Even as Louisiana suffers among the least of the states in homelessness, the state has picked up another tool to combat its worst effects.
Last month, the federal government released its annual statistical report on homelessness. At 8 per 10,000 population, Louisiana ranked in the bottom three of states and bucked the national increase of 18 percent by going up only about half of that. The main driver of this record jump seemed to be uncontrolled borders that allowed illegal aliens to flood some of the nation’s largest cities.
However, of those homeless, Louisiana’s 44.8 percent unsheltered rate was among the top 15 states. It is among these people that are found the highest concentration of those with some kind of mental illness that leads a significant portion of them to substance abuse, joining a smaller portion not mentally ill but who abuse substances.
