Essay about Homeless Children In America

The primary causes of homelessness can be there are a lack of affordable housing and the limited scale of housing assistance programs. Other causes can be insufficient income when people are frequently unable to pay for housing, food, childcare, health care and education. This means that difficult choices must be made when limited resources cover only some of these necessities because of financial reasons. Some homeless people end up on the streets because they may be physical, psychological, sexual abuse, neglect or abandonment. A study done in 1992 found that 75 percent of street youth were victims of abuse and others were youths that left home when neither parent wanted custody of them after a divorce and some youth leave to escape parental restrictions that they consider to be too cruel. In 2000, an American study estimated that 20 percent of homeless youth had been in foster care before they moved to the streets and over 50 000 children run away from home.

Child welfare systems are designed to ensure the safety and well-being of children and families. The mission of this system is a noble one and can be very rewarding and beneficial for all involved.  Ironically, that same system that is designed to help families in times of crisis can be, harsh and challenging to families and social workers.

Many people still think of homeless transients as alcoholics and/or mentally disabled. The truth is, the current homeless population consists of runaway adolescents, single adult males or females, battered women and over one million homeless families with children – typically headed by a female parent.

Watts Labor Community Action Committee (WLCAC) provides services to 3,600 unduplicated homeless clients each year, working to move clients from having no secure residence to residing in a stable facility. The Homeless Access Center and Shelter Plus Care programs under WLCAC assist homeless individuals and their families by providing supportive and educational services, case management, family counseling, drug counseling, mental health services, and temporary shelter, transitional housing, and long-term Section 8 housing. These programs enable hundreds of families each year to move from homelessness and poverty to stability and economic self-sufficiency. Also, the professionals providing services at WLCAC are Licensed Clinical Social Workers, MSW interns, outreach coordinators, case managers and administrative support. With collaboration of the Los Angeles Housing Authority (LAHSA) and United Way they are able to fund the permanent supportive housing. The Los Angeles Homeless Service Authority (LASA) funds the Access Center; the Department of Mental Health (DMH) funds the temporary housing program; and WLCAC also collaborates with HOPICS, for the homeless outreach program.

In 1998, the U.S Conference of Mayors’ survey of homelessness in 30 cities found that children under the age of 18 accounted for 25% of the urban homeless population. A 1987 Urban Institute study found that 51% of the homeless populations were between the ages of 31 and 50; other studies have found percentages of homeless persons aged 55 to 60 ranging from 2.5% to 19.4%. (National Coalition for the Homeless factsheet)

There are many Catholic organisations dedicated to helping the homeless one of which is St Vincent’s de Paul. This organisation provides young people and adults with a safe place to seek help and move off the streets. Night Patrol is another service that they provide which you may or may not have heard of, St Patrick’s also sends volunteers to this service to assist with the distribution of meals, hot beverages, snacks, toiletries and just simply some companionship. Last year St Vinnies Night Patrol prepared and distributed 84,000 light meals to the

On another note, Candace Crook explains, “Although homeless children may become perpetrators of criminal activity, they may also, unfortunately, become the victims of criminal activity; this outcome results from the homeless children being forced to spend great lengths of time in public spaces” (367). Homeless children also tend to repeatedly fall victim of physical, sexual, and psychological abuse. Whether homeless children are the perpetuator or the victim, there is a direct correlation between a drop in homelessness and a drop in the crime rate.

This agency that you describe appears to provide services that reflect their chosen name.  Homelessness in women with children, as you have mentioned make up one of the most vulnerable populations in this country; additionally, they are predisposed to many unfavorable events, such as inadequate health, injuries, drug addiction, and mental issues (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2016).  Agencies like the one you describe, help lessen the effects of homelessness; additionally, providing a sense hope, unity, and pathway to

Contrary to belief shelters are not a walk in and receive housing type of deal, but rather there is a process of calling the shelter and being put on a waiting list which often times take much longer than what the caller was hoping for. With this in place and the fact that shelters are allowed to turn away homeless people, most teens are rejected housing and sent elsewhere. Pat LaMarche says in her article “ when a family presents itself to a homeless shelter and a teenager is present, the shelter agrees to take the mom and younger kids if the teenaged children . . . leave them and go elsewhere,” (LaMarche, 1). So even when the whole family is homeless the teenager is still turned away and must go off on their own. Another subject that often times causes young people to become homeless is emancipation. When a teenager who lives within foster care turns 18 they are freed to face the world by themselves. It’s more like they are kicked out. In many instances the newlyfound adult won’t have anyplace to go to or end up moving into a bad housing situation only to find themselves without shelter shortly after. California’s own Department of Social Services concluded, “65 percent of emancipating youth lack safe and affordable housing at

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.

