Hawaii sets aside $100,000 to offer its 17,000 homeless people one-way airfare back to their home states

Supporters hope to take some weight off an overburdened shelter system
Detractors say the costs and man hours aren't worth it

Aloha: A man sleeps near Waikiki Beach, in 2011 in Honolulu. The state of Hawaii is poised to begin is 'return-to-home' program, which will give eligible homeless people one-way tickets back to the families on the mainland

By Daily Mail Reporter

Hawaii is hoping to take the burden off its welfare system by saying aloha to its 17,000 homeless residents.

The state will offer one-way tickets home to any eligible homeless person to anywhere in the continental United States.
Hawaii has allotted $100,000 for a three year trial run of the so-called 'return-to-home' program, which could also even offer participants beds on cruise ships bound for their homes.

The sum set aside for the program may sound like a lot, but supporters say most of the state's homeless won't be taking advantage.
'It's fractional,' state Representative John Mizuno told Hawaii News Now. 'It's not for 5,000 homeless people. It's going to be a handful of homeless people that we send home … to their support unit.'

The goal, supporters say, is to take pressure off the state's overburdened shelter system.