High School Should Be The Time Of Your Life

The lack of mental health services available to the mentally-ill and the deinstitutionalization of mental health hospitals have created a public health concern. These issues along with a failed continuum of care plans and a lack of community mental health services have been major contributing factors to homelessness. In addition, the strict guidelines for psychiatric hospitalization are critical when analyzing homelessness. In many cases, only the critically ill are meeting clinical criteria for hospitalization, leaving those who have significant mental health problems to fend for themselves. The link between homelessness and mental health is acknowledged but requires reform.

A housing policy can be thought of as the efforts put in by a given government to transform a housing market(s) for the purposes of achieving social objectives. In most cases, a housing policy is meant to ensure that the general population has access to a home that is affordable. For instance, the British Conservative/Liberal Democratic coalition’s housing policy is aimed at increasing the number of affordable housing units; fostering homeownership; making social housing flexible; tackling homelessness (especially for the

The homeless are a vulnerable population. They are defined by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as “an individual who lacks housing (without regard to whether the individual is a member of a family), including an individual whose primary residence during the night is a supervised public or private facility (e.g., shelters) that provides temporary living accommodations, and an individual who is a resident in transitional housing.” (The National Health Care for the Homeless Council, 2016). They are a social group throughout the US who are susceptible to all of the life’s cruelties. They are much more at risk for adverse illnesses due to their lack of available resources and medical help. Many have predetermined illnesses which need daily treatment but cannot acquire the medication needed. The homeless population lacks the funding for life’s necessities, thus the luxury of insurance and medicine is a dream.

According to the U.S. Conference of Mayors, only 16% of the single adult homeless population suffer from some form of mental illness and according to the National Coalition to the Homeless, The increasingness of homelessness over that past two decades can not be explained by addiction alone

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

The most recent survey of homeless individuals conducted January 29, 2014 revealed 958 homeless adults with no dependants, 70 of which were completely unsheltered, and an additional 130 homeless adults who also had dependent children with them. 208 of these homeless adults are chronically homeless (HUD’s 2014 Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance Programs, Populations, and Subpopulations, 2014).Wayside Christian Mission reaches approximately 7,000 homeless individuals annually (Wayside Christian Mission, 2007). In the Journal of General Internal Medicine, a majority of homeless individuals surveyed stated that they felt discriminated against or that they received lesser care because of their poverty or homelessness (Wen, Hudak, & Hwang, 2007). Homeless and impoverished individuals suffer from high rates of depression, psychiatric illness, alcohol and or substance abuse, HIV/AIDS, TB, Trauma, preterm birth, COPD, low birth weight, musculoskeletal problems, decreased access to care, foot problems, malnutrition, and high Emergency Room utilization (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2014). Not only do homeless persons have a high rate of illness, but they are also less able to appropriately treat health problems. Many homeless individuals have limited access to care, cannot afford medications or nutritious food, and may have difficulty with managing a strict

According to the American Journal of Public Health (AJPH), disease was prevalent in the newly homeless. This population accessed health care services at high rates in the year before becoming homeless. Significant improvements in health status were seen over the study period as well as a significant increase in the number who were insured (American Journal of Public Health, 2012). The homeless in Overtown face a variety of risks and barriers to their health. Firstly, a good number of the population suffers from mental illness, they suffer from a range of mental health problems from depression, personality disorders, schizophrenia and many more. Most are unable to treat their mental

The problems of homelessness and mental illness are inextricably intertwined. One way that mental illness impacts people's lives is that it oftentimes renders them unable to carry out the functions of daily life, such as keeping a job, paying their bills, and managing a household. In addition to disrupting the events of daily life, mental illness "may also prevent people from forming and maintaining stable relationships or cause people to misinterpret others' guidance and react irrationally" (National Coalition for the Homeless, 2009). What this means is that a population that is already vulnerable because of an inability to consistently manage self-care lacks the same safety net as much of the rest of society.

