yep.... the trouble is that when he does land in an ER, they are motivated to put him back out asap.
If he does happen to get referred into a psych or detox, then detox is also overwhelmed and puts him back out within 24-36 hours. In the instances he gets sent to a Psych - their policy is not to conduct their evaluation until he's detoxed. By the time he's detoxed, he's back to his facilities enough to convince them he's not in need of mental health care - just has addiction problems.... so they put him back out with an appointment to go see someone about an outpatient. Which of course he never does.
He is a classic case of falling through the cracks. The system treats him as a hot potato and none of the agencies policies will allow him to be taken into the situation he really needs.
So.... he's going to die.