[jbeda]

Seattle actually put this into practice. The city funds and supports homeless housing for the most expensive homeless in the city. There is no requirement for sobriety. The project is called 1811 Eastlake (http://www.google.com/search?q=1811+eastlake) and it is not without controversy. Studies of the outcomes and cost analysis has been published in JAMA. Here is a summary: http://www.desc.org/documents/DESC_1811_JAMA_info.pdf.

My wife is an ER attending at Harborview, the hospital that sees most of these patients. Anecdotally, she has seen great outcomes out of the project, has toured it and is a big fan.

(Interestingly, Dr. Michael Copass, the patriarch of the Harborview ED and a pioneer in modern medical response calls these individuals "urban nomads")