that ) or imply that I'M the problem because I'M the one who doesn't have group medical, therefore there's something wrong with me.

Habitual drug use is listed as a major cause of homelessness.

That said, this is primarily due to the illicit status of most habitual drugs. The prohibition of narcotics and other addictive substances has created a market in which prices are grossly inflated. Prior to their prohibition, narcotics were relatively inexpensive, mildly addictive, and relatively safe. Now, they are expensive, highly addictive, and range from mildly toxic to lethal (due to lack of regulation in synthesis and the addition of unsafe cutting agents by unregulated suppliers).

Before they were banned outright, narcotics were widely available in various tonics, drinks, tobacco products, what have you. It is safe to assume that a large portion of the American populace was once at least mildly addicted to these substances in some manner or another. Despite that, the populace was still relatively productive; people didn't lose their jobs for consuming laudenum or smoking "coke-arettes". Today, the illicit status of drugs makes it virtually impossible for those with such addictions to maintain jobs.

Thus, the combination of inflated prices and a taboo on drug addiction have created an environment whereby it is very easy for those addicted to drugs to become homeless.

A very large number of homeless people are CHILDREN. They are neither alikies nor druggies.

It's just an old tale used to blame and ignore homeless people.

Drug addiction is not something I condemn, nor is it a reason to ignore the homeless. The fact of the matter remains, a significant portion of those addicted to narcotics are homeless. This doesn't suggest the majority of homeless people are drug addicts, merely that "homeless" is an umbrella term encompassing many demographics, of which "drug addict" happens to be a part.

We all get judged, and if you can imagine, trying to constantly defend yourself against all these judgments, even though they don't pertain to you, just because it's the general perception.

If you actually talk with homeless people, and listen to what they say about their experience, you will find that this is a HUGE problem for all of us.

Again, I will repeat... I'm glad *you* aren't judging people.... but most 'Murkins do, and it hurts us tremendously.

To clarify, I do not condone the actions mentioned in the OP, nor was it my intention to justify said actions by my little history lesson.

However, homelessness, and poverty in general, cannot be linked to a singular cause. It is a dynamic problem resulting from a variety of causes, some independent of one another. One of those many causes happens to be chemical dependence, and this can be backed up with empirical evidence. Therefore, it is irresponsible to neglect this cause because one fears how the public will perceive it. To do so is not only disingenuous, but irresponsible as well.

To further illustrate this point, I would like to share a story involving a graduate student I once knew. This student was earning his Ph.D. in criminology when he stumbled across some findings which seemed contrary to his liberal world-view. He confronted his Principal Investigator, confiding that he was afraid to publish this information, that it may lead policy-makers down a path he objected to on a moral level. His PI wisely advised him, "If you don't publish this information, somebody else will. It is better you do it and try to reconcile it with your preexisting opinions, than have somebody publish it in the context of his or her world-view."

Thus, I feel the best way to approach the issue of drug addiction amongst the homeless is to admit that it is, to at least some degree, prevalent. From there, we can discuss how to fix the problem in a sane, rational, objective manner.

... through one woman's eyes:

-------------------------------------

Criminal of Poverty: Growing Up Homeless in America
Posted by Sapphire Blue in General Discussion
Wed Feb 21st 2007, 08:46 AM


Criminal of Poverty: Growing Up Homeless in America
by Lisa (Tiny) Gray-Garcia


Lisa Gray-Garcia (at left) and Laure McElroy demonstrate for affordable housing at the S.F. Federal Building, during the release of the WRAP report, Without Housing.


(excerpt)

It is illegal to be homeless in America. Poverty is an act of violence. Like thousands of unheard, unseen, very low-income and no-income children, families and individuals living in poverty in America, I have been incarcerated for those crimes. I am a criminal of poverty.

I have authored a book, Criminal of Poverty, that tells my story, my mother's story and my grandmother's story -- three generations of poor women in America. It focuses on the criminalization of poor families, poor women, mothers and children through the telling of one family's struggle with poverty and homelessness.

My story also illuminates the root causes of poverty through the story of three generations: my grandmother, an Irish immigrant, teenage mother and battered woman in pre-New Deal patriarchal America; my mother, a mixed-race child surrendered to foster care and survivor of abuse who tried for many years to escape her childhood torture until one day the struggle became too great; and finally me, a daughter raised by a poor single mother who lived "one paycheck away from homelessness" until finally there was no longer a paycheck to keep us housed.

(snip)

The clearest example of this process was the "clean-up" of New York's Times Square under the mayoral administration of Rudolph Giuliani. In the 1990s, while HUD was reducing its overall budget by 90 percent, and simultaneously demolishing housing projects and exchanging housing for mostly useless and unredeemable Section 8 vouchers, Mayor Giuliani launched his Clean-Up New York campaign.

