In order
for us to understand what public policy might actually help improve cities with
a large homeless population, then we need to understand what assumptions public
policy makers might have about the homeless which work against public interest.
It is assumed that the majority of
homeless become so because of addiction issues or mental illness. First, that
assumes that the majority of the homeless are the chronic homeless (the most
obvious homeless population), instead of the majority homeless—families who are
experiencing economic hardship and will be housed again in just a few
months.
Recent data has shown that only a minority
of the homeless end up on the street due to addiction issues (14 percent) or
mental illness. The main causes of
homelessness would be: loss of job, or
being kicked out of one’s apartment or house.
There is greater indication that obvious mental illness and addiction is
widespread among the chronic homeless as a result of the extreme stresses of
living on the street.
(National Coalition for the Homeless http://www.nationalhomeless.org/factsheets/why.html
)
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