Japan continued!
Reading up on Japan’s views on homelessness was very interesting. From what I have read there also seems to be a cultural influence. Begging in Japan is illegal and this greatly impacts the homeless, and with these prejudices, of being so desperate you have to break the law, many people reject the help offered because they consider it offensive. In the United States, for comparison, it is not uncommon to see people outside of a grocery store or on a highway ramp begging with signs mentioning military service or a dog to gain sympathy.
In Japan, in 2017 the Homeless Self-Support Act (HSSA) was approved for a ten-year extension. HSSA provides support when looking for a job, by providing training courses. I like HSSA because there are incentives for the business to hire these people through training courses. While at face value this seems similar to the United States the idea of training someone for a job has not been an idea the States have utilized. The closest thing that I have found in my reading has been limiting police involvement so that a homeless person can apply for jobs without having their resume hindered by an arrest. Looking at that incentive and the age that HSSA affects, people in their 50’s, it makes sense that a business would want to hire someone who is 52 years old, with training, and not a 20-year-old with no training. I feel the business looks at the maturity difference between the two ages and the training saves the company time and money.
The training is a non-punitive practice, in fact, the opposite, because it prepares the person for the long run. The training allows a person to gain a job, gain more experience, and start the process of rising through the ranks of a field of work. A steady income allows the person to start saving up for housing and allows them a more permanent opportunity to stay off of the streets. With the 10-year extension, I am excited to see if it will continue to work.