It may well keep people alive - in a way, but it's no solution if it creates a mass of people who are destroying themselves and the city community.
It's still death - just in slow motion.
> The problem is that the causes of homelessness are not addressed at all - there is nowhere near enough affordable housing stock.
Yes, and that's not going to change, so alternative solutions are required.
And which ones, bar building housing, should that be?
Locking them up for the crime of not being able to afford a home (or being judged too unworthy of credit by three ultra-large black box corporations) is inhumane and costs the government way more than just giving them outright cash.
Locking them up in mental wards has the same issues and there's a reason involuntary commitment fell out of favour - it's ripe for abuse.
And driving them off via whatever measures just shifts the problem elsewhere.
But we should lock them up for the crime of doing crime: dealing drugs, drunk and disorderly, assault, robbery, theft etc.
> and costs the government way more than just giving them outright cash.
The cut-price solution is clearly no solution at all.
> Locking them up in mental wards has the same issues and there's a reason involuntary commitment fell out of favour - it's ripe for abuse.
These people meed help, and a drug-free environment is a place they can receive that help.
> And driving them off via whatever measures just shifts the problem elsewhere.
There are other places where some of these people (the ones without crippling mental health issues) stand a far better chance of building a stable life for themselves
Also known as life.