In article ,
 bh{at}cs.berkeley.edu (Brian Harvey) wrote:

> A brief history of homelessness:  When I was a kid, people who weren't
> dangerous to themselves or others, but just couldn't hack real life, were
> most often warehoused in big mental hospitals.  Around the time of Reagan,
> there was a big movement to get those people out of institutions, taking the
> money that was spent on warehousing them and instead spending that money on
> providing outpatient services such as assistance finding housing and finding
> jobs tailored to what each person could handle, etc.  Well, Congress liked
> the part about taking money away from the hospitals, but not the part about
> spending it on community services.  So there was a sudden surge in homeless
> street people.
> 
    Actually this comes from the time of JFK and the Community Mental 
Health Centers Act that required housing in "least restrictive 
environment", meaning that most could no longer legally be housed in big 
mental hospitals long term. There never was any real funding for the 
outpatient services. Most of the beds that were to be closed already had 
been by the time RR became president. 
    I am a Psych RN and was involved in the planning for the local 
Community Mental Health Center back in the 70s.
--- SBBSecho 2.12-Win32