He began with a proclamation: "Panhandlers, peddlers, and prostitutes must be cleaned out." Giuliani made a public link between sex-workers, unlicensed vendors, street artists and panhandlers. He presided over a racist, classist effort to purge New York City of any visible trace of its vast number of poor and low-income inhabitants in a push to create a Disneyfied, tourist-friendly city.

Giuliani's "clean-up campaign" was so successful in achieving that goal that it became the model for cities across America as they strove for more tourist dollars, redevelopment money and real estate increases.

Please read this entire article @ http://www.thestreetspirit.org/Dec2006/criminal.htm


http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Sapphire%20Bl...

-------------------------------------


Riktor, since you seem to believe that drug addiction causes homelessness, why isn't every drug addict homeless? Why do a 'significant' number of drug addicts live in luxury? Any why is it that they can afford the more expensive drugs?

The best way to approach the issue of drug addiction amongst drug addicts from ALL walks of life is to admit that it is a healthcare issue, and address it as a healthcare issue.

Riktor, I wish you would walk away from everything that you have, everything that you know, live on the street for a while, and LEARN something about the reality that so many people actually live.


Indigo Blue (Sapphire Blue's daughter)

Riktor, since you seem to believe that drug addiction causes homelessness, why isn't every drug addict homeless? Why do a 'significant' number of drug addicts live in luxury? Any why is it that they can afford the more expensive drugs?


Nowhere did I say drug addiction CAUSES homelessness. You are confusing causation with correlation- a principal misunderstanding of the nature of statistics.

As I've already stated, the chief problem with illicit drugs is that they are illicit. It is illegal possess, sell, or be under the influence of them. Thus, one who is addicted to drugs will have a difficult time finding employment due to random-drug testing, pre-hire drug testing, possibility of arrest, and the social stigma that is attached to being addicted to drugs.

Wealthy drug addicts are unlikely to face these situations. They are hired straight into senior positions (no drug testing) and they are less likely to viewed with suspicion by the police (no arrests). Thus, they can afford an expensive drug habit because they do not face the same risks poor drug users do.

The best way to approach the issue of drug addiction amongst drug addicts from ALL walks of life is to admit that it is a healthcare issue, and address it as a healthcare issue.

That is precisely my point.

Drug addiction did not become a major problem for this country until it was declared a criminal behavior.

Riktor, I wish you would walk away from everything that you have, everything that you know, live on the street for a while, and LEARN something about the reality that so many people actually live.

You don't know anything about me, where I've been, or what I've needed to do to survive, so don't presume you have some moral authority with which to patronize me.

"However, homelessness, and poverty in general, cannot be linked to a singular cause. It is a dynamic problem resulting from a variety of causes, some independent of one another. One of those many causes happens to be chemical dependence,"


Regarding treating drug addiction as a healthcare issue, I'm talking about the adverse health effects of drug addiction. I don't think that was your point. Your point seemed to be the legal status.


You're right, I don't know anything about you, where you've been, or what you've needed to do to survive, and I don't presume that I have some moral authority with which to patronize you. I only know what you've posted here, and that's what I'm responding to.

However, homelessness, and poverty in general, cannot be linked to a singular cause. It is a dynamic problem resulting from a variety of causes, some independent of one another. One of those many causes happens to be chemical dependence,

Alright, you got me. That was a poor choice of words on my part, and that did not convey what I was trying to get across. I apologize.

What I'm trying to get at here is that drug addiction plays a part in the homelessness of some individuals. This is so because of elitist nature of drug laws and the bigoted-manner of their enforcement.

I don't know how up to speed you are on social psychology, so I'll give you a crash course (and I hope I don't trip over my tongue again):

Fundamental Attribution Error: The tendency of human beings to attribute the failings of others to internal, dispositional causes.

Basically, if you see a person run a red light and you call him an "asshole", you've made the assumption he failed to act in a normative manner because he's a jerk (internal, dispositional). Not many people would guess the fellow ran the red light because his brakes failed (an external, situational cause).

"The American Dream" is built entirely on this erroneous assertion. Americans generally believe those who are wealthy are so because they are hard working, while those who are poor are so because they are lazy. The Elite like this because it gives the false impression anyone can be wealthy with enough hard work. At the same time, the public derides the poor for being poor; the public becomes less sympathetic to the plight of the unfortunate, as they see the unfortunate as being so by choice.

The same applies to drug addicts. We are led to believe those addicted to drugs are "bad people". This compounds problems for homeless addicts, who doubly-loathed as "lazy" and "bad".

The stereotype of the drug-addled homeless is propagated by the Fundamental Attribution Error, as people look for internal causes for homelessness, a reason to believe people are homeless by choice.

