[Verv]

This is a rather interesting idea:

A Seattle-area council member is pushing a $1 million proposal that would bus homeless people out of the state as part of a "family reunification" plan.

The plan, proposed by King County Councilman Reagan Dunn, would be a one- or two-year pilot program aimed at helping people who have someone in another state willing to take them in but can't afford the cost of getting there.

Busing programs have been around for decades and have had varying degrees of success. While they can be a cheap and convenient way to connect people, critics warn it could lead to dangerous situations and say there's no guarantee of permanent housing.

The city of Seattle and community organizers already offer free bus tickets as part of their broader approach to homelessness but Dunn's proposal, unveiled Tuesday, focuses on 1,000 homeless people who said they wanted to reconnect with family during a homeless count in King County back in January.

In that survey, 9 percent of respondents said "family reunification" was one piece of support they needed to get off the streets and obtain permanent housing. However, other things like rental assistance, clearing up credit history and obtaining IDs ranked much higher.

There is also some other interesting stuff lower down in the article:

Seattle officials say its homelessness diversion program allows people to determine how the city can best help them, whether that's deposit money for rental housing, car repairs or finding a way to return home for long-term support if it's "a safe and realistic solution."

Fox News

It brings up some potential points:

I. Seattle has been too tolerant of homeless people. This has resulted in a burgeoning homeless population that has made the city less livable, something which we know is very true of Los Angeles that also tends towards a more liberal government. This forces the hand of the government into coming up with a program that can decrease the number of homeless in the area.

II. This really might not be a bad idea, though. Surely, this could result in some happy endings. But, people who are homeless are often homeless for a variety of problems in their life that their families may not necessarily be able to fix.

It sounds great on paper but is it really?

III. This could result in dangerous confrontations. All it really would take is one instance of a meth head heading back home, being welcomed by people who really want to help him, and then he goes down to Billings or Waterton, finds someone who is selling meth, comes up, butchers his parents, and then spends the next few weeks pawning their belongings to get high.

There are other potential issues.

Over-eager bureaucrats could encourage p articularly problematic people to simply relocate to other cities and produce crimes that do not involve families.

It could really be a nuisance.

But who knows.