I disagree with the “hands off” approach to homeless individuals espoused by a letter in the Santa Barbara Independent of August 21. Homelessness in our county grows annually (2,119 homeless individuals in the 2024 Point in Time Count, up 10 percent from 2023). Every homeless individual is a potential victim of crime, and homelessness is an economic blight on our community.
The writer, Phoenix Hocking argues that to lock up a homeless individual is (morally) wrong. But she admits that part of the homeless population consists of mentally ill people and some with drug and alcohol addictions. Many of these individuals need to be confined and required to take treatment paths that work. You can’t just leave them on the street and expect miraculous cures to happen.
Dealing with our homelessness crisis requires affordable and practical approaches. Some of the possible solutions will be hard for many to accept and others might require updates to state law. A “tent city” might be needed to house and rehabilitate individuals, because motels are too expensive and storefronts are too dangerous. Our county already has many services available to the homeless on a voluntary basis. The “voluntary” should be replaced by “mandatory” because that will serve the best interests ultimately of the homeless themselves.
I have a mentally ill, sometimes homeless family member, and, therefore, have formed the above thoughts from speaking with him, with his psychiatrists and others in the field. The homeless population is vulnerable to violence from others. It is easy to find many who have experienced theft of their money and belongings, rape and other physical violence.
Homelessness cannot be permitted. It’s a blight on our county and a danger for every homeless individual.
