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HeroOfOldIron t1_j108558 wrote

Agreed, I meant something more like instead of having one central location that provides food, medical care, housing assistance, etc. for 1000 people, build 20 of them spread out that can each serve 50.

Obviously the numbers aren't representative, but having smaller support centers to provide all of the necessary resources is what we should aim for.

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SandyBouattick t1_j109wlg wrote

It makes sense in theory, but we have a provider shortage. You can imagine that providers working for non-profits serving homeless people aren't making a ton of money. Recruiting them to such an important, but stressful and low-paying position is tough. Having one hub for services maximizes the number of patients you can treat with limited providers. If you spread those providers out, then you probably can't serve as many people. You'd need way more providers to make it work spread out that way, and we already have a shortage. Like everything else in low SES service work, funding is the major limiting factor. When you ask for more money AND for towns to open up homeless addict residential treatment centers in their town, you can probably guess the answer. Most of them are happy to keep those places concentrated where they are.

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