We're going to take things away from you...
Posted on 05/02/2005 9:52:55 AM PDT by SmithL
One year after the Care Not Cash welfare reform program debuted amid furious opposition and fervent hopes, nearly 800 street people have been moved into supportive housing and general assistance rolls for the homeless have been slashed by 73 percent -- developments that represent San Francisco's most significant transformation in years in the landscape of homelessness.
Yet, there are shortcomings. The newly housed often keep panhandling, finding it tough to live on their slashed welfare checks of $59 a month, down from the former $410 maximum -- and many have had to wait in shelters for as long as six months to get their housing.
Opponents of the program, who sued unsuccessfully to overturn Care Not Cash, say they are not surprised at the glitches, and they intend to ramp up their criticism in the coming months. City officials counter that the growth pains have been outweighed by the benefits.
Dariush Kayhan, who oversees housing and homeless programs for the Department of Human Services, said progress has come even faster than the Newsom administration expected. Optimistic predictions a year ago were that, by this time, welfare rolls for the homeless would have been cut by 50 percent. With that figure now at nearly three-quarters instead, there is that much more money available to use for housing and services -- since that's the destination of every dollar cut from welfare checks.
"It's worked better than we even expected," Kayhan said. "And best of all, people are very happy with the housing they are getting."
Critics of the program from the moment it was proposed three years ago by then-Supervisor Gavin Newsom are using its one-year anniversary Tuesday as an opportunity to highlight Care Not Cash problems.
"It's very good that they've managed to move some people indoors,"..."But
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
I'll bet the most vocal critics are liquor store owners and drug dealers.
BOOHOO ! These scumbags should be out cleaning streets or picking up trash. What dirtbags.
This is just another extention to the welfare social services burocracy.
It won't be long before these places are trashed, become crack houses, and the demand for more funding to repair the place. Plus the government workers going on strike for better pay from time time will continously eat away at the taxpayer, causing rates to rise.
As it is, $59 to live on for a month just isn't sane, so you can expect a "boost in pay" comming down the pipeline soon.
Feed me, clothe me, house me, give me free heroine, free health care and money to spend on entertainment. This is the ongoing lefty socialist dream which fails time and time again, even way up in socialist Canada, when it is proven these things just don't work, the demand just goes up because it's better than working and being responsible for your own life.
The homeless or the politicians?
We're going to take things away from you...
Know what you need to qualify for that check? A receipt from a store, which serves as "proof" that you reside in San Francisco. (I believe the receipt has to be 3 or 6 months old at most).
That's insane. But, that's SF for you. Dres down as a bum, make a fake name and go get your car payment money once a month, LoL!
Says the woman wearing a $50,000 pearl necklace.... (At least it's real, unlike Monica's version she received on the floor of the Oval Office on taxpayer's time.)
The fact is that Gavin Newsom does have a somewhat "conservative" outlook when it comes the homeless question in SF. The far left hate him for that despite his gay marriage stunt last year.
Very impressive, but...
The money saved by cutting welfare has been rolled into a $14.2 million fund that leased 793 clean, modernized rooms in 12 residential hotels. To date, 789 homeless people have been moved into those rooms and, from the critics to the residents, reviews of the housing conditions all year have been enthusiastic.
That's fine, and I'm glad that the bums are off the street, but if they're still going to be begging for change to supplement their reduced checks, then what has SF really gained? All that they seem to have done is provide people with houses and cash when they have done nothing to earn it. All of the support groups and counseling in the world doesn't mean anything if it doesn't get these people out of these hotels and onto their own two feet.
That said, kudos to Newsome for at least trying to deal with the chronic homless problem in SF.
This was the issue that he ran on. It's why a lot of us had high hopes for him. Oh, well.
You mean the people's republic of San Francisco actually did something with it's homeless situation? Face it, the homeless situation in SF is probably the same as NY. Nearly 100% are either mentally ill, have an addiction problem or both. The left would like you to think that they are merely folks who are down on their luck. It's not like small town America where the factory closed and everyone is now out of work. Here in NY there are services up the wazoo for alcoholics and addicts (but they have to want to do something about their situation)---and many of the mentally ill are already getting SSI & SSD benefits but rather remain homeless because they don't ant the government messing around with their check. Hey, on $410 free and clear a month I could hit the soup kitchens and shelters, maybe get some pick up work here and there, and still hit a happy hour twice or three times a week. (a true drunk awlays knows the bar where the beer is cheap.
lol, I was wondering how you would answer.
"Nearly 100% are either mentally ill, have an addiction problem or both"
They are. 800 people is a small fraction of the total homeless population here. This is mostly a large scale experiment. They're finding pretty much what NY and other large cities have found; the homeless problem is very, very, very tough since most people refuse help, for one reason or another.
BTW, giving money to panhandlers undermines everything that they're trying to do in managing the problem.
Many of those "dirt bags" are sick. No normal person lives in those horrific conditions.
I lived in San Francisco from 2000-2002. The homeless had taken over the city. The smell of urine on the streets was so strong that it choked you. Their begging became hostile.
Many used to live where the new baseball stadium was built. Once the stadium began construction, hundreds of homeless scattered everywhere.
It's a catch twenty-two. In order to get a job, you need an address. The very small numbers of homeless, who want to clean up, get little assistance. Some are veterans, some are drug addicts, alcoholics, some are just people who have lost their way. Ask any alcoholic, drug addict, or their families, how difficult it is to deal with drugs addiction and alcoholism.
Where are the churches that are supposed to help the poor and homeless? Mine locked their door because the homeless were using the church pews for beds. I say if the churches want to remain tax less, make them help. People, not government, helping people. I know, it all sounds so noble. And I agree with the many who feel that it is their responsibility. But in the end, it is ours. That is, if we are true Christians.
Of course they will, because if folks aren't sleeping and pissing on the street corners... they are not in sight and these "activists" will be out of business in their cottage industries "representing" these folks.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.