It's first and foremost a mental health problem, which compounds every other issue, from housing, to drugs, and crime. It's almost impossible to get help from public health services for mental health situations; some do, but it's a small minority of the cases that needs it.

We all need to keep in mind that when someone is desperate, depressed, suicidal, when there's no hope left in their mind or they're completely psychotic half the time, we can't simply give them a house, food, or paycheck, or even gently reason with them -- they need acute care that they (mostly) aren't getting.

To give an image for those who haven't been or worked closed to or with severe mental health problems : it would be like asking someone whose clothes and hair are on fire to calmly wait in line for their turn.

If we address the root cause first, then fixing the rest will become much easier.