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by nn3 1010 days ago
"And people with severe mental health or substance use issues were screened out of the initiative"

Just to keep in mind. I assume that's only some (small?) fraction of the homeless.

3 comments

In the Netherlands more than 50% all homeless are addicted. 40% have mental health problems [1].

Not that surprising because everyone can get atleast 1200 Euro a month if you can't get a job [1]. And there is a bunch of additional money (like huurtoeslag -> extra money to be able to pay the rent, etc.) you are entitled to if you are in low / no income. So most homeless people here have other problems then just money.

[1] https://www.henw.org/artikelen/gezondheidsproblemen-bij-dakl...

[2] https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/bijstand/vraag-en-a...

Not sure about Canada but in the U.S. it's 30%. Just curious as it's seems contrary to the prevailing narrative out there...why would you assume it's a small fraction?

https://www.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/programs_campaign...

I find 30% quite low unless you count the ones that are purely economic and typically are doing things like sleeping in their car or other such things that aren't the typical picture of homelessness.

Technically, I was "homeless" for 7 months in my life--but it was a planned thing, at no point did I ever not have a roof at night, but a few of those nights it was a tent roof.

Because normal people don't end up sleeping in the streets - even poor people.
The people "sleeping on the streets" represent a small fraction of the homeless population. A big chunk (~40% in CA) live in their cars, and the majority are sleeping in shelters (~66% nationwide, which must be lower in CA).
Experiences
In LA's Skid Row, nearly 100% of the homeless have substance abuse issues or severe mental health issues.