• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The Valley Citizen

Nature, Environment, History & Politics

The Valley Citizen

  • Arts
  • Education
  • Environment
  • History
  • Nature
  • Politics
  • Wit
  • About
  • RSS Icon

How to Integrate Resources for Homelessness

October 25, 2014 By Bruce Frohman Leave a Comment

SorrowIn order to end homelessness in Stanislaus County, all available resources need to be integrated. A homeless person has the right to refuse service, but does not have the right to receive service if he refuses to cooperate.

Someone needs to be appointed coordinator for resources to serve the homeless. The coordinator will need to inventory all available services within Stanislaus County. The coordinator can be in the public or private sector. A private sector coordinator can provide maximum flexibility due to the lack of bureaucratic and legal requirements for delivering service.

Once a comprehensive list of providers in the public and private sectors is established, the coordinator will need to contact every service provider and gain cooperation in coordinating services. Because of a diversity of philosophies and policies among providers, complete cooperation will be difficult to achieve. However, the greater the level of cooperation among all the providers, the more effective the program will be.

Once agreements to coordinate services have been reached, service delivery can begin to address the homeless problem. Public social workers and skilled sociologists in the private sector need to reach out to homeless people to make needs assessments, treating each individual as a person with unique problems.

Once an individual assessment is complete, referrals can be made to the appropriate service providers. Referrals should be made conditionally. That is, the homeless person must agree to engage only in activities that will enable him or her to return to society as a productive member.

Any homeless person who refuses to cooperate or participate in programs prescribed for his unique problems should be denied access to all public and private assistance to the extent that the law allows. In addition, all available police powers should be used to deny individuals opportunities for activities detrimental to themselves and the community at large.

Periodically, a census is taken of the number of homeless people in Stanislaus County. While the exact number of homeless isn’t easy to measure, the success of the program can be determined when there is a decline in the homeless population.

Given the nature of homelessness, some who have received assistance will backslide. This group may need to reenter the program, but should be served only if they adhere to program rules.

The absence of any assistance at all should compel homeless people to cooperate with rules established by the coordinator. The only other option of a non-cooperative homeless person would be to commit a crime to fulfill his needs, which would result in arrest and incarceration, but incarceration should only be used as a last resort. Jail should not be where homeless people go to have their needs met.

Undoubtedly, Stanislaus County will always have some homeless individuals. However, an effectively run program fully integrated among service providers can serve to minimize the size of the homeless population.

Filed Under: Featured, History Tagged With: Stanislaus County homelessness

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Note: Some comments may be held for moderation.

Primary Sidebar

Off The Wire

Californians: Here's why your housing costs are so high
Californians: Here’s why your housing costs are so high
Half the state’s households struggle to afford the roof over their heads. Here’s what you need to know about one of California’s most vexing issues.
calmatters.org
Las Vegas Pushes to Become First City to Ban Ornamental Grass
Las Vegas Pushes to Become First City to Ban Ornamental Grass
A desert city built on a reputation for excess and indulgence wants to become a model for restraint and conservation with a first-in-the-nation policy banning grass that nobody walks on. Las Vegas-area water officials have spent two decades trying to get people to replace thirsty greenery with desert plants, and now they’re asking the Nevada Legislature to outlaw roughly 40% of the turf that’s left. The Southern Nevada Water Authority estimates there are almost 8 square miles (21 square kilometers) of “nonfunctional turf” in the metro area, grass that no one ever walks on or otherwise uses in
www.voanews.com
Half of Republicans believe false accounts of deadly U.S. Capitol riot-Reuters/Ipsos poll
Half of Republicans believe false accounts of deadly U.S. Capitol riot-Reuters/Ipsos poll
Since the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, former President Donald Trump and his Republican allies have pushed false and misleading accounts to downplay the event that left five dead and scores of others wounded. His supporters appear to have listened.
www.reuters.com
Inside the Koch-Backed Effort to Block the Largest Election-Reform Bill in Half a Century
Inside the Koch-Backed Effort to Block the Largest Election-Reform Bill in Half a Century
On a leaked conference call, leaders of dark-money groups and an aide to Mitch McConnell expressed frustration with the popularity of the legislation, even among Republican voters.
www.newyorker.com
New Zealand raises minimum wage to $20 an hour
New Zealand raises minimum wage to $20 an hour
Taxes on the richest New Zealanders are being raised
www.independent.co.uk
The Invisible Asylum | City Journal
The Invisible Asylum | City Journal
Olympia, Washington, is a microcosm of the problems created by the emptying of mental hospitals.
www.city-journal.org
California needs affordable housing. Could these bills help? | CalMatters
California needs affordable housing. Could these bills help? | CalMatters
Key legislators push duplexes, looser regulations and more money to boost housing supply.
calmatters.org
The rich-poor gap in America is obscene. So let's fix it – here's how | Bernie Sanders
The rich-poor gap in America is obscene. So let’s fix it – here’s how | Bernie Sanders
While working people toil, the richest have never have it so good. It’s time to fight back – our democracy depends on it
www.theguardian.com
Sen. Bernie Sanders' Next Progressive Frontier: Reshaping A 'Rigged' Tax System
Sen. Bernie Sanders’ Next Progressive Frontier: Reshaping A ‘Rigged’ Tax System
Sanders will introduce legislation Thursday to restore the corporate tax rate to 35% and add a new progressive tax on the estates of the wealthiest Americans.
www.npr.org
Perspective | Five myths about poverty
Perspective | Five myths about poverty
No, it’s not just an inner city problem. And it’s not the result of individual failure.
www.washingtonpost.com
Los Angeles police clash with protesters in fight to evict major homeless encampment
Los Angeles police clash with protesters in fight to evict major homeless encampment
Echo Park Lake site has become a battleground in the city’s worsening housing and homelessness crisis during the pandemic
www.theguardian.com
The High Stakes in the Amazon Union Fight in Alabama - The Bulwark
The High Stakes in the Amazon Union Fight in Alabama – The Bulwark
It’s about workplace democracy, and could affect not just the tech giant’s employees but those of other firms.
thebulwark.com

Find us on Facebook

The Valley Citizen
PO Box 156
Downtown Bear Postal
1509 K Street
Modesto, CA 95354

Email us at:
thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Footer

The Valley Citizen
PO Box 156
Downtown Bear Postal
1509 K Street
Modesto, CA 95354

Email us at:
thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Subscribe for Free

* indicates required

Search

• Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2021 The Valley Citizen

Dedicated to the memory of John Michael Flint. Contact us at thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Editor and publisher: Eric Caine

Website customization and maintenance by Susan Henley Design