Alcohol and Drug Abuse and Homelessness

will start generating law enforcement interaction. Perhaps this person has already picked up a open container citation, or urinating in public charge, or this authors personal favorite, improper use of a shopping cart. Its these extremely minor charges that cause some serious issues that I will cover in one of the next articles.

This General Relief as it is known in California, is an all purpose safety net, or at least that is what it was designed to do. This GR was meant to be used very short term, for items such as acquiring a birth certificate, for those that lost their identification, paying for state identification costs, perhaps buying a prepaid cellular phone, so one could at least make calls, basically and myriad of issues that would significantly help to get one on their feet. However, this is not what happens. Come the first of the month through the first couple of weeks of that same month, the payouts for the “GR” are issued.

Its at this time, that positive action could be initiated, however its the new homeless, or perhaps better stated, the seasoned homeless, can buy liquor, or with the help of the underground network, start purchasing items that are a tad more expensive than liquor, but…do the numbing job of liquor much faster, and as far as the bang for the buck…this would be it. Now, you have a person that is drinking, and followed the gateway drug alcohol into the realm of controlled substances and uncontrolled substances.

I would imagine being that your reading this letter from a loved one, educator, or social worker point of view, I would bet that your asking what happened at the place that this person was able to get the “GR” assistance, was there no interaction with the “client” at that point, was there no interviewing, or direct contact with this person? The answer is yes, there was indeed “through the glass” contact!

Pride is a huge factor still in the new homeless person even after some time in the streets. The intelligent case worker or screener should indeed know this as part of their training, or at least listen to some of their Intuitive ESP. Think about it, the person meets every single visual criteria for being homeless, they show the signs of chemical abuse, wouldn’t a very good case manager be able to take some decisive action, and point their “fellow brother or sister” in the right direction, and help them significantly at this first point of contact?

The answer is an overwhelming NO! Department of Social Services in California is simply at best a cattle line, people come in and they go out, most of them if they chose to eliminate pride are taken care of fairly, they are given vouchers for single room occupancy hotels, General Relief, and food stamps. In the streets this is the “Grand-Slam”. However the hotel expires in 30 days. “GR” and the food stamp program are limited as well, there must be some paperwork filed, and evidence of job searching. California does have a program that is mandatory to attend, which teaches folks how to look for, interview for, and appear for a job. This program goes as far as helping each graduate with the clothing for the interview process.

Again…the evil PRIDE presents itself in an incredible manor. This person who perhaps 6 months ago was working, drove a car, had a home, and wore considerably better clothing, finds him or herself presented with people that are his or her equal, and yet pride holds out yet again. This is a major contributing factor to the chronic homelessness problem. PRIDE!

The overall accomplishment of finally getting some cash, food stamps, and a small place to stay, is a huge accomplishment. This person is going to celebrate this accomplishment! Fresh off the simple feeling of accomplishment, this person is going to start spending money negatively, this person will buy more expensive alcohol, and will purchase a bit bigger quantity of the escaping drug that he or she was introduced to very recently. This formerly very responsible person will manage to rip through the “GR” money, and will find out through the “homeless underground” how to now sell their food stamps for cash, to earn a few more dollars.

In the next article, We will discuss the second and subsequent cycles of homelessness and addiction, and will start to reveal some techniques that are just now beginning to show promise when approaching the homeless population for getting them off the streets and into services!

Pages: 1 2