LA burns are a sad reminder that ignoring the problem of homelessness cannot continue

Last week, the chief of the LAPD, Sean Dinse, disclosed that the Kenneth Fire – which is one of the six that tormented the Los Angeles area – is under criminal investigation.

A homeless person, suspected of being an illegal immigrant, was found by residents within minutes of the fire. Witnesses reportedly saw him holding a flashlight while shouting, “I'm doing this.”

Later arrested for criminal trespass due to insufficient evidence, the man was found to have an intent to harm the public—an intent as evident as the inner demons he was battling.

Consider this and the fact that, according to LAFD data, there have been 13,909 fires in LA County related to homelessness. That's nearly double the number reported in 2020.

MAN ARRESTED NEAR LA FIRES FOR BLOWTORCH POSSIBLY ILLEGAL MUSICIAN: ICE SOURCES

This combination underscores the growing and serious risk to public safety posed by our nation's homeless policy—Housing First—that denies the stark reality: mental illness, and substance abuse, often accompany homelessness.

Proponents of the First House include Gov. Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, and Supervisor Mitchell of Los Angeles County, which oversees the most destructive and costliest wildfires in history and America's most troubled state, county, and city in terms of homelessness. .

Fires are raging, lives are being lost, and communities are being destroyed. It's time to face the undeniable truth: Housing First has failed as a primary approach to homelessness.

Homeless people face complex and often interrelated challenges, including unemployment or underemployment, lack of a high school diploma, lack of a support network, especially for women, domestic violence.

In particular, they also face mental illness and addiction despite the federal government's flawed data.

During the 13 years I served as the CEO of Northern California's largest program for homeless women and children, it was documented that 77% of our women have an addiction problem and 60% have a mental illness. For most homeless people, the federal government says the number is 37%, but the UCLA Policy Lab found otherwise… 78% of homeless people struggle with these issues.

LOS ANGELES FIRES: HOMEOWNERS TALK TO CONVINCED BURNERS AS CELEBRITIES SPREAD FIREBUG TEACHINGS

Faced with these challenges, many homeless people turn to crime as a means of survival. Conversely, criminal behavior may result in homelessness.

In my program, 55% of our women had criminal records. For most homeless people, estimates range from 20-70%. Based on first-hand experience and a broader context in which early release and prison terms have increased while rehabilitation efforts have decreased, an estimate of 70% is more likely.

The good news is that most homeless people can build the resilience and skills needed to change their lives and overcome these complex challenges. I've seen this first hand in thousands of cases, and my confidence is unwavering.

However, such a big change has never happened and never will happen under the national housing system.

Adopted in 2013, Housing First is a public policy approach to connect the homeless with permanent housing as quickly as possible.

It was a great sound and hard to argue with… at least at first.

It meant that American taxpayers were in the trouble of providing all the homeless with housing for life—in the form of permanent housing—without any requirements such as mental sobriety, engaging in medical services, or pursuing a job, ever.

LOS ANGELES IN HOT WATER FOR SPENDING HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS ON THE ONGOING HOMELESS PROBLEM.

Formal shelters, temporary housing programs, and treatment services have been used almost obsolete. Their funding was eliminated to increase the number of “permanent, unconditional housing vouchers.”

Most of the nonprofit organizations that serve the homeless have bent the knee in the way of the federal government, as the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is the largest funder of homelessness.

President Obama promised that Housing First would end homelessness in ten years, However, 11 years later, the number of homeless Americans has risen to the highest level ever recorded, accompanied by a 238 percent increase in the homeless death rate.

California— the only state to fully adopt Housing First (2016)— now ranks among the worst states in the nation.

Beyond these horrific results was the quiet release of the only long-term study of Housing First which showed it to be ineffective and often fatal. In the 14-year study, about half of the people died in the fifth year, and only 36% survived after the fifth year.

Fires are raging, lives are being lost, and communities are being destroyed. It's time to face the undeniable truth: Housing First has failed as a primary approach to homelessness.

The Free Up Foundation has developed a Human First public policy framework based on real-life experience and an understanding that people are complex and motivated.

The incoming Trump administration should adopt the Free Up framework as follows:

1. Homelessness Begins as the nation's only solution to homelessness.

2. Redefine success from being “accommodated” to helping people realize their full, God-given potential.

3. Fund temporary residency programs that focus on community, accountability, and growth. Legal shelters, temporary housing programs, and licensed agencies, all of which facilitate the delivery of appropriate medical services, should be included. (Only 10-20% of homeless people are likely to need “subsidized” housing.)

4. Educate and require (as needed) treatment services including mental health and substance abuse counseling, and employment training.

5. Prevent unauthorized camps that are often plagued by crime, drugs, sexual harassment, and are increasingly becoming a source of fires.

6. Reengage the faith-based and law enforcement communities that were marginalized by HUD as it emerged as the CEO of the homeless.

7. Regularly measure and report progress toward success. Bag and reward success.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS PROGRAM

Over the past decade, Americans have ceded their authority to the left's approach to homelessness. Everywhere, the more a county embraced Housing First, the more homelessness rose and destroyed everything in its path—the homeless, taxpayers, public spaces and public safety.

Free Up's Human First framework will promote individual productivity and public safety while restoring normalcy and returning billions annually to taxpayers who earn it.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE FROM MICHELE STEEB