It was modeled off a program that worked in Arizona or NM, I forget where. It was to make money available so homeless can be paid a day labor rate. It helps connect them with services and give them access to shelter space and a path to betterment. It has worked extremely well elsewhere. Here, the ADN comment crowd lost its mind because the payout was $10/hr and everyone screamed about that being over our minimum wage. 

You have people here saying we are "under attack" you have people saying Berkowitz "caused homelesness".... You folks are so painfully conflating your perceptions with reality. It's so frustrating explaining complex problems to people with poorly reasoned emotional responses to them.