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Comment by hiou | Hacker News Reader

The reality is that most mid to long term homeless are 100% unemployable. There is no solution for most of these people in our current system. This is not a San Francisco problem but a national problem as it is a direct side effect of our chosen system of resource allocation. We as a country need to either change our current methods of allocating resources or accept it as a price we are willing to pay.

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Indeed, but as the article points out, we can do a much better job of managing the problem. Paying $150,000 per year per person is simply ridiculous. We can look at Salt Lake City and Houston for proven examples of better solutions.

There actually is a solution: employing them or incentivizing the employment of them.

It's not just about money. Someone who is severely mentally ill isn't going to able to perform tasks, let alone function without a caregiver.

Living on the streets is very dangerous and stressful. Somewhere around 25% of homeless people have traumatic brain injuries. Not the sort of people you can put in a cubical to do data entry.

Mental illness is a huge component to this, I agree. I think it's pessimistic to say that a sizable portion of this group couldn't become employed in some way. First, not all of them are mentally ill to begin with. Second, a lot of mental illnesses are quite manageable with the right care. Care requires money, and money is acquired by working.

Further, no mental illness has ever been alleviated through boredom, malnutrition, lack of sleep, social exile, and maltreatment.

Also, not every job involves sitting at a computer ;)

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