Far from an expert outside of spending some nights volunteering with a local shelter during overnight freezes and spend a few nights on the streets with homeless folks. I agree spot on with segmentation.
For the acute cases, as noted above I think we have a good system to help people get back on there feet. I also think we need to do a better job in education focuses less on grievances from centuries ago and more on how to maximize your life today. My guess is most people living paycheck to paycheck are doing so because of choices they made driven by our consumption culture. Almost everyone focuses on the top line not the bottom line. We should do more to encourage people to save money and make better financial decisions (see Vic's FB friends). But our culture is built around treating the symptoms not finding cures as well as removing all personal responsibility from life.
For the chronic cases, feels like if we really want to solve the problem you have to incarcerate and treat, whether mental health or drugs are the issue. I think that really the only way to get a person back to normal and then create that funnel of employment opportunities and support services. I do not love that idea, but sometimes you have to make decisions for the common good. Most crazy or addicted folks understandly face impossible headwinds to face that on their own. For the past 35 years, we've really just focused on making it easier and more comfortable to be homeless, which has clearly solved the problem.