Source: Orange County Register
by Steven Greenhut
“California is home to nearly one-third of the nation’s homeless population and the problem – by almost everyone’s account — continues to worsen. The statistics tell part of the story: More than 170,000 people sleep in tents in public parks, under freeway bridges and on sidewalks in our cities and suburbs. The state has spent $20 billion to address the problem in five years. … Meanwhile, California’s official ‘Housing First’ policy is failing. As a fact sheet on the Housing and Community Development website explains, ‘anyone experiencing homelessness should be connected to a permanent home as quickly as possible, and programs should remove barriers to accessing the housing, like requirements for sobriety or absence of criminal history.’ That approach is an outgrowth of progressive ideology. Housing First views homelessness primarily as a housing problem, thus downplaying the addiction and mental-health issues that are at the root of the crisis.” (05/14/23)
https://www.ocregister.com/2023/05/14/maybe-homelessness-isnt-an-unfixable-problem-after-all/