@Imaoldhippie
Actually, deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill began in the 1960's with the development of antipsychotic drugs, implementation of Medicaid & Medicare and patient rights. Also, states closed many poorly funded and inhumane state mental institutions . When this occured , there was little infrastructure in place to support the mentally ill to successfully succed in sociaty unless family were involved, however many mentally ill do not take their medications for a myriad of reasons which perpetuates further exacerbations of their mental illness . Many do not want to live where they have to follow sobriety rules so they prefer to live on the streets.
For many families dealing with family members with mental illness or substance abuse is a contant nightmare of a rollercoaster . The only solution is to get local communities involved , but monetary support is needed along with many more acute hospital psych beds and transitional housing . All the millions that National Institues of Mental Health and Neurosciences spends on some silly reasearch could be spent on actually helping the mentally ill .
(corrected fonly or adding word Medicaid )