Ask Auntie Pinko
October 2, 2003

Dear Auntie Pinko,

I am an operational supervisor at a large public University which prides itself on its openness and concern for the larger community. I have genuine concern for the welfare and wellness of the indigent, homeless, and often addicted or mentally unstable; however many of these same people are disproportionately responsible for assaults, thefts, and other crimes against the very community in which they find themselves (and I am obligated to protect). How can I rationalize this conflict professionally and personally?

Challenged in Michigan

Dear Challenged,

No one ever promised that being a liberal was going to be easy. Sooner or later we all encounter the place where principles and human behavior intersect, and frequently it's not tidy, neat, or pretty.

Of course you have to protect your community. Your students and staff rely upon you and your colleagues for safety. It is a professional obligation, and, as such, it touches your integrity. You don't really have a choice about that, if you want to continue doing your job honestly and conscientiously.

Nor are you doing favors for those who suffer from mental illness or the disease of addiction if you shield them from the results of their untreated disorders. Like diabetes and many other chronic, dangerous illnesses, addiction and mental illness require the person who has them to make ongoing treatment a part of their life in order to control the destructive effects of their disease.

Auntie Pinko doesn't see any need for you to rationalize these tough realities against your liberal concern, either professionally or personally. In fact, if you are willing to live your principles to the fullest, this can be an important, if challenging, opportunity for you to be an agent of change and progress. Your dual role as a professional faced with the hard necessities, and a compassionate, caring individual can give you unique power and effectiveness in helping to address this problem.

As a professional, your first obligation is to keep your campus safe, and sometimes this means dealing with people whose behavior is disruptive, threatening, or dangerous. Panhandling, public urination/defecation, shouting or disoriented raving, etc., need to be addressed promptly and firmly. The key is to do so in a way that minimizes the dehumanizing, humiliating, painful aspects of such interventions. The least privileged among us are still our brothers and sisters, gifted with human souls and spirits, however tried by their misfortune.

There are a number of ways of doing this. Your staff charged with maintaining the safety of the campus can be trained to do such interventions effectively, professionally, and compassionately. Mental health and addictions professionals can help you create policies and procedures, as well as education and training programs, that will help your staff feel capable and secure. Staff who understand the problems, know how to handle them, and feel confident in the support of their leadership are less likely to be insensitive, discourteous, or abusive, even when the provocation is great.

It will also be important for you to know the resources that are available to help you deal with these cases when they occur, and to build good relationships with them. Sometimes knowing where to refer, who to call, or where to take someone with a particular problem makes all the difference. Fortunately, a University is usually a valuable partner to many community resources, and your colleagues may be able to help you identify some of them, and build relationships. Don't be afraid to ask for help, even from the ivory-tower professor-types. They're often very practical and willing to pitch in.

Develop a set of policies and procedures you are comfortable with, make sure your leadership and staff understand and support them, and see that you are all well-trained in using them. Then you can spend time on the street, ensuring that they are consistently, fairly, firmly, and promptly implemented. You'll also need to spend time building those relationships with the resources that can help you.

And that's where the personal side comes in. Auntie Pinko is willing to bet dollars to doughnuts that there aren't enough of them in your community. There aren't enough of them in any community. What's needed? Practical things like well-maintained, well-monitored public restrooms. Safe shelters, especially with shower and laundry facilities. Affordable housing, fairly and responsibly operated day-labor programs, and job development and placement programs for those practicing their recovery actively. Effective detoxification and treatment programs for the addicts, outpatient and residential treatment services for the mentally ill. Such services need to be designed and operated with the special challenges of the indigent and severely, chronically ill and addicted patients in mind.

But there will never be anything approaching enough of these resources unless all of us communicate to our policy makers that this is a priority for our community. And citizens like you, Challenged, who have the first-hand, practical knowledge and experience to share, are critical to making this happen. You can bust some of the myths. You can put faces on the faceless.

Auntie Pinko doesn't have time, in one small column, to take this discussion to the next level, which would be changing our society in ways that reduce the risks and conditions that contribute to homelessness. That's an important discussion, too, and shouldn't be forgotten. But that kind of change will take a long time, and in the mean time, the suffering of the homeless will be with us every day. People like you can help diminish this suffering, even in a small way - and isn't that a wonderful power to have? Thanks for asking Auntie Pinko, Challenged, and my prayers and best wishes will be with you!