by Jack
It’s been a recent headline in the News and Review and it’s a hot topic in the state: The high cost of caring for our street people. It came before the voters back in n 2004 when we approved more funding ($1B more) for mental health programs, eh not quite enough. It’s estimated that we spend over $5 billion a year on our homeless who are frequently mentally ill.
This is a tough problem in tough times and the problem is getting worse, not better. The people we’re asked to care can come from all over the country, not just California. They arrive here any way they can because life here is better than where they came from. It’s true that we have great social services and this is no secret among the homeless. Unfortunately when they migrate here – we get to take over paying the big bills for their care. A big problem, especially when there are so many pressing needs in a state that is basically broke.
Often times what we have are simply people that have made some really bad life choices or they never had a desire to live in the world of the productive; they made a choice, the dropped out and many burned out. It’s sad, but this is our reality and we must deal with it. Look at Chico, we’ve got more derelicts on the street than ever and they started arriving in significant numbers after we started building facilities for them. A case of build it and they will come.
Along life’s path these folks have at times broken the law, they developed big troubles with booz and drugs and developed a myriad of health problems, most are an expensive burden on our healthcare, which ultimately reflects on the cost of your insurance premiums and how your tax dollars get distributed.
To our credit, we’ve been decent people, sympathetic, helpful and we’ve been trying to at least provide a safe, clean place for them to stay with good food. But, I think its fair to remind everyone, our charity has its limits.
Were are facing a real crisis of humanity here. It’s a challenge to triage these people, how do we filter out the worthy from the unworthy, the salvageable from the un-salvageable? We can’t, we just treat them all with as much care as humanly possible. However, in the process of treating everyone …we also waste a ton of our finite resources.
Too many times prisons and jails wind up being a costly home for our mentally ill. Some healthcare professionals say 15-20% of the people in prison are seriously mentally ill. The last study I could find on this put their incarceration price tag at $3 billion and that was back in 1997, so no doubt that figure is much higher today.
Let’s say, we’re going to do whatever it takes to rehab every homeless, provide food, shelter, professional help, medical, everything and for every poor soul mumbling to himself and living on the street. Let’s get real, we can’t fix them all – we could spend every dime we have and still not come close. For a majority our costly rehab is more like a revolving door. We can never keep the mentally ill at a manageable population because the more we do to help the more that show up. Tell me, how do we prevent our grand mental health project in California from becoming a magnet for other states homeless and mentally ill? We can’t. That’s reality, but it suggests that we need to look for a broader solution.
The only way this huge mental health problem can possibly be addressed is at the federal level. Ah growing the size of big government…this is a real hard sell these days. However, if we had spent the money on that federal project instead of Homeland Security we would be well on our way to controlling this situation and relieving the pressure on cities across America. Operating at the federal levelt we could drastically reduce the burden on state taxpayers by spreading out the cost under one large agency, a national mental health center with satellite centers in key states.
To make this work we would have to make it mandatory for everyone found to be mentally incompetent to be forced into the program for their own protection. No more catch and release or buy them a bus ticket to somewhere else. (Police do this all the time to remove chronic problems)
By spreading the burden among all our states and consolidating our finite resources it would be a lot more cost efficient and productive than these random, hit and miss programs, that we find in cities, counties and states today. This is why there is such a big discrepancy among results and dollars spent…we are all over the place in terms of what we do and how we do it.
One thing is for sure, the mentally ill do not belong in jail or prisons. That’s an abuse of the criminal justice system and its not fair to the mentally ill inmates. It also explains why we have a lot of overcrowding! The mentally ill need to be separated out and placed in an environment that is safe for both them and us, somewhere that provides them with at least a chance of being rehabilitated.
Forcing the homeless into rehab programs may not sound very nice, but for many of them its the only way you will get them into treatment. This concept would never work of course because there are way too many who would strongly oppose it, starting with the ACLU.
Darrell Steinberg-D, Sen. Pro-Tem, CA. recently said he wants to, “do whatever it takes” to solve the mental health problem in this state. Sounds nice, but the way things are it can’t be solved. He knows we lack both the will and the resources to do it. We don’t even have a fraction of the money it would take to make a serious dent in this problem! Instead, he wants us to continue to piss away billions on feel good projects, taking bows for curing the mentally ill and sending them out into the world with a diploma for success. What a fantasy, when has that ever worked? Where’s the stats on that one folks? It’s only in the heads of the liberals.
Ya know, sometimes I think the inmates are truly running the asylum. I say that because there’s been no studies for accountability or effectiveness ever since Sen. Steinberg wrote Prop 63, back in 2004. And that thing has been costing us a billion dollars a year. It forced us to spend more money on what and what was the payoff? How do we measure Prop 63’s success, seriously? Apparently we don’t, but we are asked to spend a little more because we’re almost there! Did I say spend a little more? Sen. Steinberg wants us to spend whatever it takes, yikes! He’s not only an idiot – he’s crazy and the worst part is he wants you to be a co-dependent to support his fantasy. Didn’t Steinberg lobby for the billions needed for a high speed rail to no-where? And he’s the head guy for the Dems in Sacramento…. Oh cripes. Well, this is why we will never have a consensus how to fix the homeless problem, even the solution is within our reach if we had the right leadership.
