Solving Homelessness in Canada

How do you do it?

Homelessness is a widespread problem in pretty much every country, and an expensive one to deal with. In BC specifically our cities have homeless camps popping up in public parks that cause safety concerns for both the public and the homeless. There are many different causes for homelessness ranging from bad luck to personal crisis, childhood abuse to mental illness. It's important to accept that homelessness is not a problem that can be solved by the allowance of independent decision making, as most homeless people are incapable of executing good strategies to get back into mainstream society. There is an abundance of social programs and religious services designed to insulate the homeless from their condition and to keep them alive, but ultimately these things tend to fail or commit the homeless to a recurring cycle.

We need new ideas, and to that end, we look at intervention that is stark and meaningful. It occurs to me that most of the problems of homelessness can be directly attributed to a lack of stability. There are few things more stable than a professionally operated compound designed for a specific use. Think of it as a mandatory temporary housing arrangement, similar to a prison in some respects but with a greater degree of freedom. There are many places where we could build such facilities, accessible for mass transportation by rail. This would make transporting and processing the homeless as efficient as possible. I've worked out a very basic idea of how this would work.

First, an officer of the law would find someone they suspect is homeless. At that point they would ask the individual for some form of identification indicating the person's home address. A failure to provide this adequately could lead to an arrest and processing. During processing an individual would either provide additional information to show they aren't homeless, or they would be temporary held in order to try and verify their identity. If someone was found to be legitimately homeless they would be told to fill out a simple government form. It would cover things like:

Name
Last known address/city of residence
Next of kin
Reasons for homelessness

After being processed, the homeless person would be transported to the labor camp. Upon arrival they would be processed, cleaned, and given new clothing. Men and women would be separated. A publicly accessible database of all persons at the facility would be made available. Terms of internment would vary according to the severity of the person, ranging from 1-5 years.

During their stay, each person would remain fed and clothed. Detoxification and labor would be mandatory. Each person would be paid $200 a month into a secure account, accessible at the end of their rehabilitation. While at the facility the core issues of homeless would be resolved while building up the strength and stability to return to society.

LABOR would get the individual accustomed to work. It would resolve the main issue of joblessness. In addition, a profitable enterprise could help offset the costs of the facility. It would also contribute to overall fitness.
INTERNMENT would solve the problem of homelessness itself, by putting a roof over their head and giving them three square meals a day. There would be no more starving or freezing to death, or struggling moving from shelter to shelter and city to city. Additionally, this would keep them out of the cities and away from predatory drug dealers.
REHABILITATION would cultivate a sense of responsibility. The stability afforded by the camp schedule would help prepare them for the real world. Money put away into their personal accounts would give them a solid headstart on return to mainstream society, with enough to cover the basic costs of finding a place and a job.


Without being too idealistic, one must concede that if this solution were to be implemented a certain number of people would inevitably die. The various needs of different homeless people are considerably different. A hardcore heroin addict for example might not survive the process of detoxification and adjustment to their new lifestyle. However, it seems to me that these kinds of deaths are practically inevitable to begin with. We turn a blind eye to the issue as a society and in the process squander millions of dollars a year on the court system and temporary medical services. Our homeless people are already dying on the streets at the hands of people who want to hurt them, their own vices, or the elements. We are already spending an inordinate amount of money trying to combat homelessness to no lasting success.*

It is time we tried new ideas. It is time we broke bad habits.

*It might seem as though I am callous, but I prefer to handle matters dispassionately. People shouldn't misconstrue my thoughts as some effort to hurt the homeless. I think we should definitely ensure that such a facility be regularly monitored to prevent abuses, and that the needs of the individuals within are met. That being said, I think that the best way to serve the homeless and the rest of society is by giving them the tools to lead productive lives - whether they want them or not.

Anyway, it's just an idea. God knows nothing else seems to be working!