Applying Service Delivery Models Essay

Our text illustrates that there are various populations within the homeless community. These people are homeless for different reasons, whether its voluntary or involuntarily. Runaways and Victims of

Homelessness is a major social crisis in the United States of America. From 2014 to 2015, homelessness in America increased by 2 percent. The major sub-populations which comprise homeless people in America are unsheltered persons, families, chronically homeless people, and veterans (National Alliance to End Homelessness 3). In America, 15 percent of homeless people are defined as being chronically homeless, while 2 percent of homeless families are chronically homeless (ibid. 7). A person is defined as chronically homeless by the United States Government if they have been continually homeless for a year or more, or have experienced more than twelve months of homelessness in the last three years (Office

Rather than approach domestic violence as a direct cause of homelessness, one might hope to understand how such violence could help create the circumstances that might make a woman more susceptible to homelessness. Domestic violence and poverty may intersect with other issues to produce the circumstances that often leave women no other choice but to seek temporary shelter

1). Complete families are also in need of other human services before, during, and after the use of homeless shelter services (Culhane, et al., 2011). According to this research study, homeless families appear to use more services provided by homeless service programs than individual single adults do. Apparently, these homeless families supplant mainstream medical services intended for the general public, with services directed towards the homeless offered by homeless service programs (Culhane et al.,

In the United States the homeless population continues to grow rapidly. Homelessness has been a public health issue for many decades. Often times these individuals feel as though society has turned a blind eye to them. This at risk population is seen by society as lazy or chose to live a life on the streets, but if one would examine this population closely would see that there is more to this at risk population than what society has labeled them as. The forces, which affect homelessness, are multifaceted. Social forces such as family breakdown, addictions, and mental illnesses are in combined with structural forces such as lack of low-cost housing, insufficient health services, and poor economic conditions. Many would

Homelessness in the United States can be ended, not just maintained. Allot of cities now have plans to eradicate homelessness. Homelessness and housing instability are large issues that afflict a diverse demographic such as: Families, youth, veterans, and chronically homeless single male adults. Ending homelessness may require specialized solutions that are specific to individual needs. Factors like these make defeating homelessness a difficult task. Although solutions exist for some of the demographics, such as housing for chronically homeless adults, scaling up best practices remains a challenge. For other subpopulations, such as transitional aged youth, evidence-based interventions need to be developed. In this paper we argue that ending homelessness is a Grand Challenge that is big, important, and compelling—one that the profession of social work should be adopt. Meeting this challenge will require a focused, organized response from social work researchers, clinicians, and policymakers. Ending homelessness will require innovation and interdisciplinary or cross-sector collaboration. Key words: Housing First, Permanent Supportive Housing, rapid re-housing, prevention, poverty. The notion that homelessness in the United States can be ended, rather than managed (Mangano, 2002; National Alliance to End Homelessness, 2012), represents a fundamental shift in expectations from the 1980s and ’90s. Since the early 2000s, researchers, policymakers, advocates,

Homelessness is a major problem in the United States. An incredibly vulnerable group is the homeless youth due to their young age and lack of education. According to Edidin, Ganim, Hunter, & Karnik (2012) on any particular night in the United States there are ~2 million homeless youth living on the streets, in shelters, or in other temporary accommodation. Youth become homeless for multiple reasons whether it be because they have aged out of foster care, ran from home, were kicked out of their home, or because they have become homeless along with their family members. Within the umbrella categorization of homeless youth there are high at risk subgroups, common misconceptions, and a serious concern of lack of support and medical services.

The common profile of a homeless family is headed by a single mother, in her 20’s with an average of two children, of which one or both are under the age of six. Homeless mothers tend to be poorly educated, unemployed, and lacking the skills necessary to become employed. There is an equal representation of Caucasian (47%) and African American (47%) homeless mothers. These women commonly described their lives as ““… a remarkably constant stream of distressing and spirit-breaking encounters, beginning in early childhood …” including experiencing physical and/or sexual abuse, constant crisis, stress from persistent poverty, violence in the family and community, and isolation. Most of these women grew up homeless and spent their childhood in foster care making them distrustful of the system.

