I'd like to think I helped with that.
When the coronavirus crisis is over, I hope that this situation will finally convince everyone that homelessness is a crisis every day that can't be allowed to continue.
I am tentatively going to suggest that $11.5 billion more seems like a lot. My question would be where UCLA took the data that resulted in that number: from the reporting of homeless shelters about the costs of their operations?
I definitely won't argue that some more money may be needed. I think an audit of every homeless shelter and organization in the United States would have been a good idea before now.
Also, if someone is going to ask for a lot more money, can't the request include a lot of emergency Section 8? I've been saying for a long time that shelters do a very bad job of trying to house people. If a lot of vouchers are issued with extended use-by dates, and a task force of competent people is appointed in every state to get as many homeless people housed as possible, then there will be a tangible, permanent result to how the money is spent.
If I were making the decision, I might ask the National Guard to be part of the task force, as long as they wore civilian clothes so they wouldn't terrify people. They're organized and used to talking to traumatized people, which most of the homeless are anyway.
The paperwork for Section 8 isn't hard. You don't need a lot of training to figure it out. Honestly, most homeless shelters don't even bother, and the housing authorities are not always as helpful as they could be.
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Article:
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/homeless-americans-unaware-coronavirus-shelters-scramble-adhere-guidelines/story?id=69962473