My point is that drug addiction is an external, situational factor in homelessness. Drugs were made illegal with little to no moral justification, and in effect, turned a great many Americans into criminals- particularly the lower classes. Even today, drug laws are skewed to punish the poor more than rich. Possession of coke will get you a slap on the wrist, while possession of crack will get you serious prison-time. The police actively patrol poor neighborhoods in search of drug-dealers and users, while never setting foot in wealthier neighborhoods.

The only way to fix this, and effectively take away the stereotype of the homeless addict, is to decriminalize drugs and offer treatment to addicts.

(And thank you for stressing "some".) And it plays a part in the circumstances of SOME individuals in all walks of life. We run into a problem when it is considered a CAUSE for a person's circumstance, as you explained so well in your reply.


You suggest decriminalizing drugs to fix or take away the stereotype of the "homeless addict"; I don't think that's a solution for fixing or taking away any stereotype. Alcohol is legal, yet homeless people get stereotyped as alcoholics. We've got to stop stereotyping people. We've got to stop blaming the victim.



"The focus on individual problems shifts attention away from structural problems and obscures the real causes of homelessness. It leads to stereotyping of homeless people as deviant and degenerate, drunk or drugged, or crazy."

"Homelessness is caused by poverty, insufficient affordable housing and insufficient money to pay for housing, and a weak or nonexistent safety net of income maintenance and support services."

Alcoholics are still viewed negatively as alcoholism is not seen as a serious medical condition by most people. Again, thanks to our society's reliance on the Fundamental Attribution Error, alcoholics are viewed as being the architects of their own misery.

Properly educating the public of the exact nature of addictive behaviors certainly couldn't hurt in remedying this problem. After all, no one assumes demonic possession is to blame for sneezing these days....

and "mentally ill".

After all, what do *I* matter????????????????

Let me know when you're able to actually HEAR the suffering of others, rather than preach from your right brain "liberal" stance.

You're hurling hostility at me for pointing out there's something seriously fucked up with our system, simply because it lends a minute amount of credibility to a stereotype... a stereotype we both agree is not true for a great many homeless Americans.

As I've said in other posts, our government will stop at nothing to preserve the belief that "you are what you make of yourself". This is the "American Dream", the lie the public is told to cover up the otherwise glaringly obvious fact most people have little to no control over their destiny.

If drugs weren't in the picture, the government would assign the public some other internal cause for homelessness, anything to make most people believe that the homeless are homeless by choice, not by circumstance.

Right now, drugs are an easy answer. D.A.R.E., the police, the government, churches, and professional athletes have beat it into peoples' heads that drug users are "bad people". Thus, if a drug user happens to be homeless, he is homeless because he is a "bad person", and is undeserving of sympathy.

See where I am going with this?

Drug laws have been written to criminalize a section of poorer America. The punishment for crack cocaine is more severe than the punishment for possession of cocaine, because crack is a "poor" drug and coke is a drug of the middle and upper classes. Meanwhile, Marijuana was made illegal as a means of encouraging poor Mexican-Americans to leave this country.

Thus, a number of drug addicts wind up homeless because that is an intended consequence of the legislation of drug laws. You aren't going to change this by pretending the situation doesn't exist, especially not for the sake trying to save face in front of people who have been taught since birth that "all homeless people are homeless 'cause they're lazy".

If you want to erase the stereotype of the drug-addled homeless, we need to decriminalize drugs and offer treatment to those who are addicted to them.

I took offense at your words that alcoholism and drug addiction are "CAUSES" of homelessness. I hurled NOTHING at you.

What I'm trying to get people to recognize is that it's time to step away from these labels... from the "causes".

The Cause Of Homelessness Is A Lack Of Homes

PERIOD.

EXCLAMATION!

The Cause Of HOmelessness Is Systemic, NOT Individualistic!

Continuing the focus on this damned crap of "homelessness is caused by ..... alcholism and drug addiction" leads to the very topic of this thread... demanding ALL homeless people be demeaned and insulted.. by drug tests, etc.

BASTA!!

"The focus on individual problems shifts attention away from structural problems and obscures the real causes of homelessness."

"Homelessness is caused by poverty, insufficient affordable housing and insufficient money to pay for housing, and a weak or nonexistent safety net of income maintenance and support services."


"Homelessness is caused by poverty, insufficient affordable housing and insufficient money to pay for housing, and a weak or nonexistent safety net of income maintenance and support services."


"Homelessness is caused by poverty, insufficient affordable housing and insufficient money to pay for housing, and a weak or nonexistent safety net of income maintenance and support services."


"Homelessness is caused by poverty, insufficient affordable housing and insufficient money to pay for housing, and a weak or nonexistent safety net of income maintenance and support services."


