My only dealings with panhandlers are our smalltime “local color” kind. They’re very few, they’ve been around forever, they don’t approach people, they just take up their post they’ve had forever and hold up their signs once in a while. Older, white, usually bearded. After all these years, I don’t even have a clue as to where they sleep. They must have somewhere to be, I don’t recall that I’ve ever seen them out in bad weather.
Even though I don’t know if they’re “deserving” or not, I don’t mind giving them some money, because they don’t harrass people at all. It’s news if anything happens to one of them, or used to be.
The only panhandlers in my part of the world are also of the “local color” type, and they’re harmless enough.
Prague is a different story; that’s where you’ll encounter the “professional panhandler”.