Posted on 08/10/2005 12:12:52 PM PDT by Simmy2.5
It hasn't gotten a lot of notice, but San Francisco has been quietly sending an average of more than 70 homeless folks a month back where they came from.
Since February, the new streamlined "family reunification'' program has put some 450 general assistance recipients on buses with one-way tickets to whichever relatives or friends will have them.
The program's not new -- it's been around for as long as anyone can remember.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
BTW, if you read the rest of the article, the reason why they now want to leave? Care not Cash. No more free handouts! Granted, the bus ride and money for a meal is being paid for by the taxpayers, but still, they are leaving and not returning.
Greyhound therapy!!!
Shipping the problem out of town. Sounds like something heartless conservatives would do. Wouldn't it be more compassionate to put them in affordable housing in Pacific Heights or Nob Hill instead?
First I have heard of this program. But then you know they do not want it widely publicized
Is this part of the think globally, but panhandle locally campaign?
While this is good news, I'm sure it's probably related to the fact that there will be some people up for re-election next year. It'll be interesting to see if it continues. SF spends around $20M a year, or some such amount, sheltering the homeless. Quite a cottage industry for a lot of people employed to care for the homeless. Wonder how many jobs will be cut, if any.
I'm cheering, but I'm still not trusting them, ya know?
Newsome's credentials as a lib are rock solid, but you know darn well the left would scream bloody murder if a conservative was doing this. BTW, They could easily raise $100,000 by offering a "Send-a-homeless-home" fund. I would gladly pay for a bus ticket to send one of these folks back to whatever state they came from.
This gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "throw the bum's out!".
There is an oxymoron if I ever heard one.
If that is true then all 545 of them are hanging around Union Square. I was in SF last fall and there seemed to me to be more panhandlers than ever, everywhere I went. I was cautioned not to go out by myself at night anywhere in the center part of the city. Even during daytime I was nervous.
The new politically correct name for the homeless is "house-shy."
Back in the 80's a lot of homeless ended up in SF because of similar programs by cities around the country. The thinking was that "we don't have the ability to deal with homelessness, but SF has that expertise, so we'll send them there!"
Only the current administration has made getting on the bus a lot easier.
In the past, anyone wanting a ticket had to go through an application process that took as long as a week to complete.
"Now, we just make a call to make sure they have someone to go back to,'' said Trent Rhorer, head of the city Department of Human Services."
If they do, then we send them out that afternoon.
Very, very good...but I would skip the step about making the call...
I was in Union Sq last year and am actually here right now as I write (at the Hilton) and there are definitely LESS homeless people. I actually walked down to the Square and did not feel (whereas I did last year) that I was walking the panhandler gauntlet -- perhaps they'll all come out tonight, though........
Rousting the homeless. This must be Bush country!
Very apropos!
http://www.cowboylyrics.com/tabs/clark-roy/thank-god-and-greyhound-7084.html
Thank God and Greyhound, you're gone
That load on my mind got lighter when you got on
That shiny old bus is a beautiful sight
With the black smoke a-rollin' up around the tail light
It may sound kinda cruel but I've been silent too long
Thank God and Greyhound, you're gone.
I remember when the SFPD used to drive them over the bridge and drop them in Oakland.
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