A good question.
If society really gave a damn about homelessness we would deal with it. In truth, liberals just want to feel like they are helping the homeless without making any hard choices. San Francisco once gave shopping carts to the homeless and showed them videos on how to dumpster dive for food. How compassionate.
The hard core homeless should be housed in "poor houses". They should be given the basics of life, treated with common courtesy and dignity. They should also be given duties that help support the cost of housing and feeding them. Plant and harvest food, work producing as much as possible of the things they need. Communes for the poor, so to speak.
We have a moral duty to help those truly in need. That duty means that in exchange for seeing that they get the basic needs for living that they put forth some effort to assist us in doing so.
Giving people cash to buy junk food is not giving them "dignity" and it's not teaching them how to "manage money", contrary to the notions of the "Great Society". People don't manage money that is given to them, they manage money that they earn.
Some years ago, in the Chicago projects, the authorities attempted to require that those living in free housing share the duties of maintaining that free housing. Clean windows, paint, mow grass and pick up trash. Jesse Jackson and his cronies staged protests and called it slavery. Liberals were apoplectic. Expecting people to pick up their own garbage in exchange for free food and housing is slavery? Well, that idea went down in flames in a hurry.
Anything less than a complete reevaluation of society's obligations to the needy and how to fulfill those obligations is a waste of time. Cutting soda and junk food from food stamps is fine, but changes nothing.
I can only share with you what I know. I work for a private company and I handle the TANF caseload and FSET(Food Stamp Education and Training Program) in Florida. According to the TANF legislation signed by Clinton(election year) required cash assistance recipients participate in community service or educational activity. The timeline is 48 months. My folks are at Goodwill(or similar agency) over 30 hrs per week to do their community service. So, that kinda squashes some misconceptions I hope.
Second, the FSET program is now currently voluntary but soon to be mandatory in Florida. It requires Food Stamp recipients to either job search and provide proof or be engaged in a community service activity or educational activity.
People aren’t necessarily sitting on their asses like people think. Yes, I think 4yrs is too long for Temporary Cash Assistance. And yes, I hate my job and despise getting up every morning and dealing with the majority of these morons..