The Cost of Keeping People Homeless
What does it cost the public in taxes and charitible contributions to maintain people in a state of homelessness? Doesn't it make more sense to invest in getting those who could be working back to work again, or provide modest housing for the homeless that can't work rather than continuing to pay the costs of keeping them homeless?
Among the costs of keeping people homeless are medical costs (ambulance rides, emergency room visits, surgery, medication, and hospital stays), food (soup kitchens and food stamps), jail time (often for minor infractions), and shelters where homeless are just housed for the night (without a meaningful plan for progress). Much of these expenses could be substantially reduced while also improving the lives of thousands. There are more practical alternatives.
Medical Expenses
When a homeless person has an urgent health care problem it's often necessary to visit an emergency room to get help. The resulting bill is far more than it needs to be, and ends up being paid through government funds and higher costs to others. An ER visit for even a minor problem can cost over $1000, plus perhaps over $300 for an ambulance ride.
Often homeless people will put off getting help for problems which then become far worse resulting in hospitalization costing hundreds of times more. A simple foot infection, if not treated, can end up costing tens of thousands of dollars in a hospital stay. Free walk-in clinics can take care of many problems ERs do, while costing the public a small fraction of this cost.
Living outside exposes people to more health hazards, ranging from exposure to the elements to assaults by people looking to beat someone up for entertainment, resulting in excessive medical expenses. I've ended up at an ER a couple times due to being attacked. With full time work, it usually becomes possible for a person to afford health insurance, a healthier diet, and housing which also provides some degree of safety from the street thugs.
An overwhelming majority of medical expenses regarding homeless (particularly ER visits) are usually by only around 5% of the homeless. Some individuals have run up bills for over one millon dollars. In some cities programs have singled out such individuals for special assistance, sometimes providing apartments. I have doubts that this is effective unless under a properly managed program. Simply giving money and apartments to those who can't deal with the situation won't help.
Food
The cost for one individual recieving food stamps can be about $18,000 in a ten year period. That's just for part of the food a person needs. Those living on the street can't make use of foods that require preparation, and have to buy higher priced foods. This means having to rely on other sources as well. Doesn't it cost less to help a person get back to work instead? Giving a person food money month by month doesn't get them off the street. It just helps to keep them alive.
With constructive assistance some homeless people would not need food stamps continually, but could be paying into the system instead.
The Cost of Keeping People in Jail 
Often homeless people are in jail for minor offenses, and are threatened with jail for being on the street even with no alternatives available. Even for those who don't intend to break the law it's difficult to avoid breaking a local ordinance at some time or other while having to live on the street. Many cities create ordinances specifically targeting the homeless with the goal of driving them out of town, and into someone elses jurisdiction. 
Many are in jail as a result of mental problems. In some areas these people are offered the alternative of a treatment program. With treatment many could achieve a normal lifestyle and not return to the street, or repeatedly to jail.
Keeping a person in jail can cost from around $30 to $40 per day. Programs to keep people from going to jail cost far less. Would you prefer to spend $14,000 a year to keep someone in jail indefinately, or a few thousand one time for a program could get them off the street and have them return to work so they can be self sufficent and pay taxes?
The cost of the corrections system in the state of California, just for 2007, was about $8,800,000,000. (eight point eight billion dollars). In the United States there are about 2,245,000 people in the corrections system, more than any other country.
Some communities which have adopted programs to provide housing, as a part of an overall managed homeless program, have documented dramatic cost reductions compared to homeless being jailed.
Temporary Shelter
Shelters are avaliable for only a small fraction of the homeless and, with management expenses, can cost more per person than renting a motel room.  Most programs do little more than just house people without any real assistance to get out of homelessness. They are often for only for a few days, and only at night, if you can get in at all. One local "emergency shelter" near where I live will only allow three nights, even though the organization gets hundreds of millions in donations. Where does the money go?
Just telling people to go get a job accomplishes nothing. There has to be the means to do so, such as a place to sleep and clean up, store belongings, adequate food, appropriate clothing, use of a phone, and access to transportation. Of course, housing people where there is little work available doesn't help much either.
Employment
Being homeless it's difficult to maintain any kind of job paying more than poverty level wages. As a result people are forced to depend on the government, or charities, for basic living essentials.
If a homeless person can regain meaningful work (not just part-time or minimum-wage work), they can pay for their own living expenses, and not have to depend on hand-outs to survive. Not only that, they may actually pay taxes! How many people complain about formerly homeless people paying taxes instead of getting tax money? It has been proven thousands of times that with constuctive assistance a substantial percentage of those homeless can return to productive work.
Some feel that public funds shouldn't be spent to help people with what it takes to get meaningful employment. By this line of thinking there should be no publicly funded schools, colleges, or libraries. After all, if people can't afford a private school and their own books why should the public get involved. It's their fault for not having enough money. Is this attitude ridiculous? It's the kind of logic many people use to keep the homeless on the street.
Some think that if a person is homeless they should just get labor work. Do they realize that not everyone is capable of doing hard labor, and that minimum wage labor jobs will not actually support a person?
Even if you have paid plenty of taxes, donated to charity, or served your country in the military, it doesn't mean you will get any special consideration if you become homeless. Many think that if a person is homeless they deserve it, like a form of punishment. Many homeless people have paid tens of thousands of dollars in taxes and paid into Social Security, but die on the street before they can claim any benefits whatsoever. What did these homeless Americans pay taxes for?
Even cold hearted people who don't mind seeing people die on the street would have to admit that a program providing housing and assistance for the homeless costs the public far less in the long run. Keeping people homeless is a choice that the public makes. Programs that could make a difference are being developed, such as those organized by USICH.
Will the public choose to keep homeless on the street instead?
www.homelessamerican.com                    HOMEPAGE
For those without medical insurance, going to an emergency room is often the only option, even for relatively minor problems which could be taken care of at a walk-in clinic. This cost is passed on to the public at rates several times higher than necessary.
Do you want to keep feeding tax money to programs that just maintain people in a perpetual state of homelessness? There are options that make a lot more sense.
clyde@homelessamerican.com
There are hundreds of news articles about programs which reduce public costs while helping homeless off the street. All you need to do is look around. News websites like www.topix.net provide easy access to articles, for those who aren't to lazy to read for themselves. The proof is there for anyone to read.