And I applaud that, truly. But the question still remains, and it's a bloody hard one: how do you deal with the terrible problems of addiction (and other social ills)? Prison gets them off the street, and thus out of everybody's hair, but does it solve the problem? I don't think so. Dying also gets them off the street and out of our hair, but really, that seems so final.
You questioned the value of all the "studies" that social worker types do, but how can you answer any of these questions without studies? And further, when government rejects the recommendations of such studies, what should happen next?
I'll ask you, since you say you are part of an ecumenical homeless ministry: "what cures for the societal ills you work to assuage do you recommend? It is always easy to criticize, as I said, and much harder to frame and promote a way forward and out of the morass.