I've worked with the homeless off and on over the years. Social workers are nice people and well intentioned do-gooders, and they tend to want to infantilize and control homeless people "for their own good". They develop a symbiotic relationship with some hopeless cases.

But there are a lot of homeless that find participation in a system that is designed to control them demeaning and won't participate. Among these are many skilled people who became homeless during a rough patch and simply can't get back into society because they have no place to take a shower with their own phone and a bed where they can get rest and then go on a job interview or go out and round up clients for work even. Being in the shelter system often means you have to get in line hours in advance for a spot, and have to follow various rules that prevent you from having time to get a job.

Some friends and I had created a small unlicensed shelter one year for homeless people that didn't want to participate in the normal system. We had a bouncer who screened for drugs and other than that there were no requirements. Homeless people responded well to this and began policing themselves and reporting on troublemakers (sneaking in drugs.) We did have people come in to volunteer. Talking afresh to the guests, people found out their history and skills and a network of impromptu referrals was set up which managed to get the 50% of them that wanted a new start into jobs and houses. There were no relapses or problems with these as they were men who had fallen on hard times but who were clean and wanting to work and had skills. Simply finding them a stable place enabled them to fix their own lives without guidance or control from others, neither of which they wanted. That left another 50% that was truly transient or didn't want to work.

Once you institutionalize the system it becomes a method of controlling people. A lot of people don't want to be controlled.

Now that's my experience. In cities, there's a problem with the long term chronically homeless. People who never made it back and who have given up. The issue with this minority of homeless is that they cost a fortune in medical, police and other services each year. For example, if it gets very cold and you can't find a bed then you commit some petty crime to get arrested. Or they might injure themselves when desperate just to get a place to stay at the hospital. Or maybe they are just very ill. There are some homeless people in cold cities who have medical problems who are costing more than $1 million a year in public services.

There's a homeless advocate Philip F. Mangano who was "homeless czar" under Bush who has promoted the idea of finding no-questions-asked housing for the chronically homeless. This is not the people who can find a job with a stable place who just need first month's rent and a deposit, but people who are not going to be able to work long term and who are costing a fortune. Placing them in public studio apartment housing at a cost of perhaps $8,000 a year in rent saves money over all. One key is no restrictions. They can bring in alcohol and drink in their room. They can come and go at all hours. It is their own apartment. When presented like this, they are more likely to take the deal and get off the street.

Does it cost money to do this? Yes. But the idea is that it costs less than providing ad hoc services. Having a stable place makes them more likely to make doctor's appointments. No longer are they coming to the hospital with costly to treat hypothermia or frostbite.

Here's a couple articles about Mangano's work:
http://articles.sfgate.com/2004-01-14/news/17408204_1_mangan...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12...