A recent KUER article critically examines The Other Side Academy (TOSA), focusing primarily on former participants who describe the program negatively and questioning the philosophy behind therapeutic communities. Every institution should be subject to scrutiny, and TOSA is no exception. But after reading the article, I was left asking a different question: Why is this level of scrutiny almost never applied to the homelessness industry itself?

People argue over housing costs, addiction, mental illness, law enforcement, government spending or whether enough is being done to address the problem. Statistics are cited, policies are proposed and opinions are firmly held. Yet after spending years working alongside people experiencing homelessness, Heather Hans believes those conversations often overlook the most important part of the issue. People.

Crime entered his life before hard drugs did. As a teenager he stole cars, sold marijuana at school and repeatedly encountered law enforcement. By the age of fourteen he was committed to California’s youth correctional system, where he remained until shortly before turning eighteen.

Instead of changing his life, the experience pushed him further into criminal culture.

Utah spends enormous amounts of time and money dealing with social problems after they become crises, but she wants to know what might happen if more attention were paid to the years, months or even days before someone reaches that point.