The social service world has decided that housing should be the first and foremost strategy when dealing with social dysfunction. The idea that it is impossible to effectively deal with mental health issues, criminal issues, family issues, severe financial issues etc. until someone has a stable place to live is now the industry norm. To that end service providers have identified a housing continuum that ranges from emergency shelter through short term supportive housing to long term affordable housing as the preferred solution.
A segment of the homeless are on the street because there is a lack of workable affordable geared to income housing and no employment fit for their needs. This is a solvable problem. Housing and employment can be solved with dollars.
Many on the street however, are experiencing mental health issues or substance use issues. For them the issues are much more complex and problematic. Many of this group can’t or won’t be housed and because of this their behavior is often the most disruptive. There is no municipal silver bullet solution here. If someone tries to tell you there is they are not truly familiar with the problem. We need the Province and the Federal government to come up with a holistic solution that addresses housing, substance use, domestic violence, the court system and the availability of wrap-around services.
In the mean time we need to apply the letter of the law with a boatload of empathy.
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