For people on the ground among the homeless in California, there’s no mystery why homeless numbers continue to increase despite the expenditure of billions of dollars. The problem is a complete lack of comprehension among federal, state, and local leaders about the true nature of homelessness. Rather than a case of widespread drug abuse, epidemic malingering or a sudden rejection of traditional family values, homelessness is the predictable result of […]
History
Modesto May Make Newsom Right about Cities and Homelessness
California Governor Gavin Newsom has been justly criticized for his policies on homelessness, especially his reliance on sweeps as the chief tactic for managing California’s growing homeless population. Many of the sweeps chase homeless people from freeway margins and underpasses into cities, with the result that Newsom has continued to blame the state’s mayors for failing on homelessness — a form of blame-shifting that fails to recognize realities like housing […]
Homeless: The False Promise of “Affordable” Housing
California needs affordable housing now, but no one should be led into thinking affordable housing will bring a solution to the state’s widespread homelessness. We need affordable housing because even working people with good jobs have been priced out of California’s housing market. A great many homeless people, on the other hand, can’t work due to disability, mental or physical illness, or because they’re elderly and their retirement incomes are […]
Homeless: Where there’s Law without Order
One simple fact — homeless people have nowhere to go — continues to befuddle public officials everywhere and has led to the wasteful expenditure of billions of dollars. Thus it is that while homeless camps may appear to disappear after government-ordered sweeps, the presence of small groups and individual homeless people continues to increase. Sweeps don’t make them go away; they just force them to another location. One day here, […]
Homeless: It’s (not) the Drugs
It’s almost impossible to discuss homelessness without a chorus of loud and insistent voices shouting, “It’s the drugs!” While drug use is indeed common among homeless people, reliable data confirm it’s rarely the cause of homelessness. If drug use were the cause of homelessness, you would expect to see a correlation among states with high numbers of drug usage and high numbers of homelessness. There is no such correlation. Hawaii […]
No Drugs, Good Job — Still no Housing
California’s housing crisis shows no signs of ending soon as more and more people find themselves unable to rent or buy housing of any kind, even when they have work and good incomes. Dennis Lewis is only one of thousands of people who turned their lives around, went to work, then suffered a sudden reversal of fortune that led to months of homelessness. Drug free and awaiting a return to […]
Modesto Attorney Rips Local Authorities on Failures to Manage Homelessness
“The citizens of Modesto are infinitely weary of our seemingly intractable homeless problems and the apparent inability or unwillingness of our leaders to do much about it. The enormous amounts of money being thrown at homelessness have created interest groups who are seemingly more adept at grant writing than finding real solutions, and whose self-interest is inimical to those solutions.” David M Jamieson Last Sunday, in an OP/ED column in […]
Homeless — Where your money goes, Part IV: The rising costs of cruelty
In June, 2022, the Stanislaus County Civil Grand Jury released a report on homelessness noting that despite increasing costs, homelessness has gotten worse countywide. The report cited lack of focus and accountability among a myriad of agencies as critical factors in failed efforts to manage the county’s growing homeless population. Stanislaus County is not alone in failure. Throughout the entire state of California, a major negative influence has been the […]
Homeless: Where your money goes, Part III: The costly effects of good intentions
Despite the expenditure of billions of dollars, homelessness in California continues to burgeon. While every city and county throughout the state faces different challenges trying to manage the problem, there are enough similarities that all can learn from one another’s failures. Stanislaus County and the City of Modesto offer typical examples of tactics that have failed again and again. ed Frank Ploof may know more about homelessness in Stanislaus County […]
Reports of Treatment Center Shutdown Disturb Modesto’s Mayor
Like many of the city’s residents, Modesto Mayor Sue Zwahlen was caught by surprise when she read that the county’s “Genesis” drug treatment center was closing down. The center is located in Modesto. “All I know is what I read in the paper and the math doesn’t work out,” said Zwahlen. “As a mayor and a nurse I’m always concerned when people who need and want help can’t get it. […]