Ever since I was a resident of San Francisco, I've been troubled by the numbers of Americans who are homeless. With tough economic times ahead, I think it's safe to assume that we'll see an increase in the homeless population. I'd like to see President Obama make a serious attempt to address this fundamental social problem.
The prospect for real Health Care Reform is upon us. The will of the electorate is definitely there, where it was not when President and Hillary Clinton made an impassioned but fundamentally flawed effort to repair American Health Care.
As I see it, The United States can address homelessness at the same time as it addresses Health Care Reform:
- Universal Coverage
- Mental Health Parity
Once these two core goals are established, and I'll allow that these steps won't be easy, we can move on to the more complicated steps:
First, get people a place to live off the streets.
Second, give them the opportunity to work on their psychiatric/substance abuse problems while allowing them the security of knowing that their home cannot be taken away from them.
With 1/3 of our homeless population being veterans, this could be approached by the Obama Administration as something that America owes its veterans.
To be sure, talking numbers/percentages where the homeless are concerned is problematic. The numbers are difficult to accurately gauge, but if the VA during a Republican Administration is willing to allow a number as high as 33%, I think it's safe to rely on that number as a bare minimum:
About one-third of the adult homeless population have served their country in the Armed Services.
I objectively regard our belief that "we take care of our own" as hypocritical in light of the high proportion of the American homeless population that are veterans. This should be one of President Obama's highest priorities.