Well Jack, seems like you posted a subject matter that is affecting everyone, however people are just avoiding commenting about it. That is the same reason we have the situation to begin with! The people on the streets in Butte county, and Chico specifically, know that the living is better here than any other city or county they could currently live in. A good percentage are just deadbeats and just gaming us. However there are groups out there that care and with in dwindling budgetary grants from the State try to help the mentally ill, and provide assistance as well as food and medical help so they do not harm themselves or Chico’s general populace any more than they have. A majority I have met and dealt with have a drug/alcohol back ground that has caused their problems and they just can not kick it totally, it is their safe haven in my experience and a small percentage. A smaller percentage are mentally ill due to natural causes and they seem more inclined to help themselves than the abusers, unfortunately they all are being supported by the same agencies, and the case work burden is horrific right now. Chico has a dwindling amount of case workers and a growing population of clients. The police can only assist so much, as the truly mentally ill do not comprehend their actions. So until we can separate the two entities and help those truly willing to better their lives, and stop making it easier for the abusers to flourish,it is only going to get worse for Chico.
Harold, thank you for adding important information to this. I’m disappointed that our regulars have not commented, good or bad, this is something that needs to be discussed. There’s a whole lot of ignorance on this subject and we need to talk about. I admit I’m very ignorant on the subject and know basically only what I’ve observed and what little I’ve been able to read in other articles like the one being done in News and Review right now.
You pointed out that few healthcare workers leads to problems and I guess that is why we’re seeing more of the homeless on the streets.
In my law enforcement career I saw my fair share of the homeless and I totally concur with your characterization of who they are, mostly people done in by their own bad choices that led to life long addiction problems. Being free to roam the land, being responsible to nobody and never dealing with taxes, health and car insurance, employers, showing up for jobs, etc. is enough to cause some of us to simply go on the road. You can live okay in America if you did. We’ve have ample free stuff and transportation is only a railroad yard away. 85-90% of those I came into contact with were just homeless by choice and I don’t know how we cure that? We’re world class co-dependents when it comes to caring for our fellow humans who are poor, even by choice.
The 10-15% who are truly needy would have all the resources they need, if it were not for those others who abused the system and took up time and money better spent on helping those who really deserved the help. But, sorting this out is too much of challenge for us I guess and so we help em all. This means we spread out that tax dollar until its paper thin and does little to help anyone, i.e., look at all the crazies on the street in Chico now.
The problem is big because it has been created by changes in our moral and educational underpinnings. When our parents were young they were taught from birth that work, in some capacity, was their future. You don’t work, you don’t eat. They were taught that charity is important so that those who lack the capacity for work and self care do not suffer; I am my brothers keeper. They were taught that honesty, moderation, contribution, and respect were required to enter the world of adulthood. They were taught to look to nwhat they could contribute and they were taught that preparation was necessary for attaining and successfully taking on adult responsibilities. Over the last sixty years we have just about demolished all of that and have taught instead self-indulgence and self-promotion. Self-esteem and self-actualization are the buzzwords that guide the young. They are taught to look inward and seek a cause in which to identify. they are taught to think communally.
Is it any wonder we have thousands and thousands of people who are mentally lost and uneducated, addicted and phobic, and totally incapable of being productive contributing adults?
The solution to this problem is not just financial. If we don’t begin to address the issues above for the next generations no amount of money on earth will ever be enough and we will slide into permanent ignorance and desolation.
We need educators that are better educated to prepare their charges for adulthood. Heather may have two mommies and Al Gore may have an inconvenient truth but neither of those things is necessary for teaching what children need to learn to become productive, contributing, responsible adults. Just say no was a brilliant response to the kid that asked Nancy Reagan what he should do if a drug pusher offered him drugs. Kids need to learn that they have a responsibility in their choices and power to say no to stupid choices…they also need a reason, so they won’t end up homeless, hungry, and physically and mentally unhealthy. They also need to learn what will make them successful. The basics of reading, language, history, math, science, and geography but also the values described above.
Housing and caring for the homeless, addicted, and mentally ill as an immediate problem does not need to be overly expensive. We need to think like we were living in a depression. The days of high class fascilities are OVER. The situation in the Californias prison system is NOT the model to follow nationwide. Guards and administrators receiving bloated pay, pension and healthcare packages will do nothing to change the situation or help those in need.
The Salvation Army is probably the best model I know. The non-profit San Francisco group (Can’t recall the name) that was having such a high rate of success with ex-cons by cleaning them up, giving them responsibilities to themselves and each other, and rewarding achievement (in stages) is another.
The cold ineffective government solution of more money is not the answer to this problem and will not work. But when we do spend tax dollars we need someone(s) with the good sense to manage our tax dollars so that positive results are achieved. Too often the goal is either vague or not even considered…never mind noticing whether the plan actually works.
The problem is so bad it’s like being in a refugee/war zone. We almost have to line people up, evaluate them individually, and place them in three categories: 1)Those who can be easily helped and are capable of getting back on their feet, 2) Those who are mentally ill and require permanenet hospitalization, and 3) Those who are criminally inclined, unrelenting in their addictions, and unwilling or unable to become contributing members of society.
The first group could be helped by nonprofits like Salvation Army and should be required, every time they are found to be vagrant, to either seek help with Salvation Army or spend xxx amount of days in a county/city program. In a couny program each day would be like boot camp. Time would be spent helping to pay for their program by doing work. The other half getting a GED or learning other skills depending on their situation. They should be housed in a tent city or quonset hut. If they successfully complete this stage without problems, the next stage would be help in obtaining a job or enrollment in community college.
Something like this would be a better use of taxpayer dollars than constant police interdiction, city clean up, and unproductive prison time where hardened criminals only make them less likely to succeed when they get out.
The second group would require county or state funding but I doubt given the empty real estate it would be hard to acquire the fascilities needed. Some of the workers (remodel construction workers, nurses aides, cooks) might eventually come from the homeless that are trained out of group one.
Group 3 have a choice…rehab and clean up with the eventual goal of moving to group 1 and/or permanent residence in a bootcamp/rehab/incarceration fascility with more stringent rules and monitoring than group one but less than prison.
Whining about human rights from those who wish to criticize is going to have to be beaten down or the entire exercize is moot.