I
want to say to all those public policy generals who have been waging the
unrelenting war to end homelessness; you are getting your collective butts
kicked- why you ask? Well, for one thing, in spite of all the resources poured
into this effort you still don’t know what the real enemy is or how to fight
it. This is because the methods you use are ‘reactive’ and while you might win
a small victory here and there, the battle still rages on as the ranks of the
homeless swell almost nonstop and unabated. Would you consider trying something
from the playbook of a former president called the Bush Doctrine of waging a
‘preemptive’ first-strike attack instead of dealing with disaster
after-the-fact.
Ok,
so where do we start? I think the cause of many homeless situations involves
persons having incurred a felony (conviction or probation). This makes it
difficult; if not nearly impossible to finding employment earning a living
wage, receive financial aid for attending college or technical training, as
well as passing a background check to even obtain housing. Even if someone were
employed it is usually a low wage, labor –intensive part-time job with few
benefits or stability. A person might
have become evicted in the past and it is unlikely that a landlord or property
owner would want to risk leasing a place to an applicant with that kind of
history. Now, oftentimes well-meaning, progressive and socially-liberal
thinkers who initiate enlightened programs like those administered in King and
Pierce Counties (Seattle and Tacoma, WA) think this solve the problem of
homelessness; but it won’t. What it does do is act as a magnet, attracting indigent
travelers, runaways and people from other areas because they can take advantage
of services that they might not otherwise qualify for; or in some instances
have exhausted the benefits and services in the places where they previously
lived.
This
last point is the most difficult to do, painful to think or implement because
not only is it controversial but counterintuitive as well. What needs to be
done is to scale back instead of increase services because it will force the
free riders to seek other means to help them survive and it will help reduce
the numbers of people that can be helped to a manageable level. This may not be
convenient or the answer that people want to hear; it is certainly not the
politically-correct thing to advocate as it is a bitter pill to swallow but
sooner or late reality has to be dealt with. The thing is though, even if one
disagrees with this suggestion, still it is becoming increasingly apparent that
what is in place now is not working.
Robert
Randle
776
Commerce St #701Tacoma, WA 98402
September 16, 2016
robertrandle51@yahoo.com