I find it is most appropriate to begin with the causes of homelessness in America. The circumstances are unique and it is difficult to pinpoint one main cause. As stated in the most recent annual survey by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, major cities across the country report that the top four causes of homelessness among families were: lack of affordable housing, unemployment, poverty, and low wages. The same report found that the top causes of homelessness among solitary individuals were lack of affordable housing, unemployment, poverty, mental illness accompanied by the lack of needed services, and substance abuse. For women in particular, though, domestic violence is the primary reason for experiencing homelessness.

The issue of chronic homelessness is not just a political or academic debate but has become evident from men and women living without homes in the streets of America. Homeless men and women

Throughout the rating period, Ms. Carlene Martinez continued her GAIN Services Worker (GSW) assignment in the Homeless Case Management (HCM) Unit of the Southwest Family CalWORKs District as a Homeless Case Manager. She was responsible for assessing the needs of homeless families and at-risk of becoming homeless families obtain and retain permanent housing. She assisted families in achieving self-sufficiency through advocacy, communication and the identification and facilitation of services.

The interview suggestions share a variety of ways in improving services and access to housing programs. The suggestions from respondents are structural changes geared toward increasing the affordable housing stock for more interpersonal issues, such educating staff and the public about homeless. That current and former high-risk individuals focus on the need for affordable housing and more client-centered services, in contrast, the providers spoke of the need to create service programs tailored to the high-risk cohort, and many did not believe that street dwellers could successfully move from the streets directly into housing (Meschede, 2011). One particular situation on opposing views from the consumers and services is the medical needs. Consumers of homeless programs often do not agree with their case managers on the medical needs. According to the data provided, providers see the need for psychiatric disability and substance abuse services, but consumers focused more the services for dental and medical concerns (Meschede, 2011). Some providers believe that fear of the unknown and not wanting to leave friends on the streets as a significant barrier to success housing outcomes. Current street dwellers expressed that yes they don’t know where they will go, but when they ask for help and guide for the process to follow, no one

It is important to understand that when thinking of ways to solve homelessness, we should look at all factors. We cannot separate one factor from another, because when we do, we are not looking at the deeper relationship between the factors. Before addressing physical housing, we must be able to understand why a person became homeless in the first place. For most of these homeless, they have been physically, mentally, and/or sexually abused at home. We need to understand the individual’s own family dynamic. We must address mental and familial issues to appropriately help the individual. We must address any psychological issues because this is important for a person to be productive. We may address income generation or joblessness, but if a

Family and child homelessness has been a major social problem within the United states since the 1980s (Bassuk). According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, it is a problem that affected 79,446 family households in January 2010, and over 1.5 million children between the years of 2005 and 2006. Family and child homelessness is a genuine issue that although has increased to 37% of the overall homeless, and is said to have reached an “historic high” (Bassuk), it has not been discussed or addressed. Homelessness affects every one in 30 children in the U.S, which is a major increase in recent years. 2.4 million children were affected by homelessness in 2013, which was an increase from the 1.6 million that were affected in

“On a single night in January 2015, there were 564,708 people experiencing homelessness in the United States. Sixty-nine percent of those who were homeless were in sheltered locations and 31 percent were found in unsheltered locations” (Facts). People living in poverty are most likely have a high risk becoming homeless. Many other reasons why becoming homeless is due to economic conditions such as unemployment and increasing housing costs (Why). In addition, with all the new economic rules they are at higher risk of losing what they have already. In certain areas, homeless people are families, single mothers, and children are major in homelessness. However, the number of homeless is families who has children had increased more over the past decade or so. It is the fastest growing division of the homeless population. The problem of homelessness in America is growing dramatically. It is an issue that can strike at anymore in given moment and when you least expect it. Therefore, this should be addressed as a major crisis than an inconvenient issue. The National Alliance to End Homelessness and the Government should come together to create a solution to end the growing rate of the homeless people.