Homeless person sleeping in my front door vestibule

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is exactly the problem. The people that run homeless shelters should help you not cops.

Yes,yes, YES!!!
If the non emergency line could instead send a social worker to bring him somewhere safe, he wouldn't relocate to another vestibule, or street resulting in him getting injured or sick.

You weren't wrong OP. I get your choice. But the system needs a better solution.

All of these people have been approached by a social worker at some time or have been referred to somewhere safe to sleep, even by the police. They are sleeping on the street because they don't prefer shelters for a variety of reasons.

The solution would be institutions for in-patient mental health/substance abuse treatment, but it would take a lot more than just a visit from a social worker to get them there.

- MSW

sad that an MSW apparently has no knowledge of the Housing First model?

Good point.

We used to know a guy who had been homeless for 10 years and alcoholic. One time he showed up at my house with a broken leg. He'd been attacked by someone, ended up in the ER, they put a cast on and gave him an appt with orthopedics for the following week, and sent him on his way. There was snow on the ground, he had a sock on the foot of the broken leg, and all I could think about was gangrene or something. Got him clean socks and took him back to the same ER and made a stink until they arranged for him to be taken by cab to a local "wet" shelter (where you can be intoxicated and still get a bed, actually a mat on the floor but maybe they had a cot given his leg).

The result of this was that he ended up with an apartment in a housing first building for chronically homeless people. They have 24 hour supervision, are allowed limited alcohol but not allowed to drink with other people in their unit. He lived there for a couple of years before another crisis landed him in the hospital, court ordered alcohol treatment, and eventually guardianship and a group home setting. We see his brother from time to time and apparently he has a part time job there, it's out of the area.

The housing first building was the first where I live and very controversial at the time. The original theory was that it would be transitional but there was no time limit for residency. Some people have had to be evicted over the years but several have lived there for a decade. There have been new similar projects. These approaches can significantly reduce ER visits and jail for people who participate in them. They are not required to get treatment.

I probably would have let it go re: the guy sleeping in the vestibule for one night. Those are not likely to be the people to break in or attack you. Glad the police handled it the way they should and agree that there should be responses that do not require armed and unpredictable cops.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is exactly the problem. The people that run homeless shelters should help you not cops.

Yes,yes, YES!!!
If the non emergency line could instead send a social worker to bring him somewhere safe, he wouldn't relocate to another vestibule, or street resulting in him getting injured or sick.

You weren't wrong OP. I get your choice. But the system needs a better solution.

All of these people have been approached by a social worker at some time or have been referred to somewhere safe to sleep, even by the police. They are sleeping on the street because they don't prefer shelters for a variety of reasons.

The solution would be institutions for in-patient mental health/substance abuse treatment, but it would take a lot more than just a visit from a social worker to get them there.

- MSW

sad that an MSW apparently has no knowledge of the Housing First model?

Good point.

We used to know a guy who had been homeless for 10 years and alcoholic. One time he showed up at my house with a broken leg. He'd been attacked by someone, ended up in the ER, they put a cast on and gave him an appt with orthopedics for the following week, and sent him on his way. There was snow on the ground, he had a sock on the foot of the broken leg, and all I could think about was gangrene or something. Got him clean socks and took him back to the same ER and made a stink until they arranged for him to be taken by cab to a local "wet" shelter (where you can be intoxicated and still get a bed, actually a mat on the floor but maybe they had a cot given his leg).

The result of this was that he ended up with an apartment in a housing first building for chronically homeless people. They have 24 hour supervision, are allowed limited alcohol but not allowed to drink with other people in their unit. He lived there for a couple of years before another crisis landed him in the hospital, court ordered alcohol treatment, and eventually guardianship and a group home setting. We see his brother from time to time and apparently he has a part time job there, it's out of the area.

The housing first building was the first where I live and very controversial at the time. The original theory was that it would be transitional but there was no time limit for residency. Some people have had to be evicted over the years but several have lived there for a decade. There have been new similar projects. These approaches can significantly reduce ER visits and jail for people who participate in them. They are not required to get treatment.

I probably would have let it go re: the guy sleeping in the vestibule for one night. Those are not likely to be the people to break in or attack you. Glad the police handled it the way they should and agree that there should be responses that do not require armed and unpredictable cops.

Re: “armed and unpredictable cops” - I’ve never seen a police officer been anything other than professional and compassionate when engaging homeless individuals in DC and MoCo over the last 20+ years. My day job and volunteer work centers on homeless advocacy, so I have called outreach workers, 911 (for medical assistance, which entails police too), and simply stopped and observed when seeing such contact downtown or in the burbs.

Please don’t paint our local police in a bad light. When it comes to deescalation and compassion, they are excellent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I ended up calling the non emergency line and stressed that he was not harming anyone. The police came out, woke him up, nicely explained that he couldn’t sleep in front of someone’s door, and then left after he walked away.

So where do you stand on defunding the police OP?

DP. I dislike the phrase "defunding the police" because it is misinterpreted all the time. I agree that some funding should be redirected from the police to social services so that police don't have to come out because of a homeless person who isn't being violent or threatening. Or out to deal with a mentally ill person. That should be handled by people specifically trained in those areas. We really need to have better resources for mentally ill people and homeless people (there's often an overlap) in this country. Having police handling those situations is a terrible idea. We still need to appropriately fund the police for the areas that they actually have expertise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I ended up calling the non emergency line and stressed that he was not harming anyone. The police came out, woke him up, nicely explained that he couldn’t sleep in front of someone’s door, and then left after he walked away.

