A mentally ill "adult," besides standing in line with the growing number of hungry American children, may easily become one of the 17-20% of mentally ill "adults" who end up in prison.

There are so few mental health facilities or treatment for homeless people on the street, so they end up being arested for being mentally illl. Once arrested and in jail, their lives go from bad to worse.

and it just seems to keep getting meaner. it's heartbreaking.

barbtries

Hopefully it can turn around... And US can make it posible even for the "small ones" to go to sleep, withouth hunger....

Diclotican

probably not in my lifetime, maybe throughout the next millennium or so.

barbtries

It is sad, when you have to look true a millennium to the possibility to get a country around to care for the poor and the dis-avenged too... I hope that we, in our own lifetime will se a USA who is better, sharper, and also is able to care for everyone, even they who for some reason are not able to fend for them self..

You can tell a lot of a country, on the way they treat the poor, the people who is out of luck, or who need help to get on their feet...

Diclotican

Judi Lynn

"They" can hide it for a long time - by banishing them to the hinterland, or to try to keep them out of sight - but "they" can't run from the fact, that many americans is going hungry, in a country where availability to food should NOT be a problem, as USA have been the food basket for many over the last 100 year..

But then, "they" had the same attitude to the poor in the 1920s and the 1930s, and tried hard to not look at it as an danger - before the anger got into the offices of the powerfully leaders.. And the workers started to fight back, and threatened the whole foundation to the power they had.. One of the few things that stooped americans for going for an revolution in the 1930s, was the election of mr Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the new Deal who made it possible for americans start working again - and more important get salaries it was possible of living on.. What United States of America need more than anything today, is a President with the foresight of a Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was able to understand the poor, even thought himself was from the "upper class" himself.. Long before he got elected as the United States President, he was able to get to know the poorest of the poorest, and made the discovery about how bad things was in the US firsthand... He might feared the masses himself, but at least he was able to do the right thing, and start under the aegis of New Deal, a lot of programs, who over the next couple of decades should give americans a prosperity no other nations on the face of the earth was able to copy to the full strength of USA...

If FDR managed to do it - a president of today can also do it - even if he have to fight all the way with an Congress and a Senate who is not willing to work with him.. After all President FDR was a man in a while shear, and he managed to stand up to Nazi-Germany and the Imperial Japanese forces.. Your current President is a healthy man, who have no competition in either Germany or Japan - Even though I believe PRC to be a hard nut to crack.

Diclotican

What uncivilized bastards! Here in Minnesota such people live in group homes run by non-profits and paid for by the state government.