Ronald Reagan was also against them and closed them, down too. The problem is, there are people who are dangerous to themselves and others and need to be taken off the streets but these days, they run like hell while too many normal people are rounded up and incarcerated instead!
A friend of mine was institutionalized for becoming a Christian and they abused him and worked with the parents to take away his entire estate and leave him destitute.
Begging licenses will work provided they're given to the right people and that strings are attached. The carrot stick method works. Just make sure you have a long enough stick and a carrot that's good enough. It works.
Santa Monica California tried it and it cut back a lot of riff raff. Got them into services and programs.
It would be good if a lot of young idealists went into case management and we could easily get more people on programs and off the streets and into some kind of healthy community setting. I am certain that would work out great and I am sure it would help a lot of young adults build a solid work history.