Item — HN Reader

IMO the long acting drugs + more intensive caseworker intervention is the most feasible way for the very difficult to work with individuals. (Long acting is good for opioids as well, https://healthandjusticejournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/1...).

So there is a mixture of types of homeless -- some of the examples Scott gets into for "draconian" are for what I would call transient/short-term -- those folks some welfare type intervention (housing vouchers, cash) to smooth over their instability is all they need. Those are not the homeless people are complaining about!

The "pollution" homeless though Scott is mostly talking about are the people who cause public disorder. And those are very hard to deal with. So everything will be difficult, but I think caseworkers being able to help them as much as possible is IMO the best approach I've seen work in some cases.

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Why do the "pollution" homeless simply not exist in so many other wealthy countries, to even a fraction of the degree that they exist in the United States?

Don't know why this -- or a bunch of your other posts -- are dead.

But the reason is the rest of the countries that don't have this problem take care of their people (positively and negatively, e.g. social services or prison).

For example much of the EU has:

- A social safety net that allows people to reintegrate into society if a catastrophic event happens, rather than throwing them out and letting natural selection decide who gets back up on their feet

- Better health care (for mental health and addiction, to simply not being a constant drain financially and emotionally on patients)

- Housing is more accessible and egalitarian, leading to -- unsurprisingly -- less homeless. The ones that do end up homeless will likely be able to find state-funded housing with reintegration programs (rather than homeless "shelters" and halfway "homes")

- Less income inequality and less "otherism." Homogenous populations and a lack of individualism == "that could be me at any point; I should help when I can, so if I ever fall into such straits, others will do the same." Reminds me of how I haven't heard of the "golden rule" (treat others the way you want to he treated) in decades

- Notable mentions: homelessness in the U.S. pretty much guarantees you do not have: a permanent address, so you most likely cannot apply for jobs or other programs (which necessitate a permanent address). Bank account? Good luck with the prehistoric KYC laws. Also in most of the country barring massive cities with public transport, you need to own a car for transport to most jobs. Don't? You're automatically disqualified from 95% of jobs that you could be eligible for. Cars are expensive

Basically, a lot of systemic problems that culminate in a not insignificant portion of homeless being forever locked out of society