You might note that the homeless problem really started and started getting noticed when the states shut down the institutions for the mentally ill. When they closed them down, all the patients were put out, on the street, so to speak, with no supervision or assistance. Then, everybody started noticing the problem of homelessness. I have to say, though, that many of the homeless prefer their situation to being ensconced into an apartment, home or other accommodations. They choose to live that way.