The Effect of Homelessness on the Youth of America

Under the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act, the fifty states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia received funding to investigate the number and the needs of homeless children, to identify obstacles that would prevent them from receiving an education and to develop a plan to overcome these problems (Pawlas, 1996). The McKinney Act also provides emergency food assistance, adult literacy instruction, job training, health services and other programs. Under this act, homeless children are ensured access to the same, free appropriate public education other children in the state receive.

Homelessness is a major problem in the United States. An incredibly vulnerable group is the homeless youth due to their young age and lack of education. According to Edidin, Ganim, Hunter, & Karnik (2012) on any particular night in the United States there are ~2 million homeless youth living on the streets, in shelters, or in other temporary accommodation. Youth become homeless for multiple reasons whether it be because they have aged out of foster care, ran from home, were kicked out of their home, or because they have become homeless along with their family members. Within the umbrella categorization of homeless youth there are high at risk subgroups, common misconceptions, and a serious concern of lack of support and medical services.

Being able to stay rent free and being provided home cooked meals will give them the opportunity to work and build their finance. The community could even give them jobs to work that way they can spend time with their families and work on themselves. By building the schools, the youth not only will have places to live and food to eat, but easy access to the classroom close to home. The Plos medicine editors states " But charities such as Crisis and Shelter are already warning that the risk of homelessness for many people is closer than we have previously assumed and now more than ever, homeless people can no longer be considered outside of society. Political will at the highest level is needed to put them back into the mainstream political and therefore health and social agenda." (Plos medicine, 5) Ignoring the fact that people need help is unebenfital for society because this allows ofr people who are homeless but have a lot of potiential to be left on the backburner and forgotten. There are many homeless youth roaming through the united states , and to deny them of the same support other finaicla youth receive, is to completely attempt to stop someones life before it even

The image of homelessness has changed since the Great Depression, when many homeless people were elderly and white. Today a growing number of women and families, including young children, are homeless because of insufficient housing and resources (Bassuk & Rosenberg, 1988). As the number of homeless people has continued to rise over the past decade, homelessness has become a central feature of life in America.

The National Alliance to End Homelessness, a non-profit organization that voices the issue of homelessness, enlightens, “On a single night in January 2014, 578,424 people were experiencing homelessness – meaning they were sleeping outside or in an emergency shelter or transitional housing program” (The State of Homelessness in America 2015). Staggering statistics similar this inspired Matt Lynch to write his article titled ‘The Homeless Lack a Political Voice, But Not American Ideals’ and it also motivated Anna Quindlen to express her emotions in ‘Homeless.’ Both articles posed by Lynch and Quindlen contain comparative flaws, which range from logical fallacies to the utilization of unfair information. Each writing, however, incorporates multiple pieces of significant information relative to the topic at hand, yet Lynch’s work manages to pull ahead with the addition of minor, yet important, details that Quindlen failed to propose.

The McKinney-Vento Act originally provided a range of services to homeless people, including emergency shelter, transitional housing, job training, primary health care, education, and some permanent housing. Since the passage of the original McKinney Act in 1987, the now McKinney-Vento Act programs have been expanded and funding throughout the years has significantly increased. However, due to the increased persistence of homelessness across the country, the McKinney-Vento programs have suffered recent setbacks. Support for the McKinney-Vento programs has significantly declined. Several McKinney-Vento programs saw their funding eliminated entirely. These programs included the Adult Education for the Homeless program, the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Project, the Emergency Community Services Homeless Grant Program, and the Family Support Centers (National Coalition for the Homeless, 2006). The McKinney-Vento Act has created valuable programs that have helped many Americans to regain stability, as homelessness shows no signs of abating, the programs created by the McKinney-Vento Act are needed now more than

Homeless families compose a fraction of the homeless population as they “represent roughly a third of the homeless population in the United States (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2010), and approximately 1.5 million children—1 in 50 youngsters—are homeless each year in the United States” (p. 389). These homeless families often struggle to find permanent residency as a collective unit. There are several types of housing situations available for homeless families such as temporary housing, transitional housing settings, and shelters, yet the housing situation for homeless families often causes stress for families as stability and a secure home is always in question. “The lack of stable, consistent housing is the central, defining characteristic of families experiencing homelessness, distinguishing them and their experience(s) from those with stable housing who experience other correlated conditions (e.g., poverty)” (Kilmer, Cook, Crusto, Strater, and Haber, 2012, p. 394). Homeless families often seek different types of housing usually by first reaching out to temporary shelters in emergency situations like domestic violence that often lead to homelessness, which provide services for children and families. There are many challenges families encounter in the process of seeking permanent housing.

