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Overwhelmed social
services need help
I read the article about Kenyon Graham (“His neighbors tried to save him. But the system was too broken,” Page A1, April 17), and “the system was too broken” struck a nerve.
As a parent of a 31-year-old son who is homeless, describing the system as broken is a gross understatement. With minimal resources and gross understaffing the social workers struggle to support those that need it most. The typical response to those who get found is two weeks in a “crisis center” and treatment with meds. Our son, suffering from acute depression and schizophrenia, walked out of our home Jan. 6. He has not been found. The “system” relies on local police to find people. Interagency cooperation is nonexistent. Homeless people when found are often arrested or left on their own due to “privacy laws.”
What’s needed is months of rehabilitation, job training and sustained long-term support. Without notable state funding and facilities to house people, things will not change.
Richard Yerman
Fremont
Local efforts most
expedient climate fix
The science says global warming will continue even if we stop all carbon emissions. And any emission gains our state makes can easily be erased by a wildfire or uncooperative countries not doing their part. Our state’s efforts set a good example for the nation and the world, and I support them, but we cannot guarantee they will be effective or catch on in time.
We should prioritize some of our resources into local adaptive solutions that are guaranteed to help, like water management to combat drought, levees to mitigate sea-level rise, forest management to combat wildfires, education, etc. The financial and human cost is far less if we adapt now rather than later.
Donald Jedlovec
Fremont
NATO must increase
efforts to stop Russia
I support the massive amount of military and humanitarian help the United States and the West have given to Ukraine and the stiffest sanctions against Russia. I think NATO should also give more, including tanks and planes.
Now that there is overwhelming evidence of the indiscriminate killing and destruction by Russia, the United States and its NATO allies should include a no-fly zone. We can’t wait until Ukraine is destroyed.
Putin claims he will take military action against the West if we involve ourselves more fully, and he even threatens nuclear war. However, Putin will always threaten and do whatever he can get away with. He needs to be stopped now before he fully destroys Ukraine and its people.
If he conquers Ukraine, he will pause for a while before he continues his further crimes against humanity and the destruction of democratic countries.
Arlene Reed
Diablo
Source: www.mercurynews.com