"Homelessness is caused by poverty, insufficient affordable housing and insufficient money to pay for housing, and a weak or nonexistent safety net of income maintenance and support services."

especially the insured, are on prescription
mood-altering drugs.

Discontent is our natural state. It is
natural and common for people to go to
any length to dispel it.

Alcohol, Prozac, Marijuana.

Why should some be denied succor and
others given room and board and mercy?

Agreed. Prescription drugs are far more dangerous than a joint, but because a doctor pushes them on you, it seems ok.

just that people want to feel "better".

Always have, always will.

Once you figure out what mortality
entails...well...it's DEPRESSING!



Can't see how Xanax is any better
than THC.....

You'd be surprised at how many of them try to sneak in a clean piss test.

for addiction, alcoholism, and mental illness. Let's not pretend soc/psych problems aren't part of the equation at all.

... which we ALL have a right to. And addiction, alcoholism, and mental illness are prevalent throughout ALL of society, regardless of income or housing status.

Let's not stereotype.

It isn't stereotyping. As someone who worked in the addiction field for ten years, I've seen the homelessness that results from addiction and the inability to hold a job. You can't separate them. Don't let political correctness kill people.

Why are you even stressing these issues? The author of the article that I posted didn't deny that drugs, alcohol, and mental illness affect homeless people. This is what she wrote:


"It is true that many of the homeless are alcoholics or drug addicts, but they need a home while they are coping with their problem, and they need treatment programs, and both are in short supply. It is also true that many of the homeless have emotional problems. Who wouldn't have emotional problems if they were homeless? But they need a home while they are coping with their problems and they need support services. Both are in short supply."


I hope that we can agree that these are healthcare issues, and that everyone, regardless of income or housing status, has the right to adequate healthcare. And that we ALL have a right to housing.

I didn't say *all*, why do you say I said that when I didn't?

I simply added to your picture. Homelessness is not just a poverty issue, it is also a lack of behavioral and mental health services. I am just as tired of the mischaracterization of the whole picture as you are.

We're outraged that the VA has stopped diagnosing PTSD because we know it leads to vet's homelessness, but when we talk about homelessness we're not supposed to mention mental illness. It's pure insanity. It doesn't help. Problems are complicated and the entire issue needs to be addressed honestly. When you misrepresent a problem to somebody who knows better, you lose all credibility.

Again, this is what the author of the article wrote (and what I posted):

"It is true that many of the homeless are alcoholics or drug addicts, but they need a home while they are coping with their problem, and they need treatment programs, and both are in short supply. It is also true that many of the homeless have emotional problems. Who wouldn't have emotional problems if they were homeless? But they need a home while they are coping with their problems and they need support services. Both are in short supply."

---------------------------------------

Why do I say you said *all* when you didn't? Because you said "You can't separate them.", and that's what it sounded like you meant.

Yes, the entire issue needs to be addressed honestly. Without stereotyping, without blame. But with compassion and dignity.

You felt it important enough to repeat five times. You appeared to be repudiating the idea that mental illness and addictions are big factors in homelessness, that, rather, they are just stereotypes. The truth is, as it pertains to the article you posted and problems presented, the professionals dealing with homelessness, you can't separate them.

"Homelessness is caused by poverty, insufficient affordable housing and insufficient money to pay for housing, and a weak or nonexistent safety net of income maintenance and support services."


"Homelessness is caused by poverty, insufficient affordable housing and insufficient money to pay for housing, and a weak or nonexistent safety net of income maintenance and support services."


"Homelessness is caused by poverty, insufficient affordable housing and insufficient money to pay for housing, and a weak or nonexistent safety net of income maintenance and support services."


"Homelessness is caused by poverty, insufficient affordable housing and insufficient money to pay for housing, and a weak or nonexistent safety net of income maintenance and support services."


"Homelessness is caused by poverty, insufficient affordable housing and insufficient money to pay for housing, and a weak or nonexistent safety net of income maintenance and support services."


"Homelessness is caused by poverty, insufficient affordable housing and insufficient money to pay for housing, and a weak or nonexistent safety net of income maintenance and support services."


"Homelessness is caused by poverty, insufficient affordable housing and insufficient money to pay for housing, and a weak or nonexistent safety net of income maintenance and support services."


"Homelessness is caused by poverty, insufficient affordable housing and insufficient money to pay for housing, and a weak or nonexistent safety net of income maintenance and support services."


"Homelessness is caused by poverty, insufficient affordable housing and insufficient money to pay for housing, and a weak or nonexistent safety net of income maintenance and support services."


"Homelessness is caused by poverty, insufficient affordable housing and insufficient money to pay for housing, and a weak or nonexistent safety net of income maintenance and support services."


