WHAT'S ON YOUR MIND
By Scott Hennen
Host of “What’s On Your Mind?” Radio Show
heard on the Flag Family Network including KTGO 1090AM
in Watford City, Williston and Tioga, North Dakota
Homelessness is back in the news. Frankly, it has been for what feels like an eternity, and yet for all the attention, we continue to drown in layers of bureaucracy rather than rise toward real solutions. The latest notion floating around Fargo is to drift away from the Downtown Engagement Center and embrace something called harm reduction. The term seems to have its roots in California, and like many ideas from there, it looks compassionate on paper but is actually a subtle form of cruelty. If someone you love is in crisis, you do not say, “Let us reduce their harm.” You say, “Let us actually help them.” Only a bureaucrat could invent a phrase like harm reduction and present it as a solution.
As if Fargo’s longtime struggles were not enough, we are now hearing similar concerns from Bismarck. Both cities seem stuck in the same rut of programs, consultants, and task forces that keep people in place instead of lifting them up. It raises a serious question. Is it time to engage in a total reset. Yes. And that reset should begin with opting out of government solutions that endlessly manage the problem. We need a new coalition of business leaders, churches, volunteers, and fresh local voices who are willing to set a higher standard. If we do not aim to truly end homelessness for those who want out, we will just keep muddling around the edges.
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