Watch the following video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uVoiXbvjlQ
As you will see, there is a correlation between homelessness, mental illness, substance abuse, and even gang
association. In other words, someone who is homeless has a greater risk of having a mental illness or a
substance abuse problem and vice versa. Incarceration is not going to solve these problems because once
released, homeless people still have nowhere to live, people with addictions still want to abuse substances,
people with mental illness still have mental illness, and people in gangs still have connections with others in
gangs.
Choose one of these groups and write how the criminal justice system can best help them. What resources
should they provide? How should police respond to these individuals? How should the legal system handle
them? Where should federal funding be directed – since we know that incarceration is not reducing the
problem, where should the money be spent to make a significant difference for these individuals?