by help, i'm surrounded by liberals

Created on: June 08, 2008

Many of us have taken the time at one point in our lives to take a moment and talk
to a homeless person, to ask them what happened to them, and how they became homeless.
While California is busy giving free dental and vision care to undocumented pregnant women
who arrived only recently, you'd be saddened to find that the vast majority of homeless people I've met who do not make it to shelters, do not qualify for any government benefits.

While cash payouts to children of undocumented women receiving cash benefits, and undocumented pregnant women according to their family size, can pay over $1,500 a month. In California basic general assistance to welfare recipients without children is available for only a small limited amount of time, and pays only $336.00 per month.

When the Personal Work and Responsibility Act was passed in 1996, with a new program giving women and low income families access to free childcare, it was decided that people with outstanding felony warrants no longer qualified for either general assistance,food stamps, or any other state or federal benefits. Policymakers who wrote the bill, predicted at the time, that by removing benefits to drug felons as a deterrent, that the crime and drug usage rate would eventually decrease.

Policy isn't perfect, and neither are people. This however is one policy, that has had dire consequences, and directly contributed to homelessness. The National Association of Drug Court statistics show that many felons who have drug violations, also suffer from lack of education, and undiagnosed mental problems. Mental illness, is a very debilitating disability without proper treatment. Combined with today's social problems and left untreated, many men and women end up either in the streets or in jail for long stretches of time.

Many of the people you'll see in the street who refuse to go into a shelter, are among those people who have untreated mental illness. Despite the good intentions of homeless advocates who say that people don't "want" to go to shelters, I've met scores of homeless men who have been to a particular shelter and are barred from returning because they broke the violations. Undocumented immigrants would be shocked to learn that the availability of welfare programs in other states of America pales in comparison to the numerous benefits Hispanic advocates have demanded and gotten for them here in California.

I have met many men and women in shelters, who come from other states. Most of them don't realize they have undiagnosed mental problems, and because they didn't get consistent care, they feel hopeless. Homeless people I have met in the lunch halls, and free food lines at San Francisco's Glide in the Tenderloin, often complained to me that they lacked basic identification, were unable to qualify for anything, had constantly changing addresses, and have drug or alcohol related problems. Quite a few people told me they had pitched money in together with some other homeless person, and gotten a room, and that it had not worked out, because their belongings had been ripped off, fights had broken out, or they couldn't pay for the room anymore so had to leave.

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