Homeless. Who are they? Adults, males, minority groups, elderly, and the disabled are the most reported and common people to be homeless. Nearly 78 percent of all sheltered homeless persons are adults. Nearly, 62 percent are males and/or a minority group. No matter what the characteristics, any person can be homeless. Homelessness is becoming less of an issue in the United States and has decreased 2.3 percent in general, but still has a tight grip on the United States. To keep decreasing homelessness and improve the living situation of current homeless people, larger shelters for families can be built, local business can provide jobs to help get the homeless on their feet, volunteers and donations can be used to provide essential materials …show more content…
You lose control of the smallest things, such as where you will sleep. Reports have concluded that the majority of people with family or children on the streets with them, state not having control and the power to determine whether their child will have a warm/dry place to sleep and food in their bellies, as one of the hardest parts of being homeless. Adults with children who have gone the route of a system called PATH, the city’s homeless families intake center, the persons have to be “eligible” for the shelter. “And they keep telling you, ‘You’re not eligible, you’re not eligible, there’s nothing you can do,” he says. “I have a disabled child, how are you gonna deny shelter? It kind of breaks you down … because it’s like they want to break you down so you give up and not push to be housed if you’re homeless, even though you have no choice but to push” (Ganeva, 2015). Knowing that some shelters do not allow any person that is homeless to occupy the shelter unless eligible, is outrageous, especially when you have a child(ren). However, most shelters have a maximum capacity limit, so families are more so not
Accessibility to affordable housing for the homeless in an issue that not only influences the impoverished, but people of all races. The insufficiency of stable housing forces individuals who are facing extreme poverty, at times, to make choices that are out of their control. The loss of employment and distressful events that have occurred in their lives can eventually lead to a person or a family becoming 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.
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).
First and foremost, how do we defined a homeless person? According to National Health Care for the Homeless Council, homeless is defined as “an individual who lacks housing, including an individual whose primary residence during the night is a supervised public or private facility that provides temporary living accommodations, and an individual who is a resident in a transitional housing” (“definition of homelessness,” n.d.). It is important to recognize that homelessness is worldwide and social problem because it is directly affected by large social forces that affects individual’s social life. In a research made by Coalition for the homeless says that in December 2015, there were 60,096 homeless people in New York city, including 14,553 homeless families with 23, 885 homeless children. Moreover, this becomes a social problem, due in large part to structural inequality and it affects a wide variety of people that can range from those people experiencing eviction, unemployment, family relationship breakdown, domestic violence, health crises, poverty, mental illness and substance abuse. These reasons can be the precipitating factor in the onset of homelessness.
Therefore, 30% of the homeless people in shelters were children (Hud, 2014). Homelessness is defined in section 3330(h)(5)(A) as a person who is without housing, including those whose primary residence during the night is a supervised public or private facility (e.g., shelters) that provides temporary living accommodations or a resident in a transitional housing, abandoned buildings, vehicle or any unstable non-permanent situations
Majority of American families are a paycheck, illness or car breakdown away from homelessness. One of the fastest growing segments of the homeless population is families with children. A survey conducted in 25 cities in the U.S found that 36% of the homeless population was composed of families with children, (Millennial Housing Commission. Meeting Our Nation's Housing Challenges, 2002). Homeless children have demonstrated serious developmental and learning delays, and are more likely to drop out of school compared to children with stable living conditions. Single Homeless adults are mostly men between the ages of 31 and 50 years of age. Approximately half of the single adult homeless have use or a have a history of substance abuse. About a third of this population has serious or ongoing illnesses. Another segment of the homeless population are thruway or runway youth. One study showed that approximately one and a half million youth in America were homes at least one night in the course of a year, (U.S. Conference of Mayors. Status Report on Hunger and Homelessness, 2001). Homelessness is a result of complex circumstances in which people are made to choose from the basic human
Homeless in America is the most shameful problem that we try to ignore.Such as Arnold Abbot, a 90 year old man who went around making good for the homeless; and the couple Brenda Knokrl and her boyfriend Robert Bloch letting homeless people sleep on their porch. Getting fined for their effort to help. Homelessness continues to be a major issue in our country because we as people look down upon them and do not treat them as equals, we assume that they are in situations based on the addiction and dependency of drugs and alcohol. Not all homeless people are drug addicts or alcoholics, most of these homeless people are young adults with children and most people don't understand that homelessness goes
Homeless people in Allegheny County, PA are a vulnerable population that needs addressed. Homeless populations consist of individuals, families and veterans who struggle with obtaining the basic needs of life, that many take for granted. A shortage of affordable housing, not enough income to meet basic needs and inefficient support services all contribute to homelessness in the communities (In Nies & In McEwen, 2015, p. 433). Services, help, and resources are available in this county, but getting this vulnerable subset of the population to seek this help, are difficult.
Homelessness in the United States is an area of concern for providers, government officials, policy professionals, and society at large. An estimated 1.6 million unduplicated persons use transitional housing or emergency shelters every year. Of these people, approximately 1/3 are members of households with children, a nine percent increase since 2007. A study done by the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty stated that approximately 3.5 million people, 1.35 million of them children, are likely to experience homelessness in a given year (National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, 2007). With 2007 as a benchmark, the data from the report showed a 6.8 percent decline in homelessness among individuals, a 3.7 percent decline of homeless families, a
“On any given night, there are approximately 643,067 people experiencing homelessness in America.” Homelessness in america is becoming a severe crisis a crisis we need to find solutions to. There are not many sound solutions to homelessness unless the government wants to spend millions of taxpayer dollars. Some of the solutions to homelessness can be government housing for the homeless, increasing employment and Income, and creating a crisis response plan.
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
Topics for a final paper: I know other students are thinking the same thing, what am I going to write about to cover that many pages? Where am I going to find the information to support the subject? Will people be interested in the subject? The last question is what I am asking you, my fellow students.
Additionally, the state of California has 20% of the national homeless population which is 115,738; and nationally the United States of America has a homeless population of over half of a million at 564,708. Eighty-three thousand, one hundred-seventy is considered chronically homeless. A person is considered chronically homeless if they are homeless for a year or longer. Unfortunately, concerns for the homeless are being addressed by people who are in the position of privilege. The privileged white male makes an attempt to address many of the social problems that plague the United States, without having the cultural competence to understand how race, gender, and intersections between minorities who cross multiple levels of minority groups, affect social problems such as homelessness. As a result, minorities (people of color), women, elderly, members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer population, overwhelming are overrepresented in the number of people that are
Homelessness is a continuing growing problem, with more and more not just adults but children forced to live on the streets. Homeless people are humans just like us. Being homeless, you
As many as 3.5 million Americans are considered homeless each year. Often, people believe that homelessness is a complication only caused by the poor choices of a single person when they are typically the result of multiple uncontrollable factors. For some, the line between being homeless and not can be very thin, with several obstacles preventing stability. These individuals and families commonly come from more deprived areas. Those who are homeless can be very different to each other in how and why they came to be in their situation, but they all have in common their desire to find a way back to a normal and healthy lifestyle. Homelessness is an issue created by poor physical and mental health, a lack of money, and relationship complications.