Quote:
Originally Posted by John Mercier
But can we state for certain that those living on the streets are mentally ill? Or even that they entered that situation due to mental illness?
I was asked about the new ''market priced'' ''affordable'' housing that is slated to be built at the old LSS property. Would these help the housing situation in Laconia? My answer was no. It will simply create more opportunity for those coming from outside the area to move to the area at a less expensive rate than might currently exist.
The population in Laconia is roughly what it was in the mid-80s, the housing stock has expanded rapidly.
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the first step is to handle the easy ones. Go to any city and find a guy wearing ten pairs of pants who is in an argument with a stop sign and you have found your nut. Similarly, living under a dumpster and refusing any help. These are not the simple "between job" homeless but they are the ones where all the money is spent.
I was reading the other day (or maybe radio) San Diego, Portland, Seattle and a few others something like 50% of the ambulance calls in each city were regarding the same 10 or so bums over and over. Costing millions which would be so much better spent getting them into a locked room for a while.
the amount spent on this over decades has only the result of it getting worse because the wrong solutions are being used. Los Angeles is giving out hotel rooms with no drug testing or any other requirements except patting themselves on the back for "helping"
like most problems the solutions are not hard, if there is the will to act.