There's two massive hurdles to clear in public perception: 1) that addiction is a personal vice that people _shouldn't_ get help from others for, if they die on the street, it's their own fault, and 2) that helping people who are homeless is somehow offensive and unfair to people who are "productive" and don't get help for free.
It baffles me, if someone homeless in my community gets housing, that doesn't make me feel aggrieved for having to pay for mine. Yet we spend more money per person on homeless services that fail to get them housing than we would spend just... paying for apartments for them, because it would be unfair to do so.
The problem is that the welfare system failed to get implemented during the new deal and was introduced by the “Great Society” amendments to the Social Security Act in the 1960s.
The core compromises essential to getting it done were the usual “states rights” revenue split and later limiting state liability by abusing social security disability. There’s alot of overhead dollars that fund state operations so it is difficult to effectuate change - by design.
Things like addiction support are aligned with mental hygiene and Medicaid, so you really need to destroy your life until the safety net kicks in. If you live in a place like Mississippi, they’ll try to ship you north or push you towards SSDI (ie the Federal budget). In states that are less bleak, the community standard for disability is lower, and usually rehab is covered in some way by Medicaid.
The other thing that’s different about addiction vs regular healthcare is that the person needs to be ready. I worked for years with a gentleman who beat alcoholism and became a counselor. He was only able to get by it after harming one of his children accidentally.
It baffles me, if someone homeless in my community gets housing, that doesn't make me feel aggrieved for having to pay for mine. Yet we spend more money per person on homeless services that fail to get them housing than we would spend just... paying for apartments for them, because it would be unfair to do so.