"Homelessness is caused by poverty, insufficient affordable housing and insufficient money to pay for housing, and a weak or nonexistent safety net of income maintenance and support services."


"Homelessness is caused by poverty, insufficient affordable housing and insufficient money to pay for housing, and a weak or nonexistent safety net of income maintenance and support services."


"Homelessness is caused by poverty, insufficient affordable housing and insufficient money to pay for housing, and a weak or nonexistent safety net of income maintenance and support services."


"Homelessness is caused by poverty, insufficient affordable housing and insufficient money to pay for housing, and a weak or nonexistent safety net of income maintenance and support services."


"Homelessness is caused by poverty, insufficient affordable housing and insufficient money to pay for housing, and a weak or nonexistent safety net of income maintenance and support services."


"Homelessness is caused by poverty, insufficient affordable housing and insufficient money to pay for housing, and a weak or nonexistent safety net of income maintenance and support services."


"Homelessness is caused by poverty, insufficient affordable housing and insufficient money to pay for housing, and a weak or nonexistent safety net of income maintenance and support services."


"Homelessness is caused by poverty, insufficient affordable housing and insufficient money to pay for housing, and a weak or nonexistent safety net of income maintenance and support services."


"Homelessness is caused by poverty, insufficient affordable housing and insufficient money to pay for housing, and a weak or nonexistent safety net of income maintenance and support services."


"Homelessness is caused by poverty, insufficient affordable housing and insufficient money to pay for housing, and a weak or nonexistent safety net of income maintenance and support services."


"Homelessness is caused by poverty, insufficient affordable housing and insufficient money to pay for housing, and a weak or nonexistent safety net of income maintenance and support services."


"Homelessness is caused by poverty, insufficient affordable housing and insufficient money to pay for housing, and a weak or nonexistent safety net of income maintenance and support services."


"Homelessness is caused by poverty, insufficient affordable housing and insufficient money to pay for housing, and a weak or nonexistent safety net of income maintenance and support services."


"Homelessness is caused by poverty, insufficient affordable housing and insufficient money to pay for housing, and a weak or nonexistent safety net of income maintenance and support services."


"Homelessness is caused by poverty, insufficient affordable housing and insufficient money to pay for housing, and a weak or nonexistent safety net of income maintenance and support services."



How's this for a start?

Which I would happily yell a thousand times if it would get through to somebody too.

You're welcome to yell with me!

I thought it meant energy assistance, food stamps, etc. Your statement says nothing about mental health and social services because your purpose is to pretend one has nothing to do with the other. You have to tell the story of ALL homeless people, and they aren't all dealing with the same problems. Life is complex.

... or mentally ill?

And what about the rest of society? Why don't you talk about people from all walks of life, or are all non-homeless people clean, sober, and mentally fit?

Think about this: You're homeless. (Yes, YOU.) You're told: "Come with me into the bathroom? I want to watch you pee into this paper cup to see if you have been taking drugs." What would your reaction be?

See my post below. The truth matters. And I have been homeless, fyi. I don't think ANYBODY should be forced to pee in a cup, unless their job endangers others. But that's got nothing to do with your claim that the only problem is not enough money, unless you include not enough money for TREATMENT in the mix.

... or have mental health issues, you can have a roof over your head if you have enough money to pay the rent or the mortgage. Period.

Is that your solution? Addicts and alcoholics eventually lose their jobs, dual diagnosis have it even harder. It is just a reality. It's part of the problem. It doesn't help anybody to deny it. I support Housing First, because it works better. People respond betterr to various treatments if they don't have all the problems of street life too. If interim homeless shelters worked better, I'd support that. There's nothing wrong with having problems. That's the "shame" we should be confronting, not pretending problems don't exist.

The author starts out telling about a shelter for homeless FAMILIES. It's not a shelter for drug addicts or drunks. Members of these families have to be drug tested to stay in the shelter.

Now, sandnsea, you said somewhere in this thread that you've been homeless. Did you have to stay in a shelter? Did you have to pee in a cup in front of a shelter worker to stay there? Are YOU a drug user or a drunk or mentally ill? How about proving on a weekly basis that you're not?

Yes, sandnsea, there are homeless people who ARE drug addicts, drunks, or mentally ill, just as there are people from all walks of life who have those same issues. The rich and/or powerful person, though, is not homeless. Look at george w bush.

You must be a real joy for homeless people to be around.

Some day, you may find yourself looking at these words of yours, and realizing that you are now on the other side of the mirror.

No amount of money will "cure" a mental illness. The recovery rate for Schizophrenics hovers around 50%; meaning, 50% of people diagnosed with Schizophrenia will be able to regain enough mental acuity to provide for themselves. The remaining 50% are fucked. If you're going to be a part of that 50%, you better make sure you have a fat inheritance to sit on, otherwise no amount of cash is going to provide for you the rest of life, especially when you are judged to be mentally incapable of managing your assets.

