The US seems to be a text book case of treating the symptom rather than the cause (and not just in terms of homelessness either). Culturally we:

- Seem to tolerate high income inequality or even see it as a good thing.

- Value "pulling yourself up by your bootstraps" and devalue social safety nets and other avenues of providing opportunity to the masses

- Have given up on higher crime rates, lower education, poorer health care and health outcomes compared to other wealthy nations

Instead of trying to prevent homelessness in the first place, we try to tackle it once it's already there, then throw up our hands and say it's not possible to deal with.