Critical time intervention (CTI) was designed to be bridge that filled the gap between institutionalization and transition into the community. The hope of CTI is to prevent homelessness among individuals suffering from mental illness as well as develop a step- by- step initiative that could combat the growing problem (Critical Time Intervention, 2012). Buchanan (2006) estimates that 3.5 million individuals are likely to experience homelessness in a given year (Sadowski, 2009). The epidemiology of homelessness suggest that serious mental illness is neither a necessity nor sufficient enough for homelessness. It suggests; however, that individuals suffering from socioeconomically difficulties could inevitably accompany serious mental illnesses to form the abundance of homeless individuals, considering the majority of homelessness is attributed to mental illness cases (Montgomery, 2013). The purpose of this EBP is to integrate critical time intervention with programs simulated by Medicaid and already established initiatives of the Affordable Care Act of 2014.

Although surveys have been conducted defending that mental illness does cause homelessness. There are several arguments that personal disabilities such as mental illness, alcoholism, drug abuse and physical or mental handicaps are not the primary causes of homelessness. While these conditions make people more vulnerable to

In our communication they made clear that they also looked at themes that did not match, such a voluntary leaving of the home. However, no member took into consideration metal health. All members also focused on the cause and problems of homelessness with no member viewing the possible solutions to it. An article by Bassuk, E., Rubin, L., & Lauriat, A. (1984). “Is homelessness a mental health problem?”  Looked at Seventy-eight homeless men, women, and children staying at an emergency shelters and found The vast majority have severe psychological illnesses that remained untreated. The authors discuss the relationship of mental health policy to the homeless and suggest that shelters have become alternative institutions to meet the needs of mentally ill people who are no longer cared for by departments of mental health. The findings of the management of metal issues for those who are homeless is mirrored by the case studies of Stephanie’s and Teresa’s mental health playing a large role in their homelessness. Fischer, P. J., & Breakey, W. R. (1991) in their “The epidemiology of alcohol, drug, and mental disorders among homeless persons” look into the prevalence of alcohol, drug, and mental disorders and the characteristics of homeless substance abusers and persons with mental illnesses. They found that prevalence rates of disorders are much higher in homeless

Understanding how both individual and structural factors contribute to and sustain homelessness is a critical factor in successfully addressing homelessness. All to often service providers blame homeless individuals for the circumstances they are in, making assumptions that substance abuse or other irresponsible behaviors have caused the problems leading to the individual to become homeless. Hoffman and Coffey (2008) suggest, “the perpetuation of homelessness is not internal to the homeless individual as many claim, but rather may be embedded in the service industry itself, which subjects both clients and providers to bureaucratic forms of authority and experiences of disrespect.” While not all homeless people suffer from mental illness or substance abuse, all of

In the past decade, homelessness has become one of the most prevalent issues in society. Homelessness does not discriminate; it affects people and families of all races, gender and religious backgrounds. The number of homeless individuals and families has skyrocketed to epic proportions; not even during the Great Depression were the numbers this large. ("Basic Facts About Homelessness: New York City - Coalition For The Homeless," n.d.). According to Martin (2018), several factors that can contribute to homelessness are unemployment or inadequate employment, substance abuse/use and mental illness (p. 207). Being a New York City resident who takes public transportation, I encounter people affected by homelessness on a daily basis.

Clearly, not everyone winds up on the streets because of job layoffs. Mental illness has forced many people to the streets. We are reminded of this fact in subtle ways. While watching a movie Saturday afternoon on T.V., I learned that statistics estimate that two-thirds of homeless men and one-third of homeless women suffer from mental illness. Advocates for the rights of the mentally ill have helped develop new laws to protect the mentally ill from being without shelter, but lack of government funds are the real factors. The mentally ill, both young and old, are being discharged from hospitals and institutions with no homes to go to and with very little follow-up resources available. Since some of these patients are unable to remember medication, they are incapable of holding down jobs. They, too, move to Mary's neighborhood.

I will never understand when someone says they miss high school, or when adults tell you that high school is the best time of your life. My five years in high school were the worst years of my life. The only good thing I can remember about high school is meeting my best friend. However, that only happened in my fourth year, so I was basically a loner for more than half of high school. Fun.