Thank you for insisting that he wasn't harming anyone. Some police cannot be trusted.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone remember the homeless man who stabbed the jogger near 14th and P?

Also recently a homeless man killed someone and stabbed another near foggy bottom.

I have been robbed by them.


All are not violent, but many are and most have mental health issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Divorce your husband. He’s an idiot. (I have a cheap lawyer if you need help with the divorce )

call the police ASAP. this guy is trespassing and you don’t know what weapons he may be concealing. It is better to be safe then sorry.

Seriously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone remember the homeless man who stabbed the jogger near 14th and P?

Also recently a homeless man killed someone and stabbed another near foggy bottom.

I have been robbed by them.


All are not violent, but many are and most have mental health issues.

I guess everyone here is too young to remember the Laura Houghteling case. Not all homeless are sweet And harmless vagrants. The Houghtelings went out of their way to help the guy but he was mentally ill and their thanks was to bury their 23 year old daughter. The narrative that cops are more dangerous than random homeless people is insane.

[Anonymous]

You should have asked him yourself. Homeless people are not gang bangers out kill you. They are just homeless. Have some compassion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I ended up calling the non emergency line and stressed that he was not harming anyone. The police came out, woke him up, nicely explained that he couldn’t sleep in front of someone’s door, and then left after he walked away.

And this is what your husband was afraid of when he said he didn’t want to call the cops? Lol

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is exactly the problem. The people that run homeless shelters should help you not cops.

Yes,yes, YES!!!
If the non emergency line could instead send a social worker to bring him somewhere safe, he wouldn't relocate to another vestibule, or street resulting in him getting injured or sick.

You weren't wrong OP. I get your choice. But the system needs a better solution.

All of these people have been approached by a social worker at some time or have been referred to somewhere safe to sleep, even by the police. They are sleeping on the street because they don't prefer shelters for a variety of reasons.

The solution would be institutions for in-patient mental health/substance abuse treatment, but it would take a lot more than just a visit from a social worker to get them there.

- MSW

sad that an MSW apparently has no knowledge of the Housing First model?

Generally the unhomed have families and know that they can sleep in shelters and are also familiar with services in their areas but prefer to sleep in the rough. Some homeless shelters do not allow former felons to sleep there and the unhomed felons know that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I ended up calling the non emergency line and stressed that he was not harming anyone. The police came out, woke him up, nicely explained that he couldn’t sleep in front of someone’s door, and then left after he walked away.

Thank you for insisting that he wasn't harming anyone. Some police cannot be trusted.

Just be sure you don’t call them when you need help since they ‘can’t be trusted.’

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is exactly the problem. The people that run homeless shelters should help you not cops.

Yes,yes, YES!!!
If the non emergency line could instead send a social worker to bring him somewhere safe, he wouldn't relocate to another vestibule, or street resulting in him getting injured or sick.

You weren't wrong OP. I get your choice. But the system needs a better solution.

All of these people have been approached by a social worker at some time or have been referred to somewhere safe to sleep, even by the police. They are sleeping on the street because they don't prefer shelters for a variety of reasons.

The solution would be institutions for in-patient mental health/substance abuse treatment, but it would take a lot more than just a visit from a social worker to get them there.

- MSW

sad that an MSW apparently has no knowledge of the Housing First model?

The housing first model has limitations...as evidenced by this scenario.

DC embraced housing first, yet we still have people on the street. LA, Seattle, SF, NYC all embraced housing first before dc...it’s not a silver bullet.

People have rights; nobody can be forced inside.

The best approach is holistic prevention. Hindsight being 20/20, housing first should not have focused exclusively on backend housing without investing in upstream prevention. It’s really hard to persuade some people to come inside and take advantage of help after years on the street.

Given the resistance to help, specialty courts run hand in hand with community based providers are effective. Of course, you need to invest in housing, treatment and services. But the court plays a pivotal role in engagement, compliance and success.

I still don’t think you understand. Housing First is giving someone a home, not “help.” And there is still a shortage. And what’s with the nonsequitur on courts?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is exactly the problem. The people that run homeless shelters should help you not cops.

Yes,yes, YES!!!
If the non emergency line could instead send a social worker to bring him somewhere safe, he wouldn't relocate to another vestibule, or street resulting in him getting injured or sick.

You weren't wrong OP. I get your choice. But the system needs a better solution.

All of these people have been approached by a social worker at some time or have been referred to somewhere safe to sleep, even by the police. They are sleeping on the street because they don't prefer shelters for a variety of reasons.

The solution would be institutions for in-patient mental health/substance abuse treatment, but it would take a lot more than just a visit from a social worker to get them there.

- MSW

sad that an MSW apparently has no knowledge of the Housing First model?

Generally the unhomed have families and know that they can sleep in shelters and are also familiar with services in their areas but prefer to sleep in the rough. Some homeless shelters do not allow former felons to sleep there and the unhomed felons know that.

shelters is not “housing first.” doubling up with relatives (who may not in fact welcome an addicted or mentally ill relative, esp if they are in public housing and risk eviction) is not “housing first.” Housing first is literally giving the chronically homeless a home. That’s it.

[Anonymous]

The lax attitude such as displayed by OP’s husband is the reason nothing changes wrt the homeless situation. If people were fed up and didn’t put up with officials who do nothing or waste money on expensive housing projects these people can’t even keep, things would change.

[Anonymous]

I would have put food and drink and a blanket out for him, but that’s just me.