California Governor Gavin Newsom’s latest attempt to reduce homelessness by forcing those who are living on the streets and experiencing mental health issues or a substance use disorder into institutional treatment is bound to fail.

It’s not that the $6.3 billion in additional funding for mental and behavioral health care that Newsom is seeking to go along with 14,000 new treatment beds isn’t needed. It’s that forcing individuals into medical treatment, even if they would likely benefit from it, is questionable regarding their rights and doesn’t guarantee better long-term health and housing outcomes. According to a study at the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative at the University of California at San Francisco, the high costs of housing and insufficient income are the primary causes of homelessness, not a mental health or substance use disorder. In many cases, homelessness causes severe episodes of both.

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