tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400574.post114529028618322383..comments2024-03-28T04:04:03.006-07:00Comments on Paying attention: Spending now, to help the wounded, is just good senseUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400574.post-1145373096279973142006-04-18T08:11:00.000-07:002006-04-18T08:11:00.000-07:00Hey Kevin G.The $30,000 cost of a group home is my...Hey Kevin G.<BR/>The $30,000 cost of a group home is my estimate, but pretty accurate. (I used to be a corporate guy and have a good handle on costs.)<BR/>Dave and his peers will still bolt and get into trouble. The point is that even with those failures, it's cheaper and more effctive to keep providing support as indicated.<BR/>I don't think you can use compulsion, but you can make it harder for people to fall away. SImply removing them from temptation as soon as they're willing makes a difference.<BR/>For info on successes, check out Gladwell's original article at <BR/>http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/060213fa_fact<BR/>Cheers<BR/>Paulpaulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11003637352818760817noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400574.post-1145316146538401712006-04-17T16:22:00.000-07:002006-04-17T16:22:00.000-07:00We used to deal with this problem by institutional...We used to deal with this problem by institutionalizing people. Then a confluence of interests lead to the elimination of those institutions: governments interested in cutting costs, and half-baked humanists who decried the supposed inhumanity of those institutions, probabaly influenced heavily by pop culture like "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." <BR/><BR/>I think this is a case where we have to reconstitute residential care for those who can't look after themselves - this would include a large portion of the drug users who inhabit the downtown eastside. Here's the trick, though: it won't work as a voluntary program. We would have to substantially curtail their personal liberties in order to take care of them effectively and gain any of the benefits to be had from residential care. They're just too flakey to be trusted.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400574.post-1145309516325549772006-04-17T14:31:00.000-07:002006-04-17T14:31:00.000-07:00Consider how many teenagers "age out" of foster ca...Consider how many teenagers "age out" of foster care each year. Once they do so, the state is no longer obligated to care for them. Children who have never made emotional connections often enter the adult world... and end up homeless, incarcerated or pregnant at a young age and starting the cycle all over again. Shouldn't we invest money in their care?Lisahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11944993180509479994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400574.post-1145295077693808352006-04-17T10:31:00.000-07:002006-04-17T10:31:00.000-07:00Your column is right on money (pardon the pun). T...Your column is right on money (pardon the pun). The economic arguments apply equally as well to our policy of criminlizing drug use at the cost to society of billions and billions, with zero results.<BR/><BR/>Are we collectively insane? Or are we just so mean-spirited that we'll continue to cut off our noses rather than face the obvious, and start helping ourselves by helping those in need of real help.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com