The City of Oakland Public Works Department has received this issue. It is registered as service request #582880. Please check back for status updates, or contact us directly at 510-615-5566.
The City need to start fining the owners of the shopping for allowing them to be stolen and abandoned. Every time I shop somewhere I am helping to pay for all there missing carts.
true, we all pay on both ends - the extra cost to HD & stores, and the cost of cleaning them up once they are filled with overflowing trash and then abandoned or dumped on the streets. If only this $ was going to mental health/substance abuse services to effect some change in this population of homeless
Our mental heath care system is a well funded catch and release system. Unless they are involved in a very, very violent crime they back on the street in 24 to 72 hours. Many of them are referred to as frequent flyers by OPD and the EMTs. If they do not want to be there and do not want to take there meds they are free go back on the street. First stop Home Depot for a cart. A very broken system.
Any suggestions on how to fix it? Treating the symptoms and not the causes is getting very expensive... likely more than the cost of actually treating.
I have a nephew who is a self medicating street person. Our experience with the state run mental heath system is he was a number with a dollar figure next to it. Since my nephew will not accept help he is released until the next time. I have know way to fix him or the system
I wonder if they were kept from forming the camps by vigilant DPW that they would give up and agree to move into supervised housing. I think this model has had some success in LA and SF but there's a lot to learn about the whole tragic issue
Perhaps it is time to start a conversation about fixing the "system".
It is obviously broken. Some of these people would benefit from being in halfway houses, If they can't handle that then maybe they should be locked up so they can't get away. The system we currently have (or don't have as the case may be) is not working. It causes massive expenses for those that have to deal with these folks daily. What it seems like is that "the wealthy" in the interest of keeping their taxes low export these guys to where they don't have to see them or deal with them.
11 Comments
Acknowledged City of Oakland (Verified Official)
David Coleman (Registered User)
Anonymous (Registered User)
sheeeesh! (Registered User)
" If only this $ was going to mental health/substance abuse services to effect some change in this population of homeless"
Seems like it would be cheaper... and much more effective doesn't it?
David Coleman (Registered User)
sheeeesh! (Registered User)
" A very broken system."
Any suggestions on how to fix it? Treating the symptoms and not the causes is getting very expensive... likely more than the cost of actually treating.
David Coleman (Registered User)
Anonymous (Registered User)
sheeeesh! (Registered User)
"I have know way to fix him or the system"
Perhaps it is time to start a conversation about fixing the "system".
It is obviously broken. Some of these people would benefit from being in halfway houses, If they can't handle that then maybe they should be locked up so they can't get away. The system we currently have (or don't have as the case may be) is not working. It causes massive expenses for those that have to deal with these folks daily. What it seems like is that "the wealthy" in the interest of keeping their taxes low export these guys to where they don't have to see them or deal with them.
Closed City of Oakland (Verified Official)
ChrisR (Registered User)