Putting the Cart Before the Horse

A local group has come up with a 10 year plan to address homelessness. From the Statesman’s description of it, it doesn’t sound too promising:

Boise leaders approved a new plan to end homelessness in Boise within the next 10 years.

The plan is a guiding document that outlines principles for ending homelessness that include expanding resources for “housing first,” and focusing on permanent housing services.

While I think the effort is well-intentioned,  it seems a tad off the mark. While, it’s not fair to say all homelessness is the fault of the people themselves, it’s undeniable that some folks end up the street due to things like alcoholism. To expect to end this problem entirely is unrealistic.

And focusing on a lack of housing misses problems such as substance abuse and mental illness that are the root cause of many cases of homelessness. Failure to address the cause(s) and only treating the symptoms is bad medicine no matter what the field.