Portland homelessness crisis spirals out of control: 'This is their vision of utopia'

The homeless crisis in Portland, Ore., has spiraled out of control in recent years, with one drug counselor saying the city is actually encouraging homelessness by allowing activists to set up empty tents on the street. 

Kevin Dahlgreen, a drug counselor with 27 years of experience in social services, argued the city is taking a "Band-Aid" approach to a spiraling crisis by incentivizing homeless people to sleep on the streets. 

"When you're not actually helping the permanent solutions, the old homeless stay there and the new homeless come in and everything just grows," he said. 

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FOX Business' Kennedy slammed the city for not dealing with the crisis head-on and called the situation "heartbreaking."

"This is completely inhumane. They see human beings as being disposable. Social services have totally broken down in this city. They have an ultra-liberal mayor, Ted Wheeler, who fights with the activists who are just trying to cannibalize each other. And this is their vision of utopia. It's awful," she explained Monday on "The Five."

"They don't do it right. Their outreach is bad. They don't get people into rehab. They rarely get people into shelters. About 3% of the unhoused population are actually in housing or shelters or jail or a nursing facility. And the older population, the homeless population, is growing in Portland, just like it is in Southern California. They don't have any real solutions," she continued. 

Tents line the sidewalk on SW Clay St in Portland, Ore., on Dec. 9, 2020. City council members in Portland, Oregon, are set to vote on a resolution that would ban homeless street camping. (AP Photo/Craig Mitchelldyer, File)

"They just like to yell about things, and they're buying people tents, and they are making it so much worse. It just-- it shows that they don't care. And money, we've seen this all over the country. Money does not solve homelessness. Systems do, and they refuse to get operating systems. and shame on them."

Co-host Jesse Watters suggested the city take on a new approach to incentivize the homeless community to get involved cleaning up the streets in which they live. 

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"I know a guy out in Long Island that works with a lot of homeless people, and this has nothing to do with money," he said. "He takes them to his park, and he has them pick up garbage. And what that does is it kind of gives them a sense of accomplishment. And then other people in the community go, ‘I walk through this park all the time. This park looks spick and span. Thank you guys very much for your contribution to this park.’ And these guys hear this and that, you know, it gives them a sense of dignity."

Kevin Dahlgren visits an encampment to speak with residents about moving to a homeless shelter on March 12, 2022 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

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"It gives them a sense of accomplishment and self-worth. And money can't buy that. You have to get that yourself with things like that, like action and doing. And right now, they're just languishing." 

Fox News' Hannah Ray Lambert contributed to this report