No. of Recommendations: 4
...is going to be showing other municipalities how to deal with the homeless crisis.
The set up:
https://x.com/townhallcom/status/19553290853804158...NEW—OPTIONS FOR DC HOMELESS:
-Homeless shelters
-Addiction/mental health services
Refusal to leave encampment could mean fines/jail time.
"[D.C. Code 221307 & D.C. Municipal Reg 24100] are pre existing laws that are already on the books. They just have NOT been enforced." This. This is the way. There are laws on the books about public camping, public dumping, public defecation/urination and virtually all the other behaviors exhibited by street campers.
When Seattle's outreach people help the city conduct camp cleanups what they find is that
-The people they talk to don't want shelter. They find they don't like the restrictions
-They don't want rehab, either. They like their lifestyle because it doesn't have any consequences attached.
-Sometimes they even have multiple tents at different locations (because they follow the local drug and sex supply chains)
Mere enforcement of laws on the books does wonders for people who are hopelessly addicted to drugs or mentally ill. You offer them treatment like this
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6137785/...and you see results:
The increase in illicit use of heroin and other illicit opioids is a serious public health concern. Despite justice-involved persons being especially vulnerable to overdose and relapse upon release, prisons and jails have been slow to allow this population access to MAT. Rhode Island’s statewide comprehensive program expansion at the RIDOC shows that MAT is feasible in correctional settings, and preliminary outcomes suggest strong rates of treatment retention after release. Any cop or any case worker will tell you that one thing that tends to motivate junkies is a night in the slammer where they're forced to go Cold Turkey. That's not popular At. All.
