Addressing the needs of the Homeless

In an editorial by The Dallas Morning News, the author addresses the ongoing struggle to meet the challenges of a growing homeless population.  The author makes an argument based on successful implementations in other cities: "Get homeless people into a safe environment and then support their transition, with coordinated social services to keep them from returning to the streets, jail or emergency rooms at taxpayers' expense." The author is anonymous. This immediately worries me because I do not have a way to gauge the level of knowledge the author has on the subject matter. They also produce a premise without giving references to the cities or areas in which long-term strategies have been helpful. Without actual data, my skepticism increases again.

If I put aside the anonymity and the lack of sourced references I to do understand the argument within the paper.  I agree with the author's basic premise. Previous attempts to simply provide Homeless individuals with basic necessities such as simple financial support, occasional meals, clothing and temporary housing is not enough to tackle the larger issues of chronic homelessness. Cities in Texas need to adopt policies that finance multidepartmental efforts to root out the underlying causes of chronic homelessness. 

In order to address the issues of the Homeless, we need to focus on long-term solutions. This requires substantial resources that are dedicated to addressing the mental and physical needs of each individual, as well as skills development programs that are necessary for self-efficacy and economic security. Many people who are homeless suffer from addiction and other severe mental health disorders. People in these circumstances require strong support systems to help them cope with their diagnosis. The Homeless population needs clinical support, access to group support such as 12 step fellowships and mental health support groups, as well as living assistance training for basic self-care skills and job skills training. 

Homelessness is often a chronic rather than a temporary issue in which those who are afflicted also report severe mental and physical health challenges.  We need to focus on getting people out of homelessness permanently to avoid the economic consequences of chronic need, and to give a frequently underrepresented population of our citizenry a chance at a reasonable life. I also see a need for higher quality research inquires with the transient population. A lot of my own opinions are based on my experiences with the homeless and clinical work. One report from Houston gives strong arguments for this need, and provides some interesting data of their own. Homeless in Houston.

Think long term....