A possible solution to helping the homeless needy

That 1975 Supreme court ruling made it illegal for any municipally to hospitalize a mentally ill person against his will.

So what's the answer ?

It is.  I think I remember reading somewhere that many of the mentally ill that would have been in hospitals/institutions are now in jail, instead.

We have a huge forest fire going on here in So Cal that was set by a guy that was committed to a 2 week mental health hold by authorities for making threats to his neighbors ...  he was released in 2 days.

He wanted to go back to his cabin in Holly Jim canyon and burn his neighbors houses down for revenge,  and he did.

now he will be in a jail.

thank you ACLU,  you made things so much better.       

sightseers said:

thank you ACLU,  you made things so much better.     

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Proud card carrying ACLU member. I see you still haven?t come up with a solution to the homeless problem.

in my research I did find this and it kinda makes sense....

"You can't point fingers at either side of the political spectrum for our homeless crisis, both are implicit. Way back in the nevermore, the ACLU sued to have mentally ill people released from the insane asylums to "live life with dignity". They were probably referring to the ones capable of minimum tasks to function in society, with some supervision. The Reagan administration and other states saw this as a way to possibly reduce government spending, and went along with the lawsuit with a wink and a nod.
BOTH ARE GUILTY
Now we have mentally ill people roaming the streets living without a shred of dignity or proper care, off their meds and trying to self-medicate with illegal narcotics. They are the CHRONICALLY homeless; people down on their luck are the temporary homeless, using resources and programs to get back on their feet, but often replaced by the next person down on their luck.

SOLUTION?
Re-open the mental hospitals and reinstate involuntary admissions. Right now, the prisons are acting as mental health facilities, and they are neither equipped nor trained for that.

FISCAL CONCERNS;
The offset of reduced prison costs would help defray the cost of the mental asylums. The reduction in policing and clean-up would be reduced, and cost of services provided for the homeless would be drastically reduced. Some administrators in the public and non-profit sectors would have their positions eliminated. The end result would be a reduction in cost to the general tax payer, and/or a diversion of current money spent on the homeless crisis on other public programs (healthcare, education, etc)". 

See if you can get your ACLU buds on board with this.... )

sightseers said:

SOLUTION?
Re-open the mental hospitals and reinstate involuntary admissions.

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What if someone determined you needed involuntary admission? 

garyb1st said:

What if someone determined you needed involuntary admission?

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the VA is about there....  ;D

way back in the day,  I knew of people that were "Committed" .....and the general consensus was, they needed it.

We've all seen One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and I'm sure the system (as every government system has) had it's abuses. 

come up with some better ideas...or we can do nothing because of a bunch of "what if's"...

I like my solution better. Reign in unnecessary spending and rehab old apartment buildings and construct tiny houses for the homeless. Those that do not want to be homeless will move in. Involuntary commitment is too easy for folks to get family or acquaintances put away for nefarious reasons.

sightseers said:

way back in the day,  I knew of people that were "Committed" .....and the general consensus was, they needed it.

We've all seen One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and I'm sure the system had abuses. 

We can come up with some better ideas...or we can do nothing because of a bunch of "what if's"...

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Of course people said they needed it. They wanted to get rid of them instead of dealing with their problem, whatever that may be. Many folks just march to a different drummer. They pose no threat to themselves or society. But because they are different, under your plan, they will be committed and probably abused for a lifetime. Thete?s A guy in NYC I think they call the Naked Cowboy. He strolls around the city with a guitar, cowboy and boots-and that?s all (I think he wears underwear). Many folks would advocate committing him but he is no threat to anyone.

So...I guess you are advocating ..do nothing.  8)

IMO..I don't think this Crowd Funding Homeless App. thing will work...but, try it anyway, and let's see what it does.

sightseers said:

So...I guess you are advocating ..do nothing.  8)

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Sometimes it's not an either or situation. 

This 1975 ACLU ruling reminded me of when I read about the "Cobra effect" on Wikipedia, 

the results of well meaning laws often have the wrong effect.

sightseers said:

So...I guess you are advocating ..do nothing.  8)

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For the third time....provide housing.

Great idea....where's the money coming from ?

We can increase taxes or reduce government spending.. (at the same time of creating a new government program) , or increase the National Debt.

and don't forget their Meds....I hear the house right next to yours is for sale and the government made them an offer 

I said reign in government spending. The recent tax cut for the wealthy would be a good place to start along with reducing the military budget. Many, many ways to find the money w/o increasing taxes.

I agree.

IMO..and from what I saw, our military has long been the biggest tragic waste of money this country could have ever had.

All we need now is satellites, drones, and a hand full of Special Forces...... to everyone else,  as Trump would say... "Your Fired"

How much housing would $12m provide? Think about where that $12m would come from (pomp and circumstance). Or $175m (golf).

Obama also had a bunch of time on the Greens..a lot of Congressional deals get made there.

How about a Flat Tax and an IRS remodel ?

What say you on the Foreign Aid money ?     

it's really just a Government subsidy of our weapons industry anyway ....

(To an ACLU member, it must be like having your tax dollars going to Remington Arms company.. )