DC is a magnet for the homeless

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work in social services, and we talk about this a lot.

There are a lot of reasons for DC's high numbers of homeless people - children and adults. I blame the lack of affordable housing in DC. You can hem and haw all you want, but the reality is that there is almost no affordable housing for families in DC, especially not in safe neighborhoods. It doesn't exist, and people become homeless every day because of this.

Mental illness and drug addiction are responsible for homelessness in many instances. Many addicts are not able to work. Not all addicts are single adults - some of them are young people with children. Many communities have strong cultural aversion to treating mental illness because it's believed to be a character flaw, so people resist treatment that could otherwise help them to stabilize.

I don't find it particularly useful to separate our various jurisdictions into totally separate entities. A homeless person from Montgomery County can step across Carroll Street in Takoma Park and instantly become a homeless person in DC. A homeless person in Virginia can walk across the Key Bridge and become a homeless person in DC.

One of the things that one of my colleagues who works with homeless veterans told me that I thought was interesting was also that DC has a lot of mentally ill homeless people come here because it's the capital - not because they heard that things are hunky dory for homeless people in DC, but because they have a fixation with Obama, or Congress, or whatever else that is unique to this city.

As for the policy shifts, I think some posters may be a bit confused. By law, DC must provide shelter to FAMILIES seeking shelter year-round. Mandatory shelter for individuals is only in effect during hypothermia season. It's not that anyone anywhere can get any kind of services they want in DC just by asking whenever they want to.

Sure, but the funds to help them does come from separate entities, which is why people do care. A lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work in social services, and we talk about this a lot.

There are a lot of reasons for DC's high numbers of homeless people - children and adults. I blame the lack of affordable housing in DC. You can hem and haw all you want, but the reality is that there is almost no affordable housing for families in DC, especially not in safe neighborhoods. It doesn't exist, and people become homeless every day because of this.

Mental illness and drug addiction are responsible for homelessness in many instances. Many addicts are not able to work. Not all addicts are single adults - some of them are young people with children. Many communities have strong cultural aversion to treating mental illness because it's believed to be a character flaw, so people resist treatment that could otherwise help them to stabilize.

I don't find it particularly useful to separate our various jurisdictions into totally separate entities. A homeless person from Montgomery County can step across Carroll Street in Takoma Park and instantly become a homeless person in DC. A homeless person in Virginia can walk across the Key Bridge and become a homeless person in DC.

One of the things that one of my colleagues who works with homeless veterans told me that I thought was interesting was also that DC has a lot of mentally ill homeless people come here because it's the capital - not because they heard that things are hunky dory for homeless people in DC, but because they have a fixation with Obama, or Congress, or whatever else that is unique to this city.

As for the policy shifts, I think some posters may be a bit confused. By law, DC must provide shelter to FAMILIES seeking shelter year-round. Mandatory shelter for individuals is only in effect during hypothermia season. It's not that anyone anywhere can get any kind of services they want in DC just by asking whenever they want to.

Sure, but the funds to help them does come from separate entities, which is why people do care. A lot.

No kidding. I just think that it's helpful to remember how close these jurisdictions actually are and stop pretending that what happens on the DC side of the river isn't the Virginia side's problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work in social services, and we talk about this a lot.

There are a lot of reasons for DC's high numbers of homeless people - children and adults. I blame the lack of affordable housing in DC. You can hem and haw all you want, but the reality is that there is almost no affordable housing for families in DC, especially not in safe neighborhoods. It doesn't exist, and people become homeless every day because of this.

Mental illness and drug addiction are responsible for homelessness in many instances. Many addicts are not able to work. Not all addicts are single adults - some of them are young people with children. Many communities have strong cultural aversion to treating mental illness because it's believed to be a character flaw, so people resist treatment that could otherwise help them to stabilize.

I don't find it particularly useful to separate our various jurisdictions into totally separate entities. A homeless person from Montgomery County can step across Carroll Street in Takoma Park and instantly become a homeless person in DC. A homeless person in Virginia can walk across the Key Bridge and become a homeless person in DC.

One of the things that one of my colleagues who works with homeless veterans told me that I thought was interesting was also that DC has a lot of mentally ill homeless people come here because it's the capital - not because they heard that things are hunky dory for homeless people in DC, but because they have a fixation with Obama, or Congress, or whatever else that is unique to this city.

As for the policy shifts, I think some posters may be a bit confused. By law, DC must provide shelter to FAMILIES seeking shelter year-round. Mandatory shelter for individuals is only in effect during hypothermia season. It's not that anyone anywhere can get any kind of services they want in DC just by asking whenever they want to.

Sure, but the funds to help them does come from separate entities, which is why people do care. A lot.

No kidding. I just think that it's helpful to remember how close these jurisdictions actually are and stop pretending that what happens on the DC side of the river isn't the Virginia side's problem.

As a collective the DMV can't even get Metro to function. Hoping for a tri-state solution here seems unlikely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work in social services, and we talk about this a lot.

There are a lot of reasons for DC's high numbers of homeless people - children and adults. I blame the lack of affordable housing in DC. You can hem and haw all you want, but the reality is that there is almost no affordable housing for families in DC, especially not in safe neighborhoods. It doesn't exist, and people become homeless every day because of this.

