Brent ToderianDec 13, 2023
“In Finland, the number of homeless people has fallen sharply. Those affected receive a small apartment & counselling with no preconditions. 4 out of 5 people affected make their way back into a stable life. And all this is CHEAPER than accepting homelessness.” https://t.co/EH3reri9lz
Show threadwigglyDec 13, 2023
@BrentToderian Are drugs a factor there? I've read that alcohol and coke are, dunno about the stuff that's killing 2/day in my city. This 3 year old article doesn't say a word about substance use, or how Finns deal with it.
Show threadAlex@rtnVFRmedia Suffolk UK

@wiggly @BrentToderian similar level of drugs use to the rest of Northern Europe and a high number of deaths particularly amongst young people.

https://www.euronews.com/2023/03/16/why-are-so-many-young-finns-dying-from-drug-abuse

Why are so many young Finns dying from drug abuse?

Finland is often held up as a shining example on the world stage. Yet is the European country with the highest proportion of under 25s dying from drugs. #EuronewsWitness

euronews
Dec 13, 2023 at 4:25pmWeb
Show threadChristineSaysHiDec 15, 2023
@vfrmedia @wiggly @BrentToderian Nowhere is paradise, I think. People will always have problems but in wealthy societies there is a capacity to cushion people from some of them and perhaps provide that fresh start. It's interesting that people see prison as a way to beat drugs. Maybe that offers some kind of insight into treatment pathways.
Show threadAlex@rtnVFRmedia Suffolk UKDec 15, 2023
@ChristineSaysHi @wiggly @BrentToderian prison in Nordic countries is highly geared towards eventual rehabilitation of the offender (its not a holiday camp and no one *wants* to end up in there), but neither is it just somewhere to throw away the key and let the offender rot away (or more likely go back to crime after their release)...
Show threadwigglyDec 19, 2023
@vfrmedia @BrentToderian Thanks, this helps. It's difficult to compare my city's public health problems to Finland -- our population is larger than Helsinki and our metro area has a larger population than all of Finland in 15% of the area, for example -- but this article suggests that their housing policy is effective despite a surprisingly low percentage of addiction treatment.