I would absolutely agree that it's essential to find the cause. Generally, when you look at best practices, those programs are likely the ones getting right to the root of the problem.
To go to an earlier question on homelessness, Housing First seems to be providing quite promising results. In that case, it is the role of jobs versus housing first. Certainly, the success of the program, which I've read about and looked at some of the research, has suggested that in that case, it is possibly the best practice.