Mental illness and drug addiction are responsible for homelessness in many instances. Many addicts are not able to work. Not all addicts are single adults - some of them are young people with children. Many communities have strong cultural aversion to treating mental illness because it's believed to be a character flaw, so people resist treatment that could otherwise help them to stabilize.

I don't find it particularly useful to separate our various jurisdictions into totally separate entities. A homeless person from Montgomery County can step across Carroll Street in Takoma Park and instantly become a homeless person in DC. A homeless person in Virginia can walk across the Key Bridge and become a homeless person in DC.

One of the things that one of my colleagues who works with homeless veterans told me that I thought was interesting was also that DC has a lot of mentally ill homeless people come here because it's the capital - not because they heard that things are hunky dory for homeless people in DC, but because they have a fixation with Obama, or Congress, or whatever else that is unique to this city.

As for the policy shifts, I think some posters may be a bit confused. By law, DC must provide shelter to FAMILIES seeking shelter year-round. Mandatory shelter for individuals is only in effect during hypothermia season. It's not that anyone anywhere can get any kind of services they want in DC just by asking whenever they want to.

Sure, but the funds to help them does come from separate entities, which is why people do care. A lot.

+1.

[Anonymous]

There is so much misinformation in this thread it is hard to even have a conversation.

Here is the report. Maybe some of you who actually care can read it. Then we can discuss data and not stereotypes.


http://www.mwcog.org/uploads/pub-documents/ol5aXVo20160511153522.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one comes to DC because they are homeless. They become homeless because DC is so expensive. MD's numbers have gone down because they don't turn anyone away from shelter in the winter.

Go to Miami Beach, where it's warm all year round, and then report back. That's where people actually migrate to if they're already homeless....

DC's policies are more favorable to the homeless so yes, they do go to DC. And yes, it is a fact that a lot of DC's homeless weren't originally from DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is so much misinformation in this thread it is hard to even have a conversation.

Here is the report. Maybe some of you who actually care can read it. Then we can discuss data and not stereotypes.


http://www.mwcog.org/uploads/pub-documents/ol5aXVo20160511153522.pdf

Table 2 there strongly seems to support that "DC is a magnet for the homeless."

Either that, or our authorities are the most clueless.

Everywhere else, homelessness is declining. At the same time, DC sees a large spike.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one comes to DC because they are homeless. They become homeless because DC is so expensive. MD's numbers have gone down because they don't turn anyone away from shelter in the winter.

Go to Miami Beach, where it's warm all year round, and then report back. That's where people actually migrate to if they're already homeless....

Read the article, and see the light.

"D.C. officials attributed the jump to the District's policy of providing year-round access to shelter for families.

D.C. is the only jurisdiction in the area where people cannot be turned away from shelter during cold weather, and families never are turned away. While D.C. has a residency requirement for shelters, it rarely results in people from Maryland and Virginia being turned away."

The homeless CAN be turned away from shelter in the other jurisdictions in the report.

And the "DC is so expensive" isn't a particularly valid excuse given that Arlington isn't necessarily cheap nor is it getting cheaper. They didn't see a decline of 27% because suddenly housing got more affordable in Arlington. There was no major flood of affordable housing to hit the market in Arlington.

[Anonymous]

Per the report, DC ends up having to count, accommodate and place the homeless without particularly considering their residency or eligibility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is so much misinformation in this thread it is hard to even have a conversation.

Here is the report. Maybe some of you who actually care can read it. Then we can discuss data and not stereotypes.


http://www.mwcog.org/uploads/pub-documents/ol5aXVo20160511153522.pdf

Table 2 there strongly seems to support that "DC is a magnet for the homeless."

Either that, or our authorities are the most clueless.

Everywhere else, homelessness is declining. At the same time, DC sees a large spike.

No, what happened in the District is that people who were doubled up with friends or relatives came out for housing when it was available year round. Doubled up families aren't counted in the survey.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Per the report, DC ends up having to count, accommodate and place the homeless without particularly considering their residency or eligibility.

Nothing in this report said that homeless people migrated from other jurisdictions. Nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Per the report, DC ends up having to count, accommodate and place the homeless without particularly considering their residency or eligibility.

Nothing in this report said that homeless people migrated from other jurisdictions. Nothing.

Right, they didn't come from anywhere, the alien mothership from Zeta Ridiculi beamed the homeless onto DC's streets.

Sorry but there is plenty of information out there that says many of DC's homeless weren't originally from DC.

[Anonymous]

I hate to use a tragic example, but Relisha Rudd's mom was from Virginia and grew up in that foster care system. After she aged-out, she found her way to DC and became the city's responsibility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hate to use a tragic example, but Relisha Rudd's mom was from Virginia and grew up in that foster care system. After she aged-out, she found her way to DC and became the city's responsibility.

Yes, tragic and obvious example.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Per the report, DC ends up having to count, accommodate and place the homeless without particularly considering their residency or eligibility.

Nothing in this report said that homeless people migrated from other jurisdictions. Nothing.

Right, they didn't come from anywhere, the alien mothership from Zeta Ridiculi beamed the homeless onto DC's streets.

Sorry but there is plenty of information out there that says many of DC's homeless weren't originally from DC.

Please, if there is plenty of information then it should be easy for you to find. The last time I recall having this debate on DCUM, the data said that over 75% listed a DC address as their last one.

But I'm sure you can pull together some of that information you are referring to.