The best way to support the homelessness

If you're wondering what's the best way to support homeless communities, the answer is rather simple, give them homes.

That may sound expensive, but let me explain. By giving homeless people homes, taxpayers are saving more money. In fact, a "study by the economic roundtable found that over a six year period, Santa Clara spent 68% less money taking care of them" (Goldberg, "Giving Homeless people..."). The specific causes of such a cost drop has to do with two main costs. Medical bills and Police funding.

For medical expenses, homeless people have put a huge strain on the hospitals. They are "5 times more likely to get sent to the emergency department,, which costs taxpayers $3,700 per visit, make up 1/3 of all hospital visits, and spend on average 3 nights in the hospital, costing taxpayers $9,000" (Garnett, "The Business case..." ) . They are fuincuintly sent to urgent care because since they lack access to basic healthcare needs, any sustainable source of food and water, get addicted to drugs, and live in inhumane conditions, they are more likely to be exposed to mental, chronic, and illnesses. As a result, not only are homeless people taking up hospital space, but taxpayers are spending millions of dollars for their care. However, when homeless people are given housing, "the cost for both health care and emergency department is reduced by around 60%" (Garnett, "The Business case...). This is due to them having a chance to have a chance to mentally collect themselves, have access to basic necessities like medicine and nutrients, and have a chance to have a stable income,. This healthier lifestyle results in less hospital visits, which leads to less taxpayer funding going toward their care and less hospital space being taken up.

For police, it not only has to do with their funding, but also their main purpose. The U.S government has spent "$193 billion dollars on law enforcement and corrections in 2017" , with "local governments responsible for 2/3 of that spending" ("How much do..."). While that number is huge, it unfortunately doesn't help this issue that much. First of all, the main purpose of the police is to catch criminals, so not only does dealing with homeless people prevent them from arresting people who are doing actual harm, but the police officers wouldn't know how to handle the situation and would treat them like any other criminal. Second, the homeless person in question would either have his camp, which is their only home, removed or sent to prison, where they would be treated like shit and wouldn't get sufficient job training or healthcare. However, if given a home, the homeless person would get a chance to be a contributing member of society, but there would more focus on social programs that could handle situations the police aren't trained for at a fraction of the cost. This would lead to some of the police funding going toward these programs, but since the police would be able to focus more on capturing dangerous criminals, so be it.

Now their maybe some people who think just giving them housing is unfair, but think of it this way, by giving them housing, they would be able to get jobs, open businesses, live happy lives, save taxpayers millions, support their communities, potentially bring something new to the U.S, via research, jobs, technology, etc., and raise a happy family.

Want to learn more: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4046466/#:~:text=Providing%20permanent%20supportive%20housing%20to%20the%20homeless%20community,of%20general%20inpatient%20hospitalizations%20is%20decreased%20by%2077%25
https://usafacts.org/articles/police-funding-local-governments/
https://usafacts.org/articles/police-funding-local-governments/
https://service-assistance.org/section-8-housing/?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=ALL_US_Section8_US&utm_content=Housing&utm_term=housing%20homes&vertical=Section_8&msclkid=2858b0439b4f180aaeaad1174ae9eb1c
https://endhomelessness.org/resource/a-research-agenda-for-ending-homelessness1/
https://www.benefits.gov/benefit/5889
https://www.cdss.ca.gov/inforesources/cdss-programs/housing-programs/calworks-homeless-assistance