The McKinney-Vento Act not only provides immediate shelter and food to the homeless, but it also guarantees a homeless child’s right to an education. McKinney-Vento assures that homeless students who struggle attending school have access to a proper education and gain other necessary services necessary (Katel). The McKinney-Vento Act recognizes the importance of an education by providing homeless students with basic educational rights, transportation and other basic school necessities. Although there are still major complications in educating homeless students, this act

The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (McKinney-Vento) covers many aspects of homelessness. The original Act contained 15 different programs for people who were homeless (United States Department of Housing and Urban Development [HUD], 2007). I will be focusing on Title VII-B of this act. This section of McKinney-Vento speaks to homeless children and their right to equal access to an appropriate public school education. This Act has been in existence since 1987. Due to school performance standards put in place by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, this specific section of the McKinney-Vento Act has been reauthorized to include new mandates (United States Department of Education [DE], 2004).

Throughout the United States, there are a large number of individuals that goes unnoticed. Hidden in right plain sight, but are overlooked. They can be our friends, family, classmates, or the person standing right next you to at this moment. There are young individuals who are facing the tremendous challenge of being homeless. They are overlooked by many in society. However, there have been countless individuals, groups, organizations dedicated to ending youth homelessness. However, they are confronted with challenges due to the lack of interest. The lack of interest found within society can contribute to barriers to ending youth homelessness.

It is difficult for children who are hungry, bullied and living in shelters to focus on the elements of school. (Weber & Lugg, 2008). The McKinney-Vento Act is a fine legislation to assist homeless students in school. I admire the fact that the Act allow students to attend the school of origin or the school of choice, in addition provide an array of services and program. I understand this Act provide referrals to other partnering agencies however, I would like to see the legislators of this Act advocate for more affordable housing for this population by pushing congress to fix the housing and employment crisis which dramatically affecting homeless children’s education. Hence, there are housing program and policies that causes families to separate where fathers cannot reside in the house while receiving housing assistance. The housing problem affects everyone at large, the unemployed, low income and fixed income individuals and families. Housing prices are very high and the employment wages are very low where housing is not affordable. Oftentimes, these group of people make a little over the guidelines and cannot afford to feed their families and pay for housing at the same time (Weber 2014). Henceforth, homeless and poverty cannot be eradicated until inequality, disparity and employment is fixed in this

In order for a community to be successful people should not up some individual freedom. 40% of homeless youth in America are LGBT because they have been kicked out of there homes for being LGBT because, their parents or parent doesn't want them because of their sexuality. Homeless LGBT give up the right to learn, eat, sleep comfortably and be loved when they are kicked out.

Walking through a major city or metropolitan area there are a countless number of people who are wearing old and ripped clothing, carrying bags or pushing grocery carts full of junk, looking like they have not bathed in weeks and most of them holding signs begging for change just so they can eat something that day. Over the past eight years the amount of homeless individuals has continuously decreased throughout the country. Homelessness in America is a serious problem, especially with higher rates in unemployment happening. Americans

The McKinney‐Vento Homeless Assistance Act, reauthorized in December 2001, ensures educational rights and protections for children and youth experiencing homelessness (CDE). Make sure that any students identified as homeless enroll in school, and receive the same opportunity to do well in school. Make sure that homeless families be provided with any services they are eligible for. Homeless Liaison assists students at Angela Davis College Prep.

Imagine a young child growing up, learning, and trying to further his or her life to obtain success in the future. For an “everyday” child this can be challenging, however “everyday” obstacles can be overcome. For thousands of children in the United States, this dream is almost impossible to achieve. These children are a part of the homeless population that is spread throughout the United States. Many times these individuals try to hide this major secret from the rest of the world, but homelessness is very prevalent among these youths today. Various problems occur in these peoples’ lives that others could not even begin to understand. Homelessness affects children in every stage of life physically, mentally, and emotionally.