Terry McLaughlin: A better policy on homelessness

[Ms Terry McLaughlin is a longtime regular columnist for The Union and contributes well researched and written reports on current issues and happenings (quite often vocally proscribed by our local liberal contingent).  Her columns are always factual exhibiting high journalistic standards now mostly lost from the industry.  Recently she attended an important town forum on the homelessness problem focused on Nevada County and contributed an excellent report to Barry Pruett’s Sierra Thread blog (here).  However, she seldom if ever injects her own opinions into her reporting.  As her friend I know that her perspectives are well thought out, and I requested she write a follow-on piece in which she would state her own perspectives on this important issue.  She kindly submitted the following.  gjr]

Terry McLaughlin

Despite enormous sums of tax money being provided to “solve the homeless problem”, the size of the unhoused population is only growing and increasing.  How that tax money is being spent and who is benefiting from it is an issue for another discussion, but it appears that we, as taxpayers, are not getting any “bang for our buck”, and those who are homeless are not getting the help they need.

A very small subset of the homeless population is the “working poor” who have truly hit upon a serious economic problem, either because of employment layoffs, large unpaid medical bills that have saddled them with debt from which they cannot recover, or other similar experiences.  People in these situations, who do not suffer from mental illness or substance addiction, will most likely transition out of homelessness successfully, either because they were able to find new employment, family or friends offered temporary housing, government benefits allowed them to find reduced-rate housing, non-profit organizations came to the rescue with temporary aid, or other similar methods of assistance.   A very small number of those who are homeless fall into this category.

As discussed by both Nevada City Police Chief Dan Foss and Grass Valley Police Chief Alex Gammelgard during the community forum sponsored by the Sierra College Foundation, the main causes of homelessness are mental illness and substance abuse and addiction, whether it be drugs or alcohol.   Both chiefs agreed that the problem of homelessness will never be solved until we deal with the underlying causes that created the situation in the first place.

Several years ago, a documentary filmmaker filmed and interviewed hundreds of homeless people in Seattle, Washington.  The result of his work was the documentary entitled “Seattle is Dying.”  In one particular interview of note, the filmmaker asked a woman who had lived in an encampment for a lengthy period of time “how many of the homeless people you know are addicted to drugs?”  “100%,” she said, with absolutely no hesitation or uncertainty.  “Everyone here is a drug addict”, she said as the camera scanned over men and women literally passed out on the sidewalk, or openly injecting syringes filled with drugs into their veins.

As Chief Foss said, “it is not a mercy” to allow people to live like this, in filth and danger, and I would agree that continuing to allow this to occur is not an example of “compassion”.  Until we, as a society and a culture, make the decision to make some very tough and likely unpopular changes to the way mentally ill and addicted homeless persons are treated, we will never solve this problem.

Not only is it “not a mercy” and not compassionate to allow people to remain in terrible, dirty, unhealthy conditions, but all citizens are paying a price for this behavior – often unable to enjoy and access parks, beaches, and other public venues which have been overrun by “tent cities” and homeless encampments.   These encampments create a significant health and fire hazard, not just for those living in deplorable conditions, but also for the residents, visitors, tourists, and others who are affected by them.

Whether we like it or not, the first contact in dealing with this problem is generally law enforcement.  Law enforcement personnel and organizations often find their hands tied by local, state, or federal regulations and policies.  At one time people could be arrested for vagrancy, loitering, camping on public property, soliciting, trespassing, being under the influence, and other behaviors that were seen to contribute to societal ills.   Today, arrests for any of these actions are extremely rare.  If police authorities were once again enabled to be “pro-active” in their enforcement of these types of laws, in many cases they would be able to assist the offender, who could be referred for mental health treatment, substance abuse programs, etc.  Law enforcement personnel need to be allowed to use the tools necessary to create the situation in which the person suffering from mental illness or addiction is able to receive, or even be mandated to receive the type of treatment they desperately need.

Somehow, we have forgotten the “lock’em up” mentality and policies of the 1980’s and 90’s, which helped us turn the corner on the rampant rise of crime and drug use.  Whether we wish to acknowledge it or pretend that it is not the case, fear of consequences, including incarceration, is one of the primary factors to reducing all crime.

Today we are dealing with very lax policies in relation to drug use.  Cannabis is legal in most areas and is often portrayed as a benign product.  In California there was legislation introduced to permit legal use of some hallucinogens for adults.  The federal government is proposing moving cannabis from a Class 1 to a Class 3 drug, which would reduce penalties and stigma regarding its use.  Cultural acceptance of cannabis is creating an environment in which our youth are able to easily justify their use of this substance.  All of these things are happening around us, at the same time that chronic use of cannabis has been shown to increase the likelihood of paranoia, schizophrenia, and other mental health problems.   It appears clear that the chronic abuse of certain drugs for a sustained period of time can lead to mental illness.   These two core causes of homelessness are thus very much interconnected.

