Cleveland Homeless Seek Legal Perks

(Cleveland, Ohio) A group called the Homeless Congress has finalized a list of about 30 homeless shelter regulations for the Cleveland City Council to adopt later this year. The regulations would establish legal standards for the operation of homeless shelters, including:

- A requirement that all homeless shelter workers undergo sensitivity training;

- The creation of a separate city office to resolve homeless complaints and grievances;

- The requirement to post homeless shelter policies;

- A regulation that all homeless drug and alcohol users have their own shelters;

- A requirement for a homeless advocate to be assigned for every shelter with more than 50 people;

- A requirement that all homeless shelters provide clean linens.

So far, no mention has been made regarding mints on the pillows, however, the Homeless Congress may have it on its agenda for future consideration.

Kidding aside, I believe that benefits given to vagrant populations tend to attract more vagrants. Consequently, the list of 30 or so laws the Homeless Congress is pursuing could theoretically be published as a recruiting brochure with a heading of "Cleveland - The Best Homeless Location in the Nation."

Furthermore, let me suggest that even the finer hotels in Cleveland would not be in compliance with the proposed laws until they implemented some corrective measures. As examples, hotels are typically not legally bound to have a customer advocate for every 50+ customers nor are hotel employees usually required by law to undergo sensitivity training.

In conclusion, I believe that the goal of reducing the number of chronic homeless is made considerably less achievable when government initiatives make homelessness a tolerable lifestyle choice. The situation is somewhat analogous to the problem of illegal aliens rushing through the southern border. A sure lure is the constantly-growing package of taxpayer-funded benefits they get just for sneaking into the U.S. Therefore, actions to make homelessness a more tolerable experience naturally results in less people being inclined to abandon it.