First published 2021
California's homelessness crisis unfolds across the state's landscape. Tent encampments stretch along San Diego freeways near Disneyland's gates. Homeless individuals disrupt rail service between Sacramento and the Bay Area while crowding Los Angeles subway cars seeking shelter. On Skid Row, drug addiction spreads through communities as discarded needles endanger children in public parks. Thousands of homeless youth battle to remain in school and connect with teachers while lacking stable housing. Christopher Rufo cuts through decades of narrow research and political assumptions to examine the real drivers behind America's homelessness epidemic. He investigates unaffordable housing, poverty, mental illness, substance addiction, and legal barriers that trap people on the streets. Rufo analyzes how housing policies, social services, and employment programs either worsen or improve outcomes across state and local governments. The book evaluates prevention and reduction strategies at multiple levels of government, offering concrete policy solutions with the strongest potential to address this growing crisis.
Genres: social-issues, non-fiction, 21st-century, current-affairs, academic, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: investigative-journalism, policy-analysis
Setting: California, Disneyland, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego, Skid Row
Period: 21st-century
200 pages · Hardcover · Encounter Books
Content warnings: addiction, drug-use