Commentary: Frustrated by chronic homelessness and severe illness, they found an answer hiding in plain sight
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SAN DIEGO — Light rain slicked the pavement in San Diego’s East Village neighborhood on a recent morning, forcing some homeless people to scatter while others huddled under tents or slept through the drizzle.I was on foot with Dr.Aaron Meyer, a psychiatrist frustrated by California’s most visible crisis: The failure to provide help for many of the people who need it most, despite all the programs rolled out over the years, and all the billions of dollars spent.We see them in parks, on sidewalks and in other public spaces in obvious distress, and we’ve heard the never-ending conversations and political promises of better days.
The problem goes well beyond homelessness: Thousands of severely ill people live with exasperated family members who wear themselves out trying to get help for loved ones.“We have a history of services that have ended up prioritizing less severe people rather than the most severe,” said Meyer, a UC San Diego associate clinical professor of psychiatry who was speaking on his own behalf, not as a university rep.In searching for answers, Meyer teamed with lawyer Ann Marie Council, a former San Diego deputy city attorney who once worked in drug court.She was struck by the number of clients spun through the system countless times without getting treatment for addiction or mental illness.There are no simple answers for homelessness — or addiction or mental illness — but Trump’s bluster is no substitute for desperately needed resources.“I was really sick and tired of watching people go to jail when they weren’t getting the help they needed,” said Council, who retired from public service and started Quarter Turn Strategies, a consulting firm focused on practical solutions to fractured public services.It turns out the doctor and the lawyer make a pretty good team.
In their research, they came upon a tool that could address chronic severe m...