Hawaii Offers Homeless One-Way Tickets

Hawaii is employing one of the more creative ways to save money on housing, food, and other services earmarked for the homeless. The Aloha State is offering one-way plane tickets to volunteers to ship them back to the mainland. The “return to home” pilot program, which will be run by the Department of Human Services, is a three-year endeavor that will launch this fiscal year. The state legislature has approved spending $100,000 in the first year. The state, which has an estimated 17,000 homeless, expects to save money even if some people return. To be eligible for the program, individuals must have a support system in their home state and must not be able to afford the airfare on their own.