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As America is at a crossroads, it will reassess how public services are managed, strengthen borders, and privatize selected government functions.
Supporting the homeless with healing and becoming a productive member of society is not just compassion. It is also a strategic investment in America's long-term prosperity and strength.
Over the past decade, we have sought to provide lifelong housing for all homeless Americans, housing number one, a policy approach to homelessness in our country. This is without funding or orders for addiction and mental health treatment, vocational training, or development of life skills.
June 5, 2021, a homeless man sitting in a tent with views of the river in Portland, Oregon. (AP Photo/Pola Bronstein)
This policy instead fostered a crisis as forced upon us by enthusiastic bureaucrats who ensured that we would eliminate homelessness within ten years. Many frontline leaders watch over their failures, but we couldn't imagine the full scale of devastation that would be unleashed.
Why Blue State's policy is causing even more homelessness in the US
The homeless erupted into a full-scale catastrophe, reaching the highest point in recorded history, bodies spread across the streets of America, lost every day, and freeing the community.
Far from promoting stability, housing institutionalizes dependencies at the individual level within the nonprofit sector and among local policymakers.
People suffering from homelessness face three major deficits that continue to pack them up:
Income deficits: Although apparently obvious, homeless individuals often lack sufficient acquisition capabilities to meet basic needs. Without intervention, they remain in a cycle of poverty. We must help the homeless grow their income through vocational training and financial literacy programs and help them live within their means.
Homeless people in San Diego, California on January 8th, 2025. (Derek rocked for Fox News digital)
Homeless people need more than homes. They need something they can't buy
Support deficit: If you or I become homeless tomorrow, we will lean on our family and friends to reach out. That's not the case for most people on the street. In most cases, there is no support network. We must help them repair or rebuild their support systems – providing continuous encouragement and guidance – they are not left to struggle alone.
Purpose deficit: Humans are designed for purposes. Those experiencing homelessness may have lost their way, but they have not lost the essential purpose they have designed. We must rediscover their values and rekindle their sense of self-worth.
It is often suggested that affordable homes are silver bullets. it's not.
Housing alone does nothing to address the income, support and purpose deficits associated with homelessness.
Homelessness is a health and welfare emergency and is deeply linked to mental health, substance abuse and personal well-being.
Homeless immigrants are waiting to receive food and clothing donations at Tompkins Square Park in New York City on January 20, 2024. (Stefanie Keith/Getty Images)
I am the mayor of the Blue State and the future of homeless scares me
The first human program I've led for 13 years – the biggest program for homeless women and children in Northern California – has proven that tackling these issues and other issues that often accompany homelessness has lasting consequences.
By integrating treatment, vocational training, life skills and accountability with temporary housing, thousands of once-addicted single mothers have achieved drinking, secured employment and even become homeowners in California.
The $19,000 per person annual cost is only a small portion of the short-term costs, significantly reducing the long-term public burden that places a heavy burden on the public system.
Homeless individuals with unprocessed addiction and mental illness will cost taxpayers $30,000 to $50,000 per year in emergency services, medical care and law enforcement costs.
To reverse this crisis, we must dismantle the tragic federal mandate that has bound homelessness, communities and innovation.
These cities have created compassion that exacerbates the drug and homeless crisis
Housing Secretary Scott Turner's bold proposal is to cut down on HUD's bureaucracy and redirect its focus to be an important step. By significantly reducing institutional inefficiency and stiffness, local governments have the flexibility to create customized, outcome-driven solutions.
Equally promising is the idea of directly funding homeless funds for block acquisitions to the state. As a frontline provider of health and human services, the county is perfect for providing accurate and accountable care. Unlike states, counties can have detailed, real-time insight into the needs of their communities and implement agile, localized solution.
Furthermore, routing funds for counties rather than states ensures that every dollar will grow even further as each tier of bureaucratic siphoning up resources. By directing funds to the county level, we reduce managed waste and ensure that people in need can reach resources quickly.
However, these reforms alone do not reverse the national crisis.
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For 11 years, state and county officials have been under HUD's thumb and are now being forced to implement housing first as homelessness, overdose deaths, public disability spiked in the community and challenged them for fear of losing funds.
Secretary Turner also needs to consider how to equip lost local leaders in terms of how to quickly and effectively reverse the metastatic crisis.
Homelessness is more than a moral dilemma. This is a national emergency with deep economic, social and security implications at all levels of government.
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We must recognize that helping homeless people become productive in order to defend border security and streamlined government functions is not only fundamental to their success, but equally fundamental to ours.
The more individuals we recover, the stronger we become as a nation. We are rebuilding America by empowering the homeless to rebuild their lives.
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