At the Downtown Sacramento Partnership annual State of Downtown breakfast, Mayor Darrell Steinberg said he wants to build a Haven for Hope-style homeless treatment facility. He issued a challenge to the community to identify a site within 90 days.
I’m a strong advocate for local governments to move beyond ineffective low-barrier “Housing First” homeless policies. Rather, we must aggressively treat the root causes of homelessness in a long-term, clinical environment.
One of the most important questions I recall from childhood is, “What are you going to be when you grow up?” The question was not necessarily about jobs and pay. It was about life. Choosing a field of work defines who we are and how we live. It’s about what we accomplish and achieve.
The opposite of work is not leisure or play. It’s idleness. The philosopher Aristotle declared happiness resides in activity, both physical and mental. People who lack the joy of work—the feeling of a job well done—miss something important.
A new way to manage the homeless problem is making its way across California. It’s called civil conservatorship for the chronically unsheltered, and it’s gaining traction.
In October, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 40, which enhanced existing laws that allow three counties to obtain conservatorships over mentally ill homeless people who can’t care for themselves. For now, the law is limited to San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego counties. It’s time to expand the scope and reach of civil conservatorships.
While flipping through cable news shows a couple months ago, I came across an interview with a Sacramento resident named Elizabeth Novak. She made national news by posting a desperate—but heartfelt—video message to Gov. Gavin Newsom on social media.
Novak, who owned and operated a hair salon on Broadway in Land Park, posted a video on Twitter describing how difficult it was to run her business during the homeless crisis. She asked how the governor was going to help. I was intrigued because I’ve had small-business owners reach out to me with similar problems.
Along North 12th Street, X Street or Alhambra Boulevard, the ubiquitous presence of unsheltered people and their tents, shopping carts, plastic bags, bicycles and detritus suggests Sacramento has no clue how to handle homelessness.
But that impression is wrong. The city does have a clue—recorded in a secret little publication called “Homeless Services Division Playbook.”
