For decades, policymakers, agency directors and non-profit foundation managers have issued one explanation after another attempting to explain the disconnect between fifty years of directing massive resources toward solving poverty and homelessness with the growing number of individuals and families experiencing perpetual pauperhood. In our rush to analyze why some of our public reform programs work and others don't, what we cannot seem to face honestly is the reality of human nature. Human beings need motivation. In general, we blossom or wither depending upon the consequences we experience. And while funders and caregivers temporarily feel better giving money and time to help the homeless, policies that ignore the reality of our human condition are usually a Pollyannaish approach to reality.
Motivation is always the issue.
Think for a moment about the three primary categories of homelessness. People in this group often lack a reliable support structure such as family and friends. Providing properly motivated individuals with an opportunity to succeed is never counterproductive. Second are people who have developed unnatural dependencies through government entitlements and, as a consequence, have been demoralized by bad habits and resultant antisocial behaviors. These individuals need the motivation of accountability and consequences.