He finds a grate to rest on for the night with the hopes that the heat emitted from it will save him from the unforgiving winter air. Just a few years prior, this boy lived with assurance and yet now, his future seems unclear. Nobody ever pictures themselves homeless, but one is merely a tragedy away from being thrown into the streets. On any given night in America, there are up to five and a half hundred thousand people without shelter. In a given year in America upwards of three and half million people experience homelessness, a million of them being children (citation needed). The majority of homeless people are families with children thrust into this situation due to a series of unfortunate and unforeseen events including loss of loved ones, job loss, domestic violence, divorce and family disputes and other issues such as depression, untreated mental illness, post traumatic stress disorder, and physical disabilities (citation needed). The practice of denying individuals of a home, a basic requirement of life, is inherently cruel as shelter must be recognized as a fundamental human

Homeless children experience physical and emotional health issues due to social stress, poor development, food insecurities, parental separation, school mobility, mistreatment, and violence. These children face a multitude of challenges and trauma that put them at risk for developmental delays and mental health issues. Darbeda, Falissard, Orria, Barry, Melchior, Chauvin, and Vandentorren, (2018) stated that higher levels of developmental delays are found in homeless children than those in the general population, which makes learning more

Approximately 1.7 million young people call the streets home every year, children under the age of 18 account for 39% of the homeless population and every year, approximately 5,000 homeless young people will die due to assault, illness, or suicide while trying to survive (Safe Horizon, 2015). Some of these children have families with them, but many do not. Children are vulnerable, but adding homelessness increases risk factors and violence, decreases safety and nearly eliminates advocacy for their health and well-being. Nurses can be excellent community change advocates for homeless youth by seeking them out, making sure they have appropriate clothing, food and water and by assessing their needs and helping them to receive health care.

This case study is based on an Nicholas E. Davies award of excellence the(NYCHP) New York Children's Health Project , a program of The Children's Hospital at Montefiore, provides homeless children and families across New York City with access to mobile medical and dental teams as well as primary care clinics in city shelters and at its hub site that is located at the Bronx in New York City they have a total of 13 sites and they have an roughly annual count of patients 12,000 or better that attend that clinic on a yearly basis. They have services for Women's Health, Adult Medicine, Pediatrics, Mental Health, Radiology, Pharmacy, and for emergency visits they also have the urgent care those services are provided through referrals or partners there is also other services that the homeless families can provide and benefit from and also the staff is very helpful with the patients that come on broad it also brings all inclusive , high-quality primary health care aid to homeless, medically underserved and harshly disadvantaged children and families, providing them with a complete medical home on a once or a twice a week schedule. Over the decades the homeless family has increase in a highly rate on a detracting level at that time NYCHP has become one of the largest providers that has been desperately helping out with the needs of the homeless families that were residing in shelters. The

Homelessness is an issue every country has to deal with. Its a large problem, that many people believe has no solution, because there is so many variables that lead to a person being homeless. Although, homelessness of all ages is extremely important and there should be steps to solve and help this issue, the first step is helping homeless children. By helping homeless children we would reduce the amount of homeless adults in the future. Homelessness has many definitions and in terms of children it's even harder to define. Many countries have different and varying definitions for the term homeless. The Convention on the Rights of the Child, also known as CRC, is a set of the civil, social, political, and cultural rights of children. The UN (United Nations) general assembly permitted this convention for signatures on November 20th in 1989 and was officially ratified September 1990. Article 27 of the CRC states that, “States parties recognize the right of every child to a standard of living adequate for the child's physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development.” which means that if one, or all, of the things listed are lacking that child technically could be considered homeless and uncared for. Street children is a commonly used phrase because it encompassas all homeless children, Inter-NGO program defines a street child as “any girl or boy who has not reached adulthood, for whom the street (in the widest sense of the word, including unoccupied dwellings,