Mental-health advocates in New York are challenging a plan to involuntarily send mentally ill homeless people to psychiatric hospitals. Cities across the U.S. have been introducing tougher measures to address the growing problem of homelessness, prompting a number of court challenges that could set guideposts on how far municipalities can go. Local governments have been experimenting with a range of homeless policies, such as involuntarily removing people from the streets when they appear to be mentally ill, confiscating belongings or evicting the homeless from public property. City officials say the measures are necessary to address situations that are threatening public safety and leaving homeless people themselves living in conditions that are unsafe and unsanitary. Rates of street homelessness around the country have been on the rise for more than a decade, driven in part by the skyrocketing cost of housing in many places.”
Excerpt from: The Wall Street Journal - January 18, 2023
Comments
So, I sympathize. Local gummint couldn't hit water if they fell out of a boat. It's disgraceful, how much they can't get done. I support policies which would pre-empt the "right" of the homeless to live in squalor, without the security of indoor habitation, particularly when they suffer from mental illness. The foundational assumption, it seems to me is that it's just plain basically wrong to let people live with zero dignity, safety and security. The homeless will never ALL comply and utilize whatever is made available to them. But addressing the problem starts by acknowledging their innate dignity, even when it doesn't seem to matter to themselves. They are in the spot they are in because they disregard their own dignity. Medical help, prescriptions, social services as well as housing itself must all be involved and included. (But this country is still too stoopid to come up with a universal medical plan. Oops, I just remembered.)