Chance Encounters

Although it may seem a minor issue of “f-bombs” over the right of the homeless to mine the trash undisturbed, the glib connotation that the act of the mentally ill woman of small stature jumping on the back of the grandfather, is in some way, a scene from comic opera, does not account for the real potential for serious harm in chance encounters with the mentally ill on the streets. (“Ice Cream Cone Sparks Melee on State Street”)

The fatal stabbing of a father holding his daughter by a mentally ill homeless person in a restaurant in Ventura last July should not be forgotten. The component of mental health in homelessness is not receiving the priority it deserves as a public health necessity.