How does society solve a problem such as homelessness which has grown and spread so dramatically in the past decade?  How much is society willing to infringe on the free will and constitutional rights of those who are living within our homeless population?  Do those with serious addiction problems and/or mental illness have the right to refuse treatments that would be to their advantage?  Where do we draw the line between forcing or mandating treatment or incarceration, and allowing a mentally ill or addicted person to make their own decisions – even if their decisions then impinge upon the rights of other citizens?  These are ethical questions for the ages.

On a pragmatic level, a person suffering from addiction and/or mental illness is simply not capable of making thoughtful decisions.  They are not capable of weighing costs and benefits to themselves, and certainly not to society or their community.  In many cases, they are simply not capable of even caring for themselves and are destined to live in a state of confusion, with a lack of hygiene, adequate nutrition, and health issues – at the same time being at constant risk of violence, abuse, or assault.  Many times, these same people will turn to criminal activity (beyond their already illegal drug use) to obtain both food and drugs.   Everyone in society is paying a price for these behaviors and activities.  What should we do?

Although this would be a very unpopular solution, criticized by many, law enforcement must be able to remove those who are suffering from mental illness or substance dependency and cannot make deliberate, rational decisions for themselves, from the situations in which they are living.  As our police chiefs indicated, many people who were incarcerated for 30 days – giving them the time and opportunity to “sober up” from their alcohol or drug addiction – have declared that this pause in their addictive behavior literally saved their lives.  It is often the first step toward healing. 

While long term incarceration is not the answer, mandated mental health and/or addiction recovery programs may be, for at least a portion of the afflicted population.   Rather than throwing millions (if not billions) of dollars toward “the homeless problem”, with little or no success, that same money could be diverted to mental health programs and institutions, and recovery programs and facilities.   The end result would undoubtedly be more positive for far more people.  

This is not to suggest that the state or taxpayers should provide funding repeatedly for a person who relapses over and over again.   A serious drug interdiction program for a recommended period of time, followed up with counseling and mentoring would be a positive step.  But repeat offenders cannot be offered a program such as this continually.  At some point, incarceration could be warranted. 

The state of California, along with a number of other locales, has supported programs such as “needle injection sites”, or provided alcohol overseen by nurses, or other such programs that enable the user.   We have even seen “vending machines” with free drug paraphernalia in some locales. Any recovered drug addict or alcoholic, or any other addiction such as gambling or pornography, will tell you that the first thing you want to do to help someone is keep them as far away from the source of their addiction as possible, whether it be access to drugs or alcohol or the people with whom they would regularly use the products who enabled and encouraged the behavior.   In my opinion, actually providing the addictive substances, whatever the motivation for doing so, is absolutely the worst thing that we could be doing for those who are suffering from these addictions.   These people need to be removed from the source of their addiction in order to have any hope of ever overcoming it.

Some form of homelessness has always existed.  In the past we would refer to “hobos” or “bums” or “vagabonds”.  But when families were strong and supported by our culture, most often the family members who found themselves in dire straits would be embraced and cared for by their family, who would not allow them to be starving or sleeping on the streets.  However, substance abuse and the weakening of the family structure has changed this scenario.  Where substance abuse can cause irrational or violent behavior, which could be a threat to others, families will be reluctant to bring that behavior into their household, especially if there are children present who could be at risk.  Substance abuse and mental illness have turned the old problem of “vagabonds” on its head, resulting in the massive population of homeless people we see today.

Just as our two police chiefs indicated, substance abuse and mental illness are the core causes of the rampant homeless crisis we are experiencing, and until we make some very hard decisions to address these issues in a serious manner, we will all continue to suffer from the effects on people and society caused by this crisis.

Comments

[Arlene Moore]

These seem to be the major issues: law enforcement, mental health facilities, and possible work programs to help those WANTING to transition out of homelessness. Free hand outs of any kind do not encourage people to be independent, responsible for their own choices and behaviors, or to really turn the corner and actually contribute to society.

My insights:
Funding has been diverted to WOKE issues: DEI(eliminates incentive to actually EARN something, illegal immigration( wrong on too many levels), and socialist, watered down curriculum in institutes of learning(K-adult). These issues, including the dissemination by some of our cherished family and religious values, are dismantling the very foundations of our culture and country.

[scenes]

I just assume that you could give anyone who thinks they can solve homelessness a billion dollars and a few years, and nothing would be accomplished.

Police chiefs included.

All the reasons sound logical, but it strikes me as handwaving central.

[Barry Pruett]

Thank you George for that hat tip but Sierra thread is not mine alone. I am joined by some great people in a collaborative effort to uncover local government abuse. Indeed, I am but a small cog in the wheel.

[George Rebane]

Barry 940pm - Thanks for the correction Barry. Keep doing a great job in exposing the ignorance and corruption (and atrocious benefit packages) in the Rood Center et al. Nevada County continues to be a bureaucratic mire that hassles its residents, hinders development, and punishes its small businesses.

[Gregory]

In the good or bad ol' days, bums in Nevada County were driven to Placer in police cars.

A past courtesy.