Where Do They Go From Here?
L.A. County raids homeless camp under 10 Freeway
Okay, the article is pretty simple. LA County has invaded a homeless camp that is under one of their freeways. The point of the article indicates that Caltrans has been having trouble keeping the homeless out of the area, so the police raided it, and they're attempting to keep the homeless from returning to that particular area.
This is one of those things that often bothers me, as I'm apt to want to discuss the homeless and poverty, two similar issues that are often treated as targets of the day issues that quickly go away when the media has a more pressing story, like a wardrobe malfunction or a Britney Spears meltdown of some sorts.
This is the sort of thing that always fascinates me because once they clear this sort of place out and have no intentions of offering them alternative housing, which you know they won't, where do they go? What are they supposed to do now? These are the castoffs of human society who found a place where society didn't have to concern themselves with them. Now, they don't even have that. So, what's next? City and county programs have less and less money to house these people or to even offer them the medical and psychological help they probably need. Police are only interested in moving them along. City officials care nothing about them because they rarely participate as voters and have no political clout whatsoever. Charities have enough trouble meeting their own ends right now that they can't afford a new demographic to have to take care of.
So, after we "clean it up", what happens to them next? Do they become criminals and then become part of the criminal justice system? Do they give up on everything and commit suicide, so hopefully they are no longer on anyone's radar to have to take care of? Do they join the homeless on the streets, begging for money on corners and in train stations? Even more important: Does anyone even care?
Stumble It!
Okay, the article is pretty simple. LA County has invaded a homeless camp that is under one of their freeways. The point of the article indicates that Caltrans has been having trouble keeping the homeless out of the area, so the police raided it, and they're attempting to keep the homeless from returning to that particular area.
This is one of those things that often bothers me, as I'm apt to want to discuss the homeless and poverty, two similar issues that are often treated as targets of the day issues that quickly go away when the media has a more pressing story, like a wardrobe malfunction or a Britney Spears meltdown of some sorts.
This is the sort of thing that always fascinates me because once they clear this sort of place out and have no intentions of offering them alternative housing, which you know they won't, where do they go? What are they supposed to do now? These are the castoffs of human society who found a place where society didn't have to concern themselves with them. Now, they don't even have that. So, what's next? City and county programs have less and less money to house these people or to even offer them the medical and psychological help they probably need. Police are only interested in moving them along. City officials care nothing about them because they rarely participate as voters and have no political clout whatsoever. Charities have enough trouble meeting their own ends right now that they can't afford a new demographic to have to take care of.
So, after we "clean it up", what happens to them next? Do they become criminals and then become part of the criminal justice system? Do they give up on everything and commit suicide, so hopefully they are no longer on anyone's radar to have to take care of? Do they join the homeless on the streets, begging for money on corners and in train stations? Even more important: Does anyone even care?
Stumble It!
posted by Duane @ 6:08 PM
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