newYou can now listen to Fox News articles.
Last week, Los Angeles Police Department Officer Sean Dince revealed that the Kenneth Fire, one of six to hit the Los Angeles Basin, is under criminal investigation.
Homeless people, believed to be illegal immigrants, were subdued by residents within minutes and miles of the fire. Witnesses reportedly saw him brandishing a torch while shouting, “I'm doing this.”
This man, who was subsequently taken into custody on a felony charge of violation of probation due to insufficient evidence, appears to have intentions to harm the community, intentions as unmistakable as the inner demons he battles. there were.
Let's compare this with reality. According to LAFD dataThere were 13,909 homelessness-related fires in the Los Angeles area. This is almost double the number reported in 2020.
Man arrested with possible blowtorch near Los Angeles fire, illegal immigrant: Ice Sauce
This juxtaposition highlights the enormous and growing risks to public safety posed by our nation's homelessness policy, Housing First, which rejects the stark truth that homelessness is often accompanied by mental illness and substance abuse disorders. It's highlighted.
Housing First's full-throated champions include Governor Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, and Los Angeles County Supervisor Mitchell. They preside over some of the most destructive and costly wildfires in history, as well as states, counties and cities with some of America's most troubled homelessness issues. .
Fires rage, lives are lost, and communities are destroyed. It's time to face the undeniable truth. Housing First has failed as the primary approach to homelessness.
Homeless people face complex and often intertwined challenges, including underemployment or non-employment, lack of a high school diploma, lack of support networks, and, especially for women, domestic violence.
They primarily address mental illness and addiction as well Despite incorrect data from the federal government.
During my 13 years as CEO of Northern California's largest homeless women and children's program, it was documented that 77% of women suffered from addiction and 60% suffered from mental illness. Regarding the broader homeless population, the federal government claims: That number will be 37%but the UCLA Policy Institute found that's not the case…78% of chronically homeless people suffer from these issues.
Los Angeles wildfires: Celebrities fuel firebug theory, homeowners hit back at man they believe was the arsonist
In the face of these challenges, many homeless people resort to criminal activity as a means of survival. Conversely, criminal activity can also cause homelessness.
In my program, 55% of the women had criminal records. The proportion of the total homeless population is estimated to be between 20 and 70%. The 70% estimate is much more likely, based on front-line experience and the broader context in which early prison releases are rapidly increasing while rehabilitation efforts are decreasing.
The great news is that most homeless people can develop the resilience and skills they need to transform their lives and overcome these complex challenges. I have witnessed this firsthand in thousands of cases, and my confidence remains strong.
Yet, under this country's housing-first approach, no such significant transformation has occurred and will never occur.
Adopted in 2013, housing first This is a public policy approach to connect the homeless with permanent housing as quickly as possible.
It's a great soundbite, and one that was hard to argue with, at least at first.
It means that American taxpayers have an obligation to provide lifelong housing in the form of permanent housing to all homeless people, without any requirements such as abstinence, participation in treatment services, or pursuit of work. did.
Los Angeles sinks into trouble, spending hundreds of millions of dollars to worsen homelessness crisis
Shelters, transitional housing programs, and treatment services with codified rules have become virtually obsolete. Their funding was abolished to expand the number of “permanent unconditional housing vouchers”.
Because the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is the largest funder of homelessness, most nonprofits serving the homeless have taken the federal government's approach with a grain of salt.
President Obama promised to end homelessness within 10 years with Housing First, but 11 years later, the number of homeless people in America has soared to an all-time high, and the homeless death rate has increased by 238%.
California is the only state to fully adopt Housing First (2016) and currently ranks among the worst states in the nation.
Beyond these dire results, the only long-term study on Housing First has been quietly published that demonstrates that Housing First is ineffective and often deadly. beyond 14 years analysisalmost half of the individuals died by the fifth year, and only 36% remained in captivity beyond the fifth year.
Fires rage, lives are lost, and communities are destroyed. It's time to face the undeniable truth. Housing First has failed as the primary approach to homelessness.
Freeup Foundation has developed a human-first public policy framework based on real-life experiences and an understanding that humans are complex and resilient.
The next Trump administration should adopt the following free-up framework.
1. Eliminate Housing First, the nation's only approach to homelessness.
2. Redefine success from “housing” to helping people reach their full God-given potential.
3. Refund temporary residency programs that foster community, accountability, and growth. It should include shelters, transitional housing programs, and licensed encampments with regulations that facilitate the efficient delivery of treatment services. (Only 10 to 20 percent of the homeless population may need “supported for life” housing.)
4. Fund and require (as appropriate) treatment services such as mental health and substance abuse counseling and employment training.
5. Ban unauthorized encampments, which are often plagued by crime, drugs, sexual abuse and cause fires.
6. Re-engage faith-based and law enforcement communities that have been excluded by HUD, which has emerged as the CEO of homelessness.
7. Regularly measure and report progress towards success. Fund and reward success.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Over the past decade, Americans have ceded their authority to the far left's approach to homelessness. Overall, the more a region embraced Housing First, the more homelessness it created, destroying everything in its path: homelessness, taxpayers, public space, public safety.
Freeup's Human First Framework restores normalcy and returns billions of dollars each year to taxpayers while promoting individual productivity and public safety.
Click here to read more about Michelle Steve
