I heard about this the other day:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/07/29/national/main5195592.shtml

I actually think this is a really good idea.  After all, it gets them off of the streets of New York, and lets them settle in an area where they might actually be able to get a job and afford to get a place to stay.

And this is nothing new.  The city of Lancaster California has had such a program in effect for years.  However, they do it in a totally different manner.

In Lancaster (in the Mojave desert, 75 miles North of LA), if they find somebody living on the street, they arrest them.  Then when they face the judge, they get sentenced to 30 days.  Under LA County Jail rules, any sentences of under a month are kept in the city jail.  Sentences of a month or more are transferred to the Central Facility in Downtown LA.  And since when they are released they are released in downtown, almost none of them bother going back to Lancaster.

And this is a good thing for them.  Lancaster has 1 homeless facility, with only around 100 beds.  And 60 of those beds are for women or families.  But in the LA Metro area, there are around 100 homeless facilities, both public and private.  Plus LA has a much milder climate.  No snow in the winter, and it rarely gets to the brain-baking 120 that Lancaster has been known to get.

Maybe we can start a program like this nation-wide.  Have every community buss their homeless elsewhere.  Then instead of living on the streets and alleys of our cities, they will be living in busses.  :D

Usually you need a perminate residence in order to get a job.  That is a big obstacle.  What good does arresting the homeless do?  Punishing people for being poor.  I will agree with you on relocating them.  City streets are not safe for them.  Easily harassed and victimized.  There was a program where homeless were allowed to live in state parks in certain numbers.  That seemed to work well, not sure if it's still running though.

Usually you need a perminate residence in order to get a job.  That is a big obstacle.  What good does arresting the homeless do?  Punishing people for being poor.  I will agree with you on relocating them.  City streets are not safe for them.  Easily harassed and victimized.  There was a program where homeless were allowed to live in state parks in certain numbers.  That seemed to work well, not sure if it's still running though.


What it does is relocate them from an area with basically no shelters, to an area where there are a huge numbers of shelters.  In fact, in LA there is a large "Migrant Homeless" population.

Most of the shelters are actually privately run.  Salvation Army has some of the largest, and there are others with beds ranging from a hundred or so, up to large ones that house up to 500 at a time.  However, they all have residency limits.  It tends to vary, but 30-90 days tends to be the norm.  And once you leave, you need to be gone between 30-90 days before you can return.

What these migrants do is stay in one shelter until that limit is reached, then relocate to another shelter.  They do this in a cycle, until they go back to the original shelter.

LA also has a "Winter Shelter" program that works differently.  These shelters are funded by the County, and are only open in inclimate weather, generally from October through April.  In these shelters you can stay as long as you want.  I have even known people who put their belongings in storage during the winter months, and move into a shelter voluntarily.  In an area like LA, that can be a savings of at least $5,000, not including utilities and food.

About the only ones that live on "skid row" are those that are so mentally unstable, drug, or alcohol dependent that they refuse to follow shelter rules.  I remember one guy that was forcefully evicted because he objected to taking a bath (he absolutely reeked).  And others were evicted for trying to bring drugs, alcohol, or weapons into the shelter.  One of the gals was evicted because she would not stop smoking inside the shelter (she said it was to cold to use the outside smoking area).

When I first became homeless in 2000, I was living in Lancaster.  I took the train to LA, where I first got involved in shelter living.  I was never caught, but before I was able to get the money to leave I was squatting in an abandoned house.

What it does is relocate them from an area with basically no shelters, to an area where there are a huge numbers of shelters.  In fact, in LA there is a large "Migrant Homeless" population.

Most of the shelters are actually privately run.  Salvation Army has some of the largest, and there are others with beds ranging from a hundred or so, up to large ones that house up to 500 at a time.  However, they all have residency limits.  It tends to vary, but 30-90 days tends to be the norm.  And once you leave, you need to be gone between 30-90 days before you can return.

What these migrants do is stay in one shelter until that limit is reached, then relocate to another shelter.  They do this in a cycle, until they go back to the original shelter.

LA also has a "Winter Shelter" program that works differently.  These shelters are funded by the County, and are only open in inclimate weather, generally from October through April.  In these shelters you can stay as long as you want.  I have even known people who put their belongings in storage during the winter months, and move into a shelter voluntarily.  In an area like LA, that can be a savings of at least $5,000, not including utilities and food.

About the only ones that live on "skid row" are those that are so mentally unstable, drug, or alcohol dependent that they refuse to follow shelter rules.  I remember one guy that was forcefully evicted because he objected to taking a bath (he absolutely reeked).  And others were evicted for trying to bring drugs, alcohol, or weapons into the shelter.  One of the gals was evicted because she would not stop smoking inside the shelter (she said it was to cold to use the outside smoking area).

When I first became homeless in 2000, I was living in Lancaster.  I took the train to LA, where I first got involved in shelter living.  I was never caught, but before I was able to get the money to leave I was squatting in an abandoned house.


Yeah, I know about the homeless shelter hopping.  Can't say there's a magic bullet for the homeless situation.  I would think that with the economy and people suddenly losing everything that homelessness is a bigger problem than what it was.  The only good thing about that is the new homeless are going to demand better treatment.  I hear skid row is really bad. I find it difficult to fathom why people won't follow the rules of a shelter if it gives them a place to sleep and safety.  Squatting in an abandon house, how did you get away with not being busted by cops?

I find this terribly sad.  Really.  It's like society holding up a bit sign saying: "We Give Up."

It is inhumane and it is dehumanizing.

Homeless people congregate in big cities like New York because they can survive there.  If they get shipped like so much chattel to smaller communities with fewer resources and less tolerance, they will be met with raging provincial resentment and vigilante violence. 

If you lack a decent suit of clothes, let alone a permanent address, ain't nobody's gonna hire you.  Even McDonald's can do a CORI check nowadays, so if you've been arrested for drugs or burglary, you can forget it all the same.

Right-wing hate radio host Jay Severin once quoted Dickens regarding the homeless:  "Have we no jails?"

Never mind the misreading of Oliver Twist, a night in jail isn't cheap for the taxpayers.

What is cheap?  Bullets and open pit graves.  That's the next step.