Days of Wine and Houses

They've awarded that $10 million for the "chronic alcoholics" demonstration project that appeared newly in this year's SuperNOFA. Remains to be seen what it does for people's dignity and employment prospects to name them publicly as drunks -- two local programs have even adopted the Victorian term "serial inebriates" out of the NOFA text -- but anyhow it's $10 million to bring long-term outdoor heavy drinkers in from the cold. Which is, of course, a good idea and not at all an easy task. If you know someone who has come indoors from homelessness, you know that, quite apart from any addictions involved, returning to life in conventional housing can be very nearly as difficult as the return of a soldier to civilian society.

Hoping very much that these programs will genuinely help traumatized people take those difficult steps toward both literal homes and the ability to feel at home. Hoping local authorities won't just treat the programs as a way to keep public drunks out of the shopping districts. According to the NOFA (sorry, it's a large PDF file, within which you want p. 14136), "Building upon existing collaborations, grantees are expected to work in conjunction with local law enforcement agencies and courts, including the police department, sheriffs department, superior court, city attorney, and/or city council, to identify and refer eligible clients to projects funded by this program." With a description like that, it seems like the local programs will need to be careful that they end up operating genuinely supportive housing and not just an extension of the criminal justice system.

[UPDATE 8/18: Here's a happier view of the program's possibilities from San Jose, CA.]