Ehhhh I used to think this, but it is likely more than 1 bad decision… most people have a parent or siblings or cousin or friend who would take them in for a while, it’s when you burn through all of that. Also I get it lots of people have had bad/ rough/ awful childhoods or some trauma in their life. That is what life is a collection of experiences, some good some nightmarish. How we respond to those experiences is our choice, it is always our choice in the end.
We collectively would not have a society if we all just decided to sit on the curb and smoke fent / drink cause of something that happened last week or 20 years ago.
in my opinion the number 1# thing these people need is not kid gloves and place to sleep. They need discipline and structure, 2 things that had largely been lacking from their lives which led them to become a ward of the state essentially. And if we will collectively pay for their food, medical, and housing it would serve the greater good to have the programs structured to get clean and get back to being a productive member of society. Very few programs work that way, they exist for self enrichment and so a large portion of society can think I voted for that and I feel less bad when I see the encampments, ahhh I am virtuous