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Tags: ben carson | newsmax | homelessness | mental health

Ben Carson to Newsmax: Most Homeless Have 'Addictions or Mental Illness'

By    |   Wednesday, 01 November 2023 11:01 AM EDT

Dr. Ben Carson, who served in the Trump administration as secretary of Housing and Urban Development, told Newsmax on Wednesday that homelessness is on the rise in the U.S. because of drug "addictions or mental illness."

"It's all over the nation right now, and I think there's a fundamental misunderstanding of what causes this homelessness," Carson said on Newsmax's "Wake Up America." "Sixty percent of these people have either addictions or mental illness.

"Housing first takes people off the street, and it's a good thought, but the vast majority of those people end up back on the street. You have to do housing second and housing third; diagnose why they're on the street and fix it [first]. Otherwise, you're just having an accumulation and that's what's happening right now, and it's a serious problem that requires multilevel attention."

Carson added: "When Trump's administration was in the White House, we established the White House Council on Eliminating Barriers to Affordable Housing utilizing federal, state, local agencies, as well as faith-based organizations to concentrate on the effort. The solution is not always more big government. Allowing local people to get involved and do things proved to be very effective."

A Rasmussen poll taken last month found that 87% of American adults say homelessness is a serious problem, including 61% who say the problem is very serious.

According to data from the National Alliance to End Homelessness, approximately 421,400 people in the U.S. were homeless last year, and 127,750 were chronically homeless, meaning they didn't have a place to stay for a year or more.

Rates of homelessness have been rising nationally by about 6% every year since 2017, according to the alliance.

Carson said "real compassion" for homeless people would be to place them in mental health facilities where they can get the help they need, "because many of these people have the mental capacity of a child."

"To take them and stick them on the street, expose them to all kinds of dangers, it really is quite cruel, and all those people who say that it's compassionate to put these people out on the street, I don't think they've actually gone and examined the lifestyles of those individuals," he said.

"We can fix that. In the Boston area, there was [a mental health facility] which was a place that took care of individuals of that nature. And you're correct: you did not have these people on the street."

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Nicole Weatherholtz

Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.

© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.


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Dr. Ben Carson, who served in the Trump administration as secretary of Housing and Urban Development, told Newsmax on Wednesday that homelessness is on the rise in the U.S. because of drug "addictions or mental illness."
ben carson, newsmax, homelessness, mental health
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2023-01-01
Wednesday, 01 November 2023 11:01 AM
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