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Almost crushed by the weight of humanity and the harsh light of reality, San Francisco – a city in a state that accounts for only 12% of the population but is home to an astonishing 50% of the nation’s street homeless population – finally The emerging failure of the “housing first” approach to homelessness.
Mayor London Breed announced a new initiative that will require homeless people to undergo drug testing and treatment in order to receive city services.
This sudden reversal is a monumental admission that the housing-first model long championed by left-wing politicians and activists is fundamentally flawed.
A homeless encampment is seen in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood on June 6, 2023. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
The fallacy that providing free housing with no strings attached will solve homelessness has been proven wrong time and time again. In cities like Austin, homelessness is skyrocketing despite generous housing policies.
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What these cities fail to address is the fundamental problem that homelessness is more often an addiction or mental illness problem than a housing problem.
California Governor Gavin Newsom said in 2008, when he was mayor of San Francisco, “We believe…shelter is the solution to sleep, and housing is the solution to homelessness.”
This statement sounds lofty, but it obscures the multifaceted nature of the problem.
San Francisco’s move toward mandatory drug testing and treatment is a step in the right direction and mirrors similar policy shifts seen in other parts of the country. This paper acknowledges a brutal truth that many on the left would rather ignore. In other words, simply putting a roof over one’s head cannot heal a person. The root cause of their suffering must be treated.
Leftist discourse on homelessness has long been driven by a romanticized view of poverty, ignoring the reality of homelessness, which is a complex web of mental illness, addiction, and personal responsibility. This simplistic worldview has encouraged policies that not only fail to solve problems, but often make them worse. As I’ve written before, the left is completely wrong about what homeless people really need.
By introducing drug testing and treatment as a prerequisite for receiving services, San Francisco is essentially adopting a more conservative and holistic approach to homelessness, one that balances compassion and accountability. ing. This isn’t a new idea. Programs that have implemented similar prerequisites have been successful in reducing homelessness and improving the quality of life for people on the street.
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Critics claim that this new policy is punitive and inhumane, but what is truly inhumane is that it allows people to continue living in squalor and addiction without intervention. . A society that turns a blind eye to the suffering on the streets and is satisfied with superficial solutions is a society that has lost its moral compass.
It is time to replace empty virtue signaling with effective policies.
A good place to start would be to eliminate America’s housing and urban development rules that tie billions in homelessness policies to a failed housing-first approach. This resulted in a one-size-fits-all federal straitjacket that precluded innovative programs that provide services to help the homeless.
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The question is whether other cities will follow suit. Or will we continue down our failed ideological path, refusing to adapt in the face of overwhelming evidence? Only time will tell, but San Francisco’s policy shift could be the domino that triggers a national reassessment of how we address homelessness.
As we move forward, I hope this marks the beginning of a new era, one in which data and human compassion, rather than ideology or political expediency, drive policy. It is time to put the dignity and well-being of our most vulnerable citizens above partisan politics.
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