Of course, this figure doesn't take into account Schizophrenics that never, ever see a mental health professional. People afflicted by this condition do not realize they are exhibiting abnormal behaviors, and it often takes an intervention of some sort to get schizophrenics to go in for treatment.

Next, we have personality disorders. People afflicted by personality disorders have a similarly difficult time holding onto gainful employment as they are typically incapable of working with others.

I could thumb through my copy of the DSM and give you a laundry list of permanently debilitating mental illnesses, but I think it is a waste of our time. The fact of the matter is, around 1% of the American population is so wealthy that if they were to fall victim of a mental or physical illness they could live off their assets until death. Most people NEED to work, for income and health benefits. If a mental or physical disease renders one incapable finding employ, that person is, generally, in deep shit.

The poster said,

"If you've got enough money, you won't be homeless. If you're a drug user, a drinker,
... or have mental health issues, you can have a roof over your head if you have enough money to pay the rent or the mortgage. Period."

Nowhere did the post say that money will "cure" a mental illness.

It is statistically unlikely ANYONE would have enough money to fall victim to a permanently debilitating mental illness and still be able to provide for themselves, even if there was a massive redistribution of wealth. Of course, a massive redistribution of wealth isn't a likely event in the near future anyway, so there's no point in pulling out the Che T-Shirts just yet.

My point is, at this stage, the most progressive step we can take to seriously cut down on the number of indigent citizens is to provide adequate and universal health care.

If they can say "All of THEM have these problems, and I don't", then they feel safe that it can never happen to them.

The US and THEM syndrome.

with a superior and condescending attitude.

But that statement eludes so many people that I'm inclined to applaud you instead.

It's simply trying to break through willful ignorance.

any homeless person who drinks or uses drugs (including marijuana) is homeless because of alcohol or drugs. This allows city officials to claim that almost all homeless people are homeless because they are addicts. The reality is that the vast majority of homeless people who drink and take drugs are homeless for completely different reasons, like physical disability, industry loss, a criminal conviction that makes them unemployable, or problems with red tape in the welfare system.

then any other issues would be addressed in their treatment plan. Lack of psych/social services is part of the problem too.

Housing First!

I support Housing First, but it isn't exclusive of social services where needed. It all goes together.

Social services needs to move to a more asset-based model.

has a specific problem - why in the world would you pretend they didn't?

I imagine their profile represents the 30-40% of homeless who actually are candidates for a social service intervention.

Do you think it's a great idea to paint the 60+% of homeless people who are not in these categories as addicts and crazies?

People really need to learn how to hold two thoughts in their heads at once. It is possible to know that poverty causes homelessness AND mental health and addiction causes homelessness - all at the same time. Everything is not black/white, either/or. It really gets annoying around here that people who claim to be smarter than the rest of the country can't handle the truth and nuance of "progressive issues".

and that has played right into the hands of developers everywhere. It's time for stakeholders to acknowledge that the majority of homeless people have physical and/or economic, not social, problems. We need more social services, obviously, but there are even more people who don't need social services but do need housing.

Veterans, addicts, mentally ill, domestic violence. That's the bulk of the homeless on any given night and that's greater than 50%. They are BOTH problems and there isn't anything wrong with addressing BOTH problems. Poverty AND social problems.

You do understand these groups overlap, right? That a majority of mentally ill and addicts are dually diagnosed and thus showing up in both columns?

The methodologies used are always questionable, anyway. I've never seen a single study that separated normal drinkers/users from alcoholics/addicts. It works for people who want to increase social services budgets, but not for those PREVALENT homeless people whose problems aren't captured by the social service agenda.

But by all means, keep beating the addiction/insanity drum. Developers will love you for it.

It was absolutely true. And if you dig a little further into the chronically unemployed, you find people who were molested, beaten, and otherwise grew up in dysfunctional homes. I do not get the purpose in pretending all these problems don't exist.

I'm also not pretending that they are THE causes of homelessness. Your real world exists through the filter of your experience. Mine does through the filter of mine. My experience is interviewing hundreds of homeless people on the streets over the course of ten years of research. About a third of them have needed the interventions you are involved in. The rest need a place to go and maybe some advice and job training.

not a significant number of people who need social services? Even if it is only 1/3, and I know it's not, but pretending it is, why do you want to ignore the problems of all those people to pretend it's just an economic problem?

I just want SOME services in place for everyone else.

EXACTLY!!

"Follow the money"... and privatization has affected EVERYTHING in this country, and that includes poverty and homelessness, along with "mental illness".

Progressives should be able to "follow the money" and realize that the whole "mental illness" game is a great boon to the Pharmcos.

