> Why is the system to give a replacement phone every 12 weeks instead of investing in a dedicated device that's much harder to damage or lose? Why is keeping the same number a hassle?
If you're homeless, you're getting robbed. It doesn't matter that a yubikey would be worthless to a person mugging you, they'll take everything including the worthless stuff. Or you're being picked up by an ambulance and taken to a behavioral health center after a mental health crisis and when they do that they take your clothes off and stuff goes missing, even if it's worthless.
Keeping the same number usually requires paying into an account which requires being able to make consistent payments, which is not easy to do. Or a credit card or bank account is required. You are maybe unbanked in this scenario.
> Why are we tackling the problem with caseworkers instead of something more ambitious, that would ironically be less costly in the long run?
Caseworkers make practically nothing. Does your solution get rid of human beings to act as agents for people who sometimes lose touch with reality? Will there be an AI assistant to guide someone through a schizophrenic break and get them to a hospital and help get them reoriented after they regain contact with reality? That's what's necessary and you're treating actually understanding what they're going through as if it's virtue signalling.
