Wyoming a sanctuary state? Being homeless makes one sympathetic, but not saintly. Colorado is going to invest big on homeless camps, is their success due to a self-selection effect?
Wyoming a sanctuary state?
I don't know much about the proposed BLM rules coming to Wyoming (see the blog post below), but here's what I will ask:
I wonder what those who push for sanctuary states/cities would think about the Wyoming plan to NOT help the BLM enforce their rules.
https://wyofile.com/lawmakers-to-local-authorities-dont-enforce-federal-land-policies/
Being homeless might make someone sympathetic, but it doesn't make them saintly. It doesn't change their human nature.
The trio of articles below present a compendium of sorts on the homeless problem. The theme that unites them (at least the theme I want to write about now) is the fact that homeless people are just as human as anyone else.
They are as deserving of the same rights as any other citizen. They are deserving of the same dignity we'd afford anyone.
And, we must remember that they are just as fallible as any other human and respond to the same incentives. This is particularly important to remember because, just as there would be those who unfairly demonize all homeless people, there are those who would sanctify them and hold them blameless.
Neither is correct and neither is how we ought to approach them.
If you think that simply putting people in a house (because they had none before) will solve the problem, that is faulty reasoning. It may help some, but anyone who's ever tried to "move" their way from a problem can tell you, moving simply means taking your problems to a new place. People that are living on the streets can be there for a host of reasons and sometimes those reasons are that they do not control themselves well. They have little impulse control. They have a mental disease or defect. They are an addict.
A new home does not fix that. It just gives them a new place where symptoms of the underlying problem can manifest.
Witness that effect in the first article linked below. A stabbing at a Denver shelter for homeless families. A stabbing seemingly coming on the heels of warnings by some of the families living there who asked for more security and for troublemakers to be booted.
Witness that in the second article linked below. Quoting: "Residents must arrive [at the Ft Lyon halfway house] sober, which means many are referred by detox programs. Only people with substance use disorders and who are homeless or about to lose their housing are accepted. Some come because they are on probation or on parole, but they have to want to come, Trigilio [director of the halfway house] said."
It is also fair to remember that there are perfectly sound reasons for wanting (at least temporarily) to limit homeless people's contact with others. Particularly those that would be more vulnerable like children.
Similar to above, we cannot just assume that homeless people will not bring their problems with them to a new place. Trust built on repeated demonstrations of one's willingness to change their behavior should proceed any contact with those that could be harmed by the bad choices people make. I ask you this and I don't think it's too much of a false analogy: would you want a halfway house for parolees to be anywhere near a school bus stop?
Should we, then, have a camp where we would concentrate homeless people right next to one (as mentioned in the article linked third below)?
With the increased potential for drug use, violence, and mental illness (despite the security measures touted by Denver's mayor), I say no. I have no shame in saying no either; I'm all for second chances but they're earned and until someone's behavior shows them to not be a threat, I don't want them near kids. End of story.
Let's not let our compassion get in the way of our good sense. If we offer a chance to get off the street, let us not forget that this chance should be contingent.
Contingent on sobriety. Contingent on good behavior. Contingent on a willingness to contribute (in a small way at first but larger as time and capacity to do so grow) back to the people and place that helped them get off the streets.
To not do so is to fundamentally ignore human nature and that's just as flawed as assuming all homeless are beyond remedy.
https://kdvr.com/news/local/denver-stabbing-4600-quebec/
https://coloradosun.com/2023/10/16/homeless-recovery-campus-fort-lyon/
https://www.westword.com/news/denver-residents-grill-mayor-mike-johnston-cole-chandler-over-first-micro-community-17991372
Survivorship bias? Self selection?
I want to briefly return to the article I used in a homeless post right prior to this one. Not to return to the topic of housing the homeless, but to touch on a topic that is hiding in the article itself.
Following the "successs" (I put quotes here because I'm not so certain of how successful it actually is--more below) of one of the homeless recovery camps, the halfway houses mentioned in the Sun article below, our policymakers are investing big in the concept.
That is, more such campuses are being proposed which means more tax dollars spent.
I wonder if the folks running our cities and state are making a common mistake in logic and reasoning. It goes by many names (and the lines between different mistakes can blur a bit), so I'll call it an example of a self-selection process or a survivorship bias. The wikipedia page linked below the Sun story below is a good starter if you're not familiar.
This would be an easy enough mistake to make. When you read the Sun story, they profile some folks who have been turned around and helped in that comeback by their time at the Ft Lyons camp. Their stories are compelling.
The thing is, and this is so easy to overlook and so crucial to force yourself to do, I wonder how many decision makers are stopping to ask about the folks NOT in the program. Are they considering what approach would help them (and/or the people who live around them)?
To go with the common analogy (see the Wikipedia page), we should be just as concerned about finding out where the bombers that DIDN'T return were hit as we are about those that DID return.
And maybe this should happen before we lay out a bunch of money for programs that might be successful.
https://coloradosun.com/2023/10/16/homeless-recovery-campus-fort-lyon/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivorship_bias