Investigation On Homelessness

Homeless people are one of the major problems with america today, it is a very big problem that needs to be dealt with.

Homelessness is all our responsibility. Waking every morning in a warm bed in a secure house for some Australians is only a dream. Every day more and more people are becoming or are at risk of becoming homeless as the global economy crumbles away and monetary resources become harder to find. What is homelessness: the Australian Government Department of Health (2005) defines homelessness as a person who is without a conventional home. Homeless Australians have become disconnected from family and friend and has few, if any resource and very little prospect of achieving financial independence without Government assistant. This assessment will talk about Australia’s history with homelessness, it will go onto to talk about the Government’s role

For a start, as my social and human capital assignment, I will be focusing on homelessness and the associations it entails. Through exploratory research, via peer reviewed journal articles and one in-person interview, I have collected data to see what social disparities and/or oppression the homeless population face from day-to-day. Furthermore, I had the pleasure of conducting my interview with a 62-year-old chronically homeless male originally from Nigeria. The location of the interview took place at a homeless shelter in Dallas, TX. Through the duration of this assignment, my participating interviewee will be identified as Bingo for confidentiality purposes. Equally important, as the interviewer – I was sensitive to the participant’s responses

My capstone project is on homelessness and preventative methods. Research on the various factors that are associated with homelessness and how to best reduce or end the homeless situation. Research shows that there are many suggestions on methods to reduce homelessness (the Homeless First Program) which have proven to reduce the numbers in various states across America (Tsemberis, Gulcur & Nakae, 2004). The homelessness problems are multifaceted with overlapping of other factors such as mental illness and risks, which include substance abuse, health disparities, and victimization, all of which have a role in the homelessness (Canton, Dominguez, Schanzer, Hasin, Shrout, Felix, McQuistion, Opler & Hsu, 2005).

For a start, as my social and human capital assignment, I will be focusing on homelessness and the associations it entails. Through exploratory research, via peer reviewed journal articles and one in-person interview, I have collected data to see what social disparities and/or oppression the homeless population face from day-to-day. Furthermore, I had the pleasure of conducting my interview with a 62 year old chronically homeless male originally from Nigeria. The location of the interview took place at a homeless shelter in Dallas, TX. Through the duration of this assignment, my participating interviewee will be identified as Bingo for confidentiality purposes. Equally important, as the interviewer – I was sensitive to the participant’s responses

The word “homeless” is used to describe many different kinds of people with a variety of problems; the “homeless” includes veterans, the mentally ill, the physically disabled or chronically ill, the elderly on fixed incomes, men, women, and families that have lost their source of income, single parents, runaway children who’ve been abused, alcoholics and drug addicts, immigrants, and traditional tramps, hobos, and transients (Martin, 1999). In “Helping and Hating the Homeless”, Peter Martin claims that although these people all have different backgrounds, histories, and reasons for not having a “home”, they are categorized and stereotyped by society and all looked down upon for being “homeless”. He addresses his readers, those that pass by

It is also known that young people who experience homelessness whether it be “couch surfing” or sleeping rough on the streets become marginalised and there is a perception by the community that the problem is too complex. The cost to the Australian community is actually quite large in terms of health and community

Homelessness experiences serious violation against human rights, essentially where sustainable and conventional shelter cannot be maintained. From early on, it has influenced the spiritual, legal and economic aspects of Australia, forever changing the culture of our history. As a consequential issue, homelessness has not been minimised, currently affecting our modern society, especially influencing our younger generations.

There is no real definition for homelessness but a common definition in Melbourne is a person who doesn't have suitable accommodation which they can live in and turn to leaving areas that includes streets and other makeshift dwellings which are temporary. They keep moving so that they won't get reported or and receive more help from different areas and people.Elizabeth Street has become a hot spot for homeless people, attracting people who have large amount of gear for sleeping outside like mattresses, desks, milk crates and trolleys. Robert Kramer who is 68 years old has being sleeping in Enterprise Park.He said that he had nowhere to go."Work's gone, there's not enough places, some of us can't work, so we come here."The major number one cause of of homelessness is domestic violence.Other factors that are involved are structural factors,system failures and individual circumstances.

Gender inequality, police brutality and transgender rights are just a few societal issues impacting the way our society functions today. However, the social issue I have chosen is homelessness, specifically the causes and effects of homelessness in America because of recent observations. Since moving to Akron, I have noticed that the amount of homeless individuals seems more present in urban areas. Considering this new observation, I began to wonder how people become homeless and how this affects not only Akron, but our society in general. Although the rates of homelessness are moderately decreasing, homelessness is a public issue because it influences our economy and public health. The stigma around mental illness plays a huge part in the rates of homelessness. According to the National Coalition for the Homeless, about a quarter of the homeless population

“Homelessness is about people rather than merely shelter and is often exacerbated by a number of other issues including poor physical and emotional health, disability, drug and alcohol issues, and financial problems.” When you see people sleeping and begging on the streets, you think that’s all there is but in fact they only make up 5% of all the homeless people in Australia. Homelessness has become an increasing problem throughout Australia. I contend that the City of Melbourne’s response to homelessness should be enforced into the rest of the country as it is thoroughly thought through and brought results to the place of Melbourne. I will argue this through explaining the approach from the City of Melbourne, the factors leading to homelessness, the diversity of this and share a life story with you all about a woman named Deb.

Through my past experience with this problem, I was interested to learn more information about the issues surrounding homelessness. Recently, I volunteered at the Vinnies Fitzroy Soup Van and was completely shocked seeing how people can live in situations where food may not be an option that week. Being able to voluntarily help a person suffering was such an amazing and heart-warming feeling. After many visits, I was fortunate enough to hear a story from a young woman named Louise. She had discussed that she ran away from her home after her father had repeatedly assaulted her, which concluded to her being homeless. To hear this personal story it made me realise the many upsetting factors that contribute to people being forced to become homeless.

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.

The purpose of this study is to identify areas where the use of data, algorithms, and comprehensive need assessments could reduce costs while increasing access to services by those in need. This research has the potential to reduce duplication of processes involved in administration and services to more efficiently prevent or resolve homelessness. I have reviewed recent literature identifying many structural barriers to services faced by homeless individuals. Each of the research papers I reviewed identified areas where lack of communication between agencies, unclear criteria or unstated criteria, and poor communication with clients increased difficulty in obtaining services for eligible clients.

To begin with, it is important to start with the fact that more than half a million people in the United States are homeless and forced to live on the streets and either sleep in an unsheltered location, or at a housing project (emergency shelters, short-term transitional housing, or safe havens). Moreover, according to a Social Solutions’ article (2016), 15% of the homeless population are individuals who have experienced homelessness for a period longer than a year (chronic homelessness). It is because of those facts about homelessness that I had decided to volunteer at a faith-based temporary overnight shelter and subsequently record my experiences and what I observed during my visit.