[quinnchr]

Actually most homeless people can be helped. The chronically homeless only make up about 15% of the homeless population.

The vast majority of homeless people are homeless for months not years, and the many programs to aid them in finding housing and preventing homelessness in the first place have a significant measurable effect on the average number of homeless shelter entries and length of stay.

[bpodgursky]

This may be true nationally, but it is not true in SF.

[quinnchr]

Nope, it's still true. From: http://sfgov.org/lhcb/sites/sfgov.org.lhcb/files/2015%20San%...

The number of chronically homeless individuals and families in San Francisco continues to decline. In 2015, 25% of survey respondents were chronically homeless, compared to 31% in 2013. Based on Point-in-Time Count data, it was estimated there were 1,745 chronically homeless individuals and 18 chronically homeless families living in San Francisco on January 29, 2015.