Let's take a closer look at the difference between New York and San Francisco
New York prioritized the funding of homeless shelter and San Francisco prioritized the funding homeless housing
You can see the result in the streets
Conversation
People say that addiction and mental illness aren't big causes of homelessness but the best available research finds the opposite.
In a study of 5,400 unsheltered homeless, key factors included being involved in criminal activity and drug (not alcohol) addiction
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Two-thirds of homeless in Los Angeles struggle with either addiction or mental illness
San Francisco’s Health Department in 2019 estimated that 4,000 of the city’s 8,035 homeless, sheltered and unsheltered, are both mentally ill and suffering from substance abuse.
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Over the last year we have forced the Housing First liars to admit that addiction causes homelessness
Many have retreated to claiming that it's "bidirectional," bc living on the street worsens addiction
Well, duh
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As the illusion that homelessness is a problem of high rents evaporates, progressives are now retreating to the position that homelessness is "bidirectional."
Well of course it is. Everybody knows that. But it's addiction/mental illness that causes people to live on the street.
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Another myth, promoted out of convenience by Gov. is that homelessness increased everywhere in the US, but that's simply not true. It increased 31% in California and declined 18% in the rest of the US.
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At the state as well as city level, what determines how many unsheltered homeless people there are is whether states build enough shelters and require people to use them. New York State does that. California does not.
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"Housing First" advocates claim that just giving addicts and mentally ill people their own apartment unit, unconditionally, improves health outcomes. They are lying. The National Academies of Sciences reviewed the scientific literature and found that it does not.
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In fact, there have been studies going back over 12 years finding that just giving addicts their own apartments, unconditionally, risks worsening addiction, overdose, and death.
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And that's what's happened. SF has engaged in a long-term experiment of just giving housing to homeless addicts. The result is many die from overdose in their SRO units
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But doesn't Housing First at least keep people housed?
It does not. Harvard last year found that, after a decade, just 12% of homeless remained housed in Housing First housing. Why? Because it fails to address the root causes of addiction and untreated mental illness
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Just listen to this damning testimony from a former Housing First worker
He was explicitly told not to address addiction, even though it was what was causing their homelessness
Gov. himself defends this pessimistic & deadly addiction maintenance approach
Replying to
Addiction maintenance a.k.a. "Housing First" is also a political scam by
"It's a way for funding to increase, to allow investors to come in and put more money to just build these huge things that are just going to house homeless people and just see what happens."
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"I thought if you put someone into a home that'd help, but if we just provide no strings attached housing, then why would this person want to get better?
"The homeless industrial complex is just enabling people. There needs to be a Shelter First, Housing Earned approach."
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When you interview homeless addicts, many at first deny using drugs, but within minutes, after they start talking, they admit to using, as John did with and me yesterday in Oakland
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Because the vast majority of journalists who interview the homeless are lazy, cowardly, and ideological, they don't ask about drug use
& I always ask about drug use since it's the main event
Watch:
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People say high rent causes homelessness but Ben, who has been homeless in San Francisco for 7 years, says the “vast majority” are homeless due to addiction. Just 6-7% are from SF. Ben says he "boosts" (shoplifts) and breaks into cars to pay for his $60/day heroin habit.
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A lot of homeless addicts, like John above, and James below, are also dealers, and sometimes boast of helping buy drugs for kids.
Good stuff
But you have to ask questions and listen, like reporters are supposed to do
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People say lack of housing forces local residents into the streets, but James says he came from Texas to San Francisco for the drugs, the non-enforcement of anti-camping laws, and the $820/month in welfare & food stamps. James says he sold fentanyl, 2 weeks ago, to a 15-year-old.
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What does work?
Shelter First, Housing Earned.
This is known as "Contingency management."
It rewards abstinence, working, and/or taking your meds.
It's something that even some of my opponents agree works.
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What else?
Breaking up the open drug scenes, which are open air markets in which addicts live
Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Lisbon, Vienna and Zurich did so
We can't stop drugs from coming into the US
We can't stop drug use or drug dealing
But we shut down open drug scenes.
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As governor, I will shut down the open drug scenes
I will enact a Shelter First, Housing Earned policy
I will establish universal psychiatry/rehab (Cal-Psych)
Newsom refuses to do those things. Instead, he uses taxpayer money to make things worse and then blames the counties
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The reporter said, "Millions have been committed to the problem and yet it gets worse"
Newsom never explains why that is
The reason is because the *billions* he dumps on Housing First IS WHAT'S MAKING IT WORSE
HF is an incentive to become homeless & a disincentive to recovery
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Dozens of more articles on why California created the homelessness/drug/crime crisis
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No complaining!
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In the last 15 months, HarperCollins has published two, 400+ page, thoroughly-researched books by me, each with 1,200+ endnotes. You might not agree with them, but if you haven’t read them, you have no business accusing me of cherry-picking evidence.
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SHELLENBERGER vs. Newsom
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