Murder in ‘The Jungle': Deadly mass shooting at Seattle homeless camp deepens crisis

[happyslug]

19. Most of the Homeless can NOT hold a job....

Most Homeless fall into the Category know as "Last Hired, First Fired". They tend to be the most difficult to work with, hard time staying on task, completing jobs, even getting to and from work. All of this do to mental illness.

They once hanged a seven year old child (in the early 1700) based on the finding by a judge that he was Competent when he did the crime and thus could be hanged. If he was incompetent, even in the early 1700s, he could NOT have hanged for the crime. I bring him up to show how LOW is the definition of "Competency" which is basically do you know the difference between "right and wrong", but at the most basic meaning of that phase. The general common law rule was did the defendant have the same level of competency as a "Normal" 14 year old. Note not a slow or fast 14 year old, but a "Normal" 14 year old. If you were that competent you were competent enough to know what you were doing was criminal and thus could be punished.

Now, does that include people who are mentally retarded? The answer is YES. Does that mean someone who has delusions? The Answer is again YES. Does that include people who hear voices? Again the Answer is YES. None of those things makes a person incompetent, in fact if someone has all of those symptoms, he or she can still be found to be Competent. The test for competency is that low.

The law has had a problem with the test of Competency but the efforts to fix it has just made the issue more confused. From 1900 till the 1870s there was a movement to expand that definition, but since the 1970s the trend has been be return to the old common law rule. These two trends affect the rule in each state differently, thus you have to check your state's law on the subject to be sure, but the general rule is the above. For example in recent years a 10 year old boy was found competent to be tried as an adult in Pennsylvania. This was reversed on appeal, but the rationale was on solid grounds (Pa has a rule does anyone under 18 capable of "Reform" and if the answer is YES, must go through the Juvenile System, something the trial Judge ignored).

I bring this up, for most of the homeless are homeless for they can NOT hold a job, but are considered "Competent" under the law. I have seen the psychological reports on some of these people (not all for such reports are confidential but I do run across them) and once you read the report they is no way anyone will hire them, unless they is no one else (and even then it may be better do to without the worker then hire one of these homeless people).

These are the people who need help to keep a home. They need supervision, but there are NOT incompetent. In olden days these people who come under the jurisdiction of their extended families, but today with concentration on the Nuclear Family they tend to slip through the various social programs.

As to employability, they just are NOT employable. Most are eligible for SSI help, but can not get SSI for they have no address. The reason they have no address is they do not have the mental ability to take care of a house (see my previous posts for details). Taking a quick look at them, they appear fully employable, they have two hands and two feet but they ability to do anything useful is prevented by mental problems.

That is the majority of homeless I see,l people who should be in some form of housing where they are look in once in a while. The problem is such care is expensive and the State and Federal Government do not want to spend the money. When the old Psychological hospitals were closed, the people in those hospitals (and that includes most of the people I am discussing) were just shown the door, instead of being given the community based housing and assistance that was to replace the old Psychological hospitals. Some people did try to set up such housing, but with no funding (the States saw the closing of those old Psychological hospitals as a way to save money, money to be used elsewhere NOT for the Community Housing that was suppose to replace those old Psychological hospitals).

Now, most of the Homeless look like they can work, and that is part of the problem, they look like they can work, but they can not. That is a problem a lot of people have a hard time accepting.

As to people who are homeless because of lack of income, such people are easy to house, most do not have a black mark on any housing record and they know to turn off water after you turn it on, turn off stoves after you turn them on etc. They know when something breaks it needs to be repaired or worked around. A slight increase in income will solve the problem of people who are homeless do to lack of income. The main problem is the people who are homeless do to mental problems. No one wants them, or are even willing to address the problems of such people. Such people cost money to help, money that the State and Federal Government wants to spend elsewhere then on such people.