Solving Homelessness

Key Points

Immediate housing for everyone
Complete full assessment of everyone
Assign each person to a caseworker
Immediate processing of each person
Onsite care for everything
Onsite job training and referrals
Integration of recent graduates to work
Onsite jobs for veterans

'Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day,

teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.' Lao Tzu

"But, if you empower him to farm the fish, then he can feed the world!" Phong T.

California Penal Code 4118 (2020)

The Homeless Courts Pilot Program, which is active until January 1, 2028, passed a law that prohibits a person from sitting, lying, sleeping, storing, using, and maintaining or placing personal property upon any street in California.

While being homeless is not a crime, state and local laws make everything the homeless population does to survive a crime.

Solution: Effectively placing people where they need to go with the proper help.

As Governor of California, I will work diligently with each City Mayor to immediately house all the homeless in their cities. Since we have an estimated census of roughly how many unhoused people there are in each city, each Mayor will be responsible to set up a safe and protected area for them to go to. These temporary places will be similar to the international refugee camps where tents, with all the necessary amenities, will serve as their temporary homes to provide safe shelters while their cases get processed. The size of these areas will be determined by how many people there are to be housed. If needed, more areas will be selected to accommodate more people. Each site will have portable bathrooms with showers, a cafeteria, mental healthcare, job training/referrals and spaces for social activities like basketball and tables for checkers, etc. These areas will be quick to set up and take down, strong, safe, easy to change their configurations and inexpensive to operate.

Each area will have licensed professionals like doctors, dentists, psychologists, social workers, nurses and others to examine each person to have a snap shot of where they are physically, mentally, emotionally and financially. Recent college grads like doctors, dentists, psychologists, social workers, nurses and others could work here, under the tutelage of the licensed professionals, to have a job right away in their fields of studies. Unlike other unpaid internships after graduation, these new graduates would be paid well. They would get real world experience in their careers, immediately upon graduation. And if these young professionals agree to at least a year's commitment, then we could further help them by paying off their student loans faster. This would help expedite these graduates get their desired jobs by giving back to their communities. High school students and undergraduates could also be a part of this program.

After a thorough evaluation, we would have a pretty good idea of where this person is and what they need. Then, we could better assist their circumstances by providing the proper help. Each person will be assigned a case worker to act as a liaison between them and the many programs available. (When appropriate, we will always strive to connect people with their families)

For example: After a thorough evaluation, the following scenarios are presented.

Person A is physically fine, mentally competent, but is emotionally stressed and financially strapped because they lost their job or the rent became too high. We would help them rent a small place like a bachelor pad, help with job training/referrals, help them get a new job or a better job and teach them about money management. (Every city will be encouraged to have more low income housings to help with people's financial difficulties). We would stay in constant contact with them to ensure that they continue to do well, thrive and to offer them more ways to do better.

Person B is mentally challenged and cannot live on their own and could be a danger to themselves and others. We would bring them to hospitals with specialized care to help them with therapy and medications. These places will be like our homesteads with lots of trees, open fields, greenhouses and everything that would connect them back to nature, for a healthier healing environment. The professionals working here have great compassion and they do this type of work because they feel that it's their calling. The patients cannot leave here until a team of counsels have collectively assessed and deem them capable of living safely on the outside.

Person C is an addict. We would bring them to hospitals with specialized care to help them with therapy and medications. These places will be like our homesteads with lots of trees, open fields, greenhouses and everything that would connect them back to nature, for a healthier healing environment. The professionals working here have great compassion and a strong desire to help. The patients cannot leave here until a team of counsels have collectively assessed and deem them clean and capable of living safely on the outside.

Person D is physically fine, mentally competent, emotionally stable but is financially strained and likes living on the streets. We will bring them to a designated safe and secure area for them to continue living in tents. These sites have cafeterias, bathrooms with showers, mental healthcare, job training and money management. However, if they want to eat then they would have to work on site to earn money to pay for the food. If they want a drink, same thing. They cannot leave this homestead until a team of counsels have collectively assessed and deem them capable of working because they have satisfied the job training program, interviewed and have a job, have good money management skills and capable of living on their own.

Nothing is for free because someone else is paying for it one way or another! If anyone benefits in any way from the social programs, then they should pay back in the forms of volunteering in their communities. In this case, the homeless people at these sites would have to do work while they are there. Light manual work like keeping the site clean or helping to serve food or clean the latrines. Everyone will need to give back to their communities. Working will give them a sense of pride and dignity. This will help foster a better understanding of what's involved in our programs and create a stronger tie to our communities.

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