What is one major conflict in the novel, Julie's Unicorn?

Beagle set Julie's Unicorn in the San Francisco Bay Area, which means that street people and other urban types are included. The question of how to help such lost people frequently arises in American political discussions, with few concrete results. The struggle has been between the American tradition of individualism, which suggests that they should be left alone, and the desire to remove people such as those Julie encounters from the streets, either to care for them in a managed facility or just to be rid of them.