The California Public Utilities Commission is considering requiring wireless phone carriers to provide low income and homeless people with the same low cost fees as land lines currently get. It would join with an Obama program to provide free phones.
The assumption is that these are people who are looking for jobs and need to stay in touch with potential employers, social welfare agencies and families.
It doesn't really matter what the assumptions are.
In the early 80's I provided free answering services to homeless families via the main San Francisco family homeless agency. Answering service box numbers with their own telephone access and private storage were inexpensive.(Homeless families are less than less than 2% of the homeless population.)
Despite an aggressive campaign to make sure every one of the several hundred homeless people knew about the option for an answering service ..... a few people tried it and no one ended up using it.
Don't count on the statewide utility agency to care whether their program will fail or simply be used for fraud. The utility regulators never follow up on their programs.
In the same vein, San Francisco is giving dogs to homeless people on the assumption that most homeless people need company and so do the dogs.
So far in the past week I have been offered two sweet little dogs for one dollar each by homeless people.
It doesn't really matter what the assumptions are.
In the early 80's I provided free answering services to homeless families via the main San Francisco family homeless agency. Answering service box numbers with their own telephone access and private storage were inexpensive.(Homeless families are less than less than 2% of the homeless population.)
Despite an aggressive campaign to make sure every one of the several hundred homeless people knew about the option for an answering service ..... a few people tried it and no one ended up using it.
Don't count on the statewide utility agency to care whether their program will fail or simply be used for fraud. The utility regulators never follow up on their programs.
In the same vein, San Francisco is giving dogs to homeless people on the assumption that most homeless people need company and so do the dogs.
So far in the past week I have been offered two sweet little dogs for one dollar each by homeless people.