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by refurb
1305 days ago
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Well, as you point out, assuming the SF stats apply to the entire US is a stretch. But regardless, do you think the only reason why people are homeless is because they can't afford a home? They did a survey in SF and 60%+ were homeless due to mental health and/or drug and alcohol issues. Building more houses won't fix that. |
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Housing First approaches have found much better outcomes for mental health treatment, and addiction treatment.
It’s so hard to address mental health issues with a population that’s homeless. Simple things like weekly visits with a therapist become much much more difficult. Keeping medication safe and secure is much more feasible when someone has stable housing.
You’re absolutely right that housing people won’t necessarily fix all their problems. But it makes those other problems much easier to address, and leads to better outcomes [1].
And it can drive down other costs (like healthcare costs specifically) to the point that it’s cheaper [2].
[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2916946/
[2] https://www.bluecrossmafoundation.org/publication/preventive...