Homelesslessness And Homelessness

Homelessness has been a problem in Hawaii, and especially Oahu, for more than two decades. The homeless have overrun the islands but it is no surprise as the circum- stances allow for it. Multiple factors contribute to the ongoing dilemma including the high cost of living, Hawaii being an island state, and the expensive housing. The prob- lems that cause homelessness are not going to go away by themselves. Although the problem is not increasing, the numbers show that it isn’t decreasing and shouldn’t be unless the state and community acts.

Why did you select this theory? There is a great overwhelming need in the United States of America as well as globally dealing with the homeless population (children, women, men, and families) is massive and getting worse all the time.

At some point in one’s life, a person has seen or heard of an individual who lives on the streets. An individual who lives on the streets and holds a sign that says they need money for food is considered homeless. Sadly, these individuals are everywhere and the amount of people currently homeless in the United States is 564,708 according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness. However, in this nation, everyone has the ability to decrease this massive number. Necessary assistance from agencies, local funding, churches, and volunteers will place these homeless individuals in permanent housing. With this assistance, the number of homeless individuals will begin to decrease.

The Coalition of Evidence-Based Practice has conducted research to test the effectiveness implemented interventions in various settings. Homelessness has been observed as a result of mentally ill clients being discharged from institutional settings (e.g. hospitals, prisons, and more). Although studies continue to change it has been found that Americans homeless rate in 2008 for individuals was around 740,000 (Fazel, Kohsla, Doll, and Geddes, 2008). This paper will explore the outcomes of this evidence based research and whether the intervention implemented proved to be effective or ineffective.

Imagine a world where it is illegal to sit down. Could you survive if there were no place you were allowed to fall asleep, to store your belongings, or to stand still? For most of us, these scenarios seem unrealistic to the point of being ludicrous. But, for homeless people across America, these circumstances are an ordinary part of life. (National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty 7)

Homelessness exists as a prominent issue that plagues society in various ways. It brings about hardship and controversy as individuals struggle to survive on a daily basis. Additionally, this complication tears families apart and ostracizes individuals from a society where they once belonged. A specific problem regarding homelessness consists of lack of interest from bystanders; some of these spectators refuse to even acknowledge homeless individuals sitting at their feet. As homeless people live their lives on street-corners, the more fortunate members of society choose to engulf themselves in their personal problems alone. Displayed by their clothing and accessories, most of these individuals possess the ability to help in some way;

Everywhere you turn in the United States people are sitting on the corners of streets asking for assistance or digging in trash cans for meals. The epidemic of homelessness in the United States has reached an all-time high since the 1990’s. Unfortunately, the adage of people chose to be homeless was not accounting for families that live paycheck to paycheck and lose their job and therefore their housing because it is unavoidable. Alternatively, many individuals that are homeless have some type of mental illness or substance abuse problem thus creating a barrier to maintaining housing. Many of these individuals are incapable to preserve stable employment and have limited support to get off the streets. However, there are several programs that the federal government fund to assist with combating the problem of homelessness in America.

The information that is presented within the article contains a lot of truth about how and why homelessness came to be, and how and why is has became so persistent over the years. For example, Hulchanski calls “homelessness” a “catch-all term for a host of serious social and economic policy failures… and reflects what has happened to Canadian society - the way we organize who gets what, and our failure to have in place systems for meeting basic human needs in a universal, inclusive fashion… also reflects the institutionalization of a problem resulting now in a huge social service, health, mental health, and research sector focused on homeless or dehoused people”. Hulchanski has shift the individual blame of persons who has experiences homelessness

When we were first introduced to this assignment, I was both excited and nervous. I was excited because it gave me the opportunity to step of my comfort zone. I was also excited to be able to get out into the community and practice some of the social work skills that we have learned in class. I was nervous because I knew it would be hard to hear the struggles of a single-parent experiencing homelessness. As someone who was raised by a single-parent, I also know how easy it can be to fall into homelessness. Overall, I think I was more excited about doing this assignment because I truly did want to hear the stories that single-parents experiencing homelessness wanted to tell.

I think people are homeless because, homelessness and poverty are linked. Poor people are sometimes unable to pay for housing, food, childcare, health care, and education. At times some difficult choices must be made when limited resources cover only some of these necessities. Paying rent takes up a lot of ones paycheck so would be the first to go if money was tight. Two factors help account for increasing poverty: employment and the declining value and availability of public assistance. A lack of affordable housing and the limited housing assistance programs have contributed to the current housing crisis and to homelessness. But what all of this comes down to homelessness is defined as: The condition of a person or persons living without a regular dwelling...

According to a disturbing new Government Accountability Office study released at the hearing (Unemployed Older Workers: Many Face Long-Term Joblessness and Reduced Retirement Security), the number of long-term unemployed people age 55 and older has more than doubled since the recession began. More than a third of unemployed older workers have been out of work for more than a year, and 55 percent (1.1 million) have been unempoyed for more than six months, up from 23 percent in 2007.

Throughout history there has always been a considerable amount of the population that may have lived in not so ideal conditions. Some of the first written accounts of homelessness are seen from as far back as the middle ages. One would think that during this time there would not be people who don’t have food or shelter. Unfortunately in today society there are many who don’t have a decent place to sleep every night. Homelessness can be so uncommon to the conditions that a lot of people can relate to. If we are not careful we can even become repulsed by the issues this population can create for our communities. It’s important however, to stop and think about how these people became homeless in the first place.

Homelessness is one of the tragedies that one can face unexpectedly or where one can choose to be as well as being homeless by taking your own risk, which can be positive or negative, intentionally or not intentionally such as family breakdown or leaving a house where you could have been able to live there. Many people are sleeping rough while others are also finding it difficult to secure housing due to the regulations that govern the whole issues on homelessness legislation that is, being entitled for or not entitle for what you will be expecting. Some multi agency workers working under homeless people can also be an advantage of helping homeless people to settle yet there are some people that still needs help to settle down through

According to suitcaseclinic.org, homelessness is a temporary condition that people fall into when they cannot afford to pay for a place to live, or when their current home has been declared unsafe or even unstable. According to Habitat.org, this issue affects between 1.6 million to close to 3 million people within the United States ("World Habitat”). The issue is growing throughout the world, yet what is the root cause? Numerous people wonder how they can help. Most tend to believe that the solution is as simple as just giving them money to use for daily living. Even though their root cause for their issue isn’t money. It is the fact that they don’t grasp how to use their money properly/ responsibly. The homeless can’t be helped with just cash, they need the proper support systems along with education to become successful.

Many reasons for worsening situation of homelessness in the country have been reported but none has gathered as much support as poverty. Poverty alone accounts for major increase in homeless households while other possible reasons include loss of job, eroding job opportunities, lack of public assistance and lack of affordable housing facilities. Despite these being powerful reasons, they are all linked to one major reason i.e. poverty.