The Way Los Angeles Is Trying to Solve Homelessness Is ‘Absolutely Insane’

I used to work in Social Services on Skid Row. Many states buy their homeless ppl a one way bus ticket to LA to get rid of them. The 1st place they end up is the welfare office downtown trying to get money. We would call the state of whatever ID they presented. 99% of the time , we find out they are already getting government assistance in their state. Therefore they are not eligible to get it from us. So we buy them a one-way ticket right back to where they came from. Lol. Once I dealt with a guy from Hawaii. When we called over there, they knew him and someone said, wait a minute. I just saw that guy walking down the street a couple days ago. It’s been 15 years since I’ve been at that assignment. Looks like we’ve been losing a lot of rounds at hot potato. Also, they flock here from all over on their own. They think LA will have more resources for them such as money, food , housing etc. vs. their state. Plus , would you rather be homeless in a state with a lot of cold rainy / snowy weather or where the sun shines most of the time? The dam broke a long time ago.

/r/LosAngeles Thread Link - nytimes.com