WASHINGTON — President Trump signed an executive order Thursday calling on states and cities to end “endemic vagrancy” — and rehouse homeless people including drug addicts and those suffering from mental problems in “treatment centers.”
The order redirects federal funding to prioritize “shifting homeless individuals into long-term institutional settings for humane treatment through the appropriate use of civil commitment.”
“The overwhelming majority of these individuals are addicted to drugs, have a mental health disorder, or both,” the document says.
“The Federal Government and the States have spent tens of billions of dollars on failed programs that address homelessness but not its root causes, leaving other citizens vulnerable to public safety threats.”