Links are at the end, wanting nothing more than a click. Link singular, today.
I visited a famous cemetery within walking distance of the Tokyo hotel, and then turned off the GPS and got lost.
Substack was down much of last night and this morning, so I didn’t get much done.
Biden-Harris administration announces a plan to prevent and end homelessness.
The Bidenaires have announced a plan that they say can reduce homelessness nationwide by 25% in two years1. It offers federal support to states and municipalities in the form of planning and expertise, but no funding in addition to whatever money remains from the American Rescue Plan, the massive stimulus Biden signed into law in March of last year.
The program focuses on “housing first,” a proven strategy to get homeless people into stable housing situations so they can more easily get any additional help that they need. Housing first programs aren’t self-sustaining: providing homes and services is expensive and time-consuming. During my last bout of homelessness I was on the street, in a shelter and in transitional housing (a nice low-conflict shelter with no bunk beds) for almost three years before acquiring a place to live, all the while getting psychiatric and social services along with other medical treatment.
I was a man of relatively modest needs and still cost various organizations and government agencies at every level a lot of money during those years and going forward. People with greater needs — substance abuse issues and more severe mental health conditions and the like — can cost a lot more money to treat, maintain, and keep housed.
So the concern is what happens when the existing cache of funds is exhausted.
The Mayor of Salem, Chris Hoy, said the homeless crisis seen across Oregon requires the federal government's help, and he applauds the Biden administration's efforts to address the problem.
"What I really tried to focus on in all of my conversations is we’ve had some amazing help with the ARPA money and the recovery money that we’ve received in the last couple of years but I’m really worried about what’s going to happen when that money runs out," said Mayor Hoy.
The mayor’s angst is warranted. The current Congress is unlikely to codify the program into law, and even less likely to fully fund the programs arising from and supported by it. We don’t know what the congressional landscape will look like in 2025, but we do know that without additional money the programs will founder and most likely return to the pre-pandemic status quo, much as happened to the lower-income recipients of the enhanced child tax credit when that money went away.
As with most societal problems, this country has the money to resolve homelessness. Doing so wouldn’t be easy and would require directing some billions of dollars annually to hundreds of thousands of people, many of whom may not present sympathetically, but it’s doable. The primary impediment is policy.
It’s policy. Every unresolved societal ill is the product of policy enacted or policy withheld.
Who Hit Willie, “Flow;” The Pandoras, “Stop Pretending.” Not much music today.
And that, comrades, is all I got beyond my seasonal appeal for money. If you like what I do and you want to support it, the best ways are to share the posts on Twitter or wherever else you social medialize, and to send money to me. The newsletter will always be free to anyone who can’t afford or doesn’t want to subscribe, but annual and monthly subscriptions are relatively cheap and yours would be much appreciated.
Be well, take care.
Merry Christmas, despite it all.