Concerned to see young possibly disabled people begging at traffic lights, Subiaco

Today I was heading home from Nedlands to the Wheatbelt down Thomas St past the old Princess Margaret Hospital site at 3pm, Saturday. There was a very young looking, perhaps even teenage girl in a moonboot at the lights. She was very slim/skinny, limping, had a distorted looking arm, or at least her left arm was held at an odd angle. Nonetheless, she moved very fast along the traffic island, up and down. Two people in the line gave her money, in the space of one light change. She was holding a crudely made sign saying "I am disabled and need help." Nearby on the other island across the road, an older man, indeterminate twenties or thirties, head down, pacing back and forth with hoodie on. He glanced up at her every now and then. Has anyone else noticed these people? If genuinely disabled, there are places that they could contact - Share and Care, Avivo, NDIS, Centrelink etc. It was VERY disturbing and I felt terrible, but I also felt something was 'off' about them. I've heard and read that begging is a ' syndicate' or an ' industry' and that it's done by practiced groups of scammers, who are better off than they appear, targeting soft hearts. But even the THOUGHT that a young disabled person has to beg in traffic makes me feel sickened. I want to give them the benefit of the doubt. But I don't understand how they've slipped through the net. Thoughts? I hope the girl wasn't being coerced by the man to do this? Is it perhaps drug related? Or they've done their dash with services who have reached out?

Hundreds of cars pass them every hour. There must be many social workers mental health workers and advocates among them. I'm one of them; a lived experience mental health advocate. I thought about turning around and somehow parking and talking with them. Or even having cards in my console with help info about services to hand people. Later, in Belmont, I handed another person begging at the lights, a ten dollar note outside the Forum. It's probably not what we 'should' do, but I did it anyway. It seems unacceptable to me that in 2026 we have anyone, under any circumstances, forced to or voluntarily, begging in traffic.