It doesn't take a lot to figure that out.

Look, a ridiculous percentage of Americans have some depression or anxiety-related issues. Many of them can hold it together and hold down a job to varying values of "just barely," because they have things that keep them going - a place to live, family, friends, little pleasures. Now imagine they lose all those things that keep them going--first and foremost, *hope*. Imagine they have no security, no stability, not even physical safety and a place for their stuff. Talk about spiralling downward. And if your only available source of a brief spurt of good feeling is cheap wine, well, who the hell is anyone to judge?

Virtually EVERY form of talk therapy for mental health treatment will advocate the importance of stability, good sleep and diet, people to talk to, staying in touch with things you enjoy. Homeless people DO NOT HAVE THESE SIMPLE BASIC OPTIONS. If you were on the edge or near it, mental-health-wise before, you WILL go over that edge.

The whole "American dream" trip extols the virtues of optimism, extroversion, perseverance, etcetera. It's a real slap in the face to severely depressed people, who can no more "buck up" and force themselves to feel these things than a paralyzed person can dance the foxtrot. We're so addicted to the idea of the Hollywood ending that we blame the victims who don't exhibit "the triumph of the human spirit" to a suitably inspiring degree.

But when your own brain turns against you, where are you even going to start? You're going to start way south of nowhere if you don't even have a place where you can TRY to get a decent night's sleep.

It is absolutely true that homelessness can cause mental illness.

If I said "African Americans make less money for the same jobs because of racism"

and you piped in

"but some African Americans make less money because they are lazy"

and others said

"don't stereotype"

and you replied

"but it's an uncontestable fact: some African Americans are lazy."


Would you not still, uncontestably, be practicing racial stereotyping (even though, of course, some African Americans are lazy, just like every other category of humanity)?

But it remains perfectly acceptable with poverty.

It's the only part of society that is still seen as "fair game".

It makes the rest of us AVOID any semblance of "help".

Many of those who are homeless are CHILDREN, yet they don't want to admit to that.

Paint us all as "problems", and the enabling system as "help", and they feel superior.

It's a great game.

Certain populations have a higher percentage.

I think most smart people know that.

Yet, you want to globalize it.

Your words here are a very large reason why so many homeless people refuse to go to a shelter.

I certainly wouldn't want to have to go to you for "help".

Professionals don't see outside of their own experience. Cops think homeless people are always causing problems. Social workers think homeless people are all mentally ill or addicts or both. It's because of the ones they come in contact with--not a truth about the whole population.

The people in charge of surveys and reporting are all too happy to maximize the social problems because it means more funds for their own programs. And you know? There programs do good work and deserve more funding in many if not most cases. However, the unintended consequence is that the public perceives that all homeless people are addicts or mentally ill. This helps real estate interests whip up NIMBY activism whenever a real permanent solution in the form of affordable and/or supportive housing/lodging is proposed.

in the homeless population, than in the general population.

As a very savvy "help" agency director recently put it, "The difference is in the drug of choice. In the McMansions, the drug is cocaine. For poor folk it's meth and crack. In the McMansions, it's martinis. For poor folk, it's beer."

Yet, so many want to cling to the old stereotypes.

Those stereotypes wouldn't be permitted if it had to do with race, ethnicity or other "groups". Yet, it's still accepted in poverty.

Why is that?

http://www.hudhre.info/documents/2ndHomelessAssessmentR...

That's what this report says, 17.3% mentally ill, 24.8% chronic substance abuse. Then there's the 12.6% homeless due to domestic violence, which is also a mental health issue, and usually substance abuse too.

It really doesn't help to deny the entirety of the problem.

And in reality, it's just a different set of circumstances that causes one person to be homeless... and another to live in luxury.

"None so deaf as those that will not hear. None so blind as those that will not see." - Mathew Henry

well-meaning but unknowingly complicit social service advocates create the problem. We will always have poverty but it doesn't have to manifest itself as the sick spectacle of homelessness that we have grown accustomed to.

different, and therefore, not in danger of every becoming homeless.

"And in reality, it's just a different set of circumstances that causes one person to be homeless... and another to live in luxury."

As a "help" agency director with more heart than this person said to me recently, "The only difference is in the drug of choice. For the person in the McMansion, it's cocaine. For the person who is poor it's crack or meth. For the person in the McMansion it's martinis. For the person who is poor it's beer."

A wise person, and one who loves and cares about people, and knows she is NOT above anyone else.

A big load of difference!

Unfortunately, the "None so blind" are much more common. It's a power thing.

all of a sudden in the 80s, but mass homelessness did. The people who beat on these tired explanations are causality-impaired.

Absolutely.

But, it's ever so much easier than to actually look at the dysfunctionality of our whole system.

