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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote]
Anonymous wrote:
“Housing first” is an abject failure. It should be “services first.” There’s a fundamental disconnect between reality and the people driving homelessness policy. The vast majority of people living on the street have mental health issues or drug issues or both. That’s the reality. But the “housing first” people want you to believe that it’s just a rough patch or a little bad luck.

Literally every reputable study on reducing homelessness has definitively proven housing first is by far the most effective strategy.

Just because you're a horrible person and can't stand the idea of someone less fortunate than you getting something you're not getting doesn't change reality.[/quote]

Housing First in DC is a disaster---there is no requirement for recipients to avail themselves of services, even if enough services were available, which they aren't.  DC's landlord tenant laws are so one-sided that a landlord has no recourse against tenants exhibiting anti-social and dangerous behaviors---so long as the rent is being paid (which it is, with a voucher) then a landlord cannot evict, no matter the egregiousness of the behavior.  Nor can landlords limit the number of voucher tenants they accept---to do so violates the current language of DC's Human Rights law, which precludes discrimination on source of income.  So private building owners are forced by Housing First into becoming unregulated, unsupervised mental institutions.  The staff in these buildings is regularly screamed at, spat on, and forced to endure behaviors that should not have to be tolerated, including physical assault.  I wish every do-gooder who has posted in support of Housing First in this thread had to spend a week living in one of these troubled buildings and then report back on how they felt.  [/quote]

Housing First sucks
    -longtime DC homeless service provider[/quote]

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