Health Disparities Among Homeless Women And Their Children

Homelessness has been a prevalent and contentious topic since its public emergence in the 1980’s. In fact, according to the most recent estimates, on any given night in the United States, there are roughly 645,000 people residing in homeless shelters or unsheltered street locations (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2011). And based on a local study done by the Mental Health Unit at the Houston Police Department in 2011, Houston has the largest homeless population in Texas and the eighth largest in the United States. While many great efforts have been put forth to aid the homeless population in Houston, “the public health epidemiology task of quantifying and tracking child and family homelessness over time has been complicated…by increasing rates of…shortages [in] affordable housing” (Grant et al., 2013), and restrictions on temporary encampments (Loftus-Ferren, 2013). In order to successfully reduce, prevent and combat homelessness, more policies must be put in place to create sustainable, affordable housing for homeless families and to modify current laws that harm homeless individuals.

     To be homeless is to not have a home or a permanent place of residence. Nationwide, there is estimated to be 3.5 million people that are homeless, and roughly 1.35 million of them are children. It is shown that homeless rates, which are the number of sheltered beds in a city divided by the cities population, have tripled since the 1980’s (National Coalition for Homeless, 2014). Worldwide, it is estimated that 100 million children live and work on the streets. Homeless children are more at risk than anyone else, and are among the fastest growing age groups of homelessness. Single women with children represent the fastest growing group of homeless, accounting for about 40% of the people that are becoming

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 has been a problem for many years in the United States. This misfortune is becoming even a bigger issue due to people losing jobs and having no income. Not having any type of income leads to neglect in the way of just trying to survive. One issue that homeless individuals neglect is their health care. In this literature review, the main theme centers on how vulnerable this population is to not receiving adequate health care. “Meeting the needs of the homeless requires a different approach than that of the general population, thus healthcare providers must be aware of these needs and learn how to facilitate and improve care for homeless individuals” (Seiler & Moss, 2012, p. 305). The homeless population is a group that is sometimes stereotyped for their homeless situation; however, many are in an unfortunate situation that was not chosen by

Homelessness affects one fifth of the United States population (Hwang et al., 2010). The homeless population experience health conditions at higher rates than the general population and fifty percent of them are uninsured or lack access to health care services (Kar, Kumar, Singh, & Upadhyay, 2015). This study examine the homeless population and examines their level of health care utilization to demonstrate that homeless individuals are intensive users of health services. Tracing the sample population 's health care encounters is critical in and addressing the gaps they face in access to healthcare and understanding the importance of health access as a result of their vulnerable situations. The researchers discovered that homeless people with provincial health cards were accessing health services at high rates, specifically Emergency Department and inpatient hospital visits. Despite the study 's comprehensive assessment of high utilization of health services amongst homeless people, the study is limited by a biased sampling strategy that favored participants with valid provisional health card numbers, use of secondary data analysis, and generalizations due to minimal references to other cities in California. Strengthening

Homelessness in America has existed for some time now, but has grown and changed majorly over the years since the 1980’s. According to Mary Hombs, “the prevailing stereotype of a homeless person was that of a middle-aged white urban male alcoholic” (6). But now there is no stereotype because homelessness could happen to anyone at any moment, so that is why it important to be aware. Millions of people in this country do not have a place to live including whole families, children, veterans, and even the mentally ill. Going day after day without food or shelter. Throughout this paper the main focus will be answering the questions: What is homelessness?; What are the main causes of homelessness?: Who is the homeless?; and How do the people of this country assist the homeless?

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.

The image of homelessness has changed since the Great Depression, when many homeless people were elderly and white. Today a growing number of women and families, including young children, are homeless because of insufficient housing and resources (Bassuk & Rosenberg, 1988). As the number of homeless people has continued to rise over the past decade, homelessness has become a central feature of life in America.

The social determinants of health are the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age (WHO, 2016). This current event relates to the social determinants of health because homelessness has a huge impact on someone’s overall health and quality of life. People who experience homelessness do not have the resources to maintain their health. This can lead to stress, depression, substance abuse, and a number of problems. They are exposed to communicable diseases, malnutrition and many other health issues. Over 500,000 Americans are homeless every night (Kertesz, 2016). This is why we have Health Care for the Homeless programs. The majority of federally funded organizations for the homeless are operated properly. But, there are some

One of the root determinants of health and homelessness is poor childhood development. Even before children are born, social determinants of health can have a major impact on them through the mothers who are carrying the children (Davidson, 2015). The health and socioeconomic status of a mother can strongly influence

Homelessness does not discriminate. Families with children, single adults, teenagers and older individuals of all races struggle with the devastating effects of homelessness. According to North Carolina Coalition to End Homeless (NCCEH), on one night during the last week of January 2017, 8,962 people experienced homelessness. 73% were sleeping in emergency shelters or transitional housing. 27% were sleeping in unsheltered locations,33% were people in families with children, 67% were adults with no dependent children, and <1% were accompanied children. (NCCEH Data Center) Data plays a crucial role in informing policy decisions about housing and services for homeless persons. Understanding who is homeless and why they are homeless is necessary to end

Throughout history there has always been a portion of society living in disadvantaged conditions. With the current high cost of living, global issues, unemployment rate on the rise, and low wages, many Americans are finding themselves homeless. One would think that in this advanced century, there would not be individuals living without the basic necessities such as food, water, and shelter. Unfortunately, there are millions of people with nowhere to sleep. Besides the many problems homeless people face daily, one of the leading problems is health care. Being homeless with limited access to health care or shelter in conjunction with mental illness or exposure to harmful diseases can lead to poor health, or

Two contemporary social problems of interest are transitional housing needs for homeless mothers and domestic violence in the African American community. Fischer (2000) wrote homeless families face the economic and personal challenges of sparse employment opportunities, child care and nutrition needs, compounded by the loss of adequate housing. Those with the greatest risk of being unemployed and of becoming long term welfare dependent are teen mothers (Fischer, 2000). In addition, depression and the loss of self-confidence are direct results of being homeless. Homelessness destroys self-esteem and promotes hopelessness.

Homelessness has become a serious problem in today’s society. Despite the organizations that help multitudes of homeless people, homelessness is continually increasing. In recent years, America’s culture has been changing due to economic, political, and social issues. These issues have caused a lot of stress on America resulting in abject poverty in several cities. Poverty is not nationwide, but if dealt with lightly, the affects can be catastrophic. Homelessness is increasing more than ever, and research proves that changing culture contributes to rising amount of homelessness.

Homelessness among families with children in an increasing problem in the United States today (Martin, 2014). A single mother with two to three children is among the fastest growing homeless demographic (Bassuk, 2010). Research shows that root causes for homelessness among families with children include, a lack of affordable housing, unemployment, domestic violence and substance abuse. Furthermore, studies support that homelessness negatively affects families with children by resulting in shelter living, a decline in mental and physical health, a break down in the family structure and poor academic performance (National Coalition for the Homeless, 2009). Legislation implemented to address homelessness among families consisted of the Homeless Person’s Survival Act, the McKinney Vento Homeless Assistance Act(National Coalition for the Homeless, 2006), and the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001(U. S. Board of Education, 2004). Although, these programs were designed to improve the circumstances surrounding homelessness, more programs are still needed to combat this social problem. Human service professionals must continue to advocate for more policy changes and legislation that will positively impact and reduce the number of homeless families with children.