Philip Mangano - Ending Homelessness

I had the priviledge of hearing Philip Mangano, appointed by President Bush to attack the issue of homelessness years ago, at a conference on homeless and runaway youth.

Mangano was voted by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people. He has served our country well, advocating for the least of these with care and skill. Here are a few notes from his talk...

The goal is not to MANAGE homelessness but to END it -
Homelessness is a moral, social, spiritual, and ECONOMIC wrong - you don't manage wrongs.

What our country did in the past was to manage those who were homeless but they just ended cycling through the doors of shelters. This social work frame did not work.

You END the wrong of homelessness by adding a BUSINESS frame.

The business frame - Cost Benefit Analysis
The cost of doing nothing for the homeless is huge - study in San Diego - studied the amount that it ends up costing the city by not doing anything for the homeless - they found out that each homeless person ended up costing the city $200,000 over the course of 18 months. If you combine that with, let's say 200 homeless people in the city, that's 40 million dollars. It would have been cheaper to put the homeless people up in penthouse suites than to leave them on the streets.

So how in the world do they cost so much by being on the street? Incarceration, behavioral healthcare, substance abuse treatment, and hospitalizations add up to a staggering amount of money. And after all of these costs, they are back on the streets in the same position as before.

Again, the cost of doing nothing is huge.

Definition of insanity by Einstein - doing the same thing over and over and expecting change.

Overall, I was blown away by how Mangano has approached this issue. He has not only used his heart but his brilliant mind to tackle the issue of homeless. Like an expert problem solver, he has picked apart the issue and wants to end homelessness. If anyone can end homelessness, this guy can.

I really liked how he pleads for the case of homeless people not only by appealing to the moral wrong, but the economic wrong as well. He kept saying, even if you have no compassion, altruism, or spark of love in your heart, you will be a fool if the economic impact of homelessness does not inspire you to end homelessness.