And a lot more satisfying too, to have a whole group of people to look down on.

We 'Murkins have tossed out our humanity.

that homelessness & poverty could just as easily be the cause of addiction, alcoholism, and mental illness. People are homeless for so many different reasons that I hate to see any of them categorized. They are human beings. Just people who need help, & I believe they should be viewed that way. The bullying & pushing around they receive from many workers who are supposed to be helping them does NOT help. Shelters are not the answer, except as temporary or emergency assistance. Affordable housing is what is desperately needed.

lower property values, and that's unacceptable to officials and citizens drunk on the real estate kool-aid. That's the real problem. The mental health community is unwittingly complicit in the demonizing of homeless people--they maximize the problem to get bigger grants, and the developers sit back in their plush armchairs and grin.

If housing were affordable to everyone, it would be worth less. The only way to end homelessness is to give up our medieval real estate based economy and base wealth on production, not ownership.

doesn't matter if its crime, low wage jobs, homeless, no jobs, all of these social issues are not from outside sources but personal lack of said person making bad "choices" in their lives. Conservatives believe its all the persons choice, crime= he chose to steal that loaf of bread, low wage job=he chose that job, no job=he cose to sit on his sofa instead of looking for a job.

also cause a lot of alcoholism and drug abuse. Some started before being homeless, some after and some escape it but many are trying to escape a life they can't make any better and many that grew up poor also grew up being taught by society they were not worth the air they breathed. They idiot bootstrap repubs only make it worse.

Just because they have that particular viewpoint doesn't mean that we as progressives must therefore ENTIRELY discard the point that they make, and instead choose a similarly delusional 'one size fits all' explanation in the exact opposite direction. To whit, we propose that this problem is all 'society's' or 'the systems' fault, the individual should be absolved of all responsibility, and that the answer lies with government programs.

We ARE smarter than that, I would hope. Homelessness is clearly too complicated an issue, too individualized a problem to speak accurately about by using the either of the common stereotypes.

Thinking entirely from the 'typical right' OR the 'typical left' point of view, neither way, all on it's own is going to solve the problem. Both sides are actually correct ... in SOME CASES ... and wrong in others.

Obviously, our side tends to have a generally more nuanced and compassionate view about the subject in general, so I tend to think we are a lot closer to 'understanding their plight' than your average 'hard-line' conservative.

It makes it too easy to demonize anyone who can't afford housing that is, frankly, unaffordable. Real estate assholes just LOVE to hear about all the "social problems" leading to homelessness--it helps them two ways. One, it masks the fact that their totally undeserved profit-making is destroying the fabric of American society. Two, it makes it easy to whip up a NIMBY movement anywhere they would rather put another shitty "upscale" development instead of affordable housing.

They have no money, thus, no rights.

Too many people are ok with this concept, IMO.

If you accept government help, you "sign away" certain rights, according to these people. They accept this notion as a good idea, that if you take welfare or housing aid, you are now a serf to the state, stripped of certain important rights (the right to vote is a favorite one, but also freedom of association and speech)and beholden to the public's (i.e., the Conservative public's) wishes.

Basically, they expect the homeless and the needy to become "orphans of the state" much as Native Americans were until the 60's.

I have problems like this all the time, because people know I can do exactly nothing about it.

Pay to play.

Drug testing is routine for many jobs. Verifying that you are the actual person providing the urine sample is also fairly common these days.

What is the point of making all residents of a homeless shelter go through a humiliating ordeal like this week after week, whether or not they exhibit behavior typical of a drug user?

The day we started requiring people to prove they were NOT guilty of something, instead of the other way around, was the beginning of the end for an awful lot of individual rights. I said it then and I'm saying it now.

The fact that these people are poor just makes it that much easier to make absurd demands of them without any public outcry.

Thank you for speaking up for this... I feel so alone on this most of the time.

far more difficult for some to blame it all on mental illness, drugs or alcohol, but I'm sure some will anyway,

It's amazing how much farther advanced and enlightened other nations are than us regarding them considering health care a human right for their citizens.

We on the other hand consider insurance companies as being more important so it's come to the point they've taken over doctor's jobs in approving critical treatment based on nothing but their bottom line.

situation... hey, we all gotta humor ourselves somehow, huh?

http://www.whizzinator.com /

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This should be in a thread by itself...

PEACE!

Ghost

They didn't have a single "cut" model! What are you supposed to do if you bust it out and you're wearing a yarmluke?

Just kidding about the 'dominant' thingie...

have penis envy.

Pissing on the leg of a power-hungy shelter worker... YUP, that's when it would strike me.

those who are desperate.

These fascists should be put up against the wall.

Beautiful.

means no humanity, right? Sheesh.