The Homeless Youth: The Cycle Of Homelessness

Our text illustrates that there are various populations within the homeless community. These people are homeless for different reasons, whether its voluntary or involuntarily. Runaways and Victims of

In the United States the homeless population continues to grow rapidly. Homelessness has been a public health issue for many decades. Often times these individuals feel as though society has turned a blind eye to them. This at risk population is seen by society as lazy or chose to live a life on the streets, but if one would examine this population closely would see that there is more to this at risk population than what society has labeled them as. The forces, which affect homelessness, are multifaceted. Social forces such as family breakdown, addictions, and mental illnesses are in combined with structural forces such as lack of low-cost housing, insufficient health services, and poor economic conditions. Many would

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.

Youth Homeless is a significant social issue that impacts a multitude of youth from all over the United States. There is a multitude of factors that can contribute to youth homelessness. Fortunately, the Covenant House in Michigan is committed to servicing homeless youth in Detroit. One of the core values of the agency, is immediacy therefore, the agency offers necessities such as shelter, safety, food and clothing rapidly to those in need. The Covenant House will not turn anyone away if they fall into the age range of 18-24 years old.

Homeless youth face an abundance of challenges, especially if they are on their own, such as finding food, shelter, income, and potential medical expenses. Some youth experience additional hardship by facing the effects of abuse they endured at their previous place of residence. According to the National Conference of State Legislators (2013) 46 percent of runaway and homeless youth reported physical abuse, 38 percent reported emotional abuse, and 17 percent reported being forced into unwanted sexual activity by a family or household member. Therefore, the chances of emotional vulnerability are high.

There are millions of homeless youth in America. On any given night, you can find these children ducking into abandoned buildings, crammed up against alley dumpsters, curled inside the big yellow slide of a local playground. I imagine they are thankful for sleep, wary of a new day, but thankful nonetheless. Homelessness at such a young age if left alone, leads to increased rates of conflict. The more homeless youths now, the more our country as a whole will have to deal with divorce, mental illness, and the need for government assistance.

In youth homelessness these children, adolescents and even young adults are being exposed to many dangerous drugs, alcohol, and people.

A homeless person is an individual without a permanent, stable housing situation who either spends his or her nights on the streets or in temporary facilities, such as shelters and abandoned buildings. Throughout history, society has been “holding the poor, rape or incest victims, minorities, or the handicapped responsible for their misfortunes” (Zur). Society has been blaming the homeless for being in the position they are in. However, upon closer inspection, it must be noted that “children under the age of 18 accounts for 39% of the homeless population…battered women who live in poverty are often forced to choose between abusive relationships and homelessness…[and] 40% of homeless men have served in the armed forces” (Who Is Homeless?). It is clear that those who are homeless are not

Homelessness is all around the world, and many people have either dealt with the issue or had first-hand experience with it. Thus causes everyone to think about the possible solutions to such an important social and economic problem. Whether or not anyone wants to support or ignore the issue, it will always be there. However, the youth population is on the rise among the homeless. While the exact number of youth among the homeless is hard to determine, given various information about homelessness available and the age range that is considered youth, a 2012 survey from the Department of Education shows that 52,950 unaccompanied homeless youth were reported through school-based programs (Sparks 31). Homelessness among youth can be

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.

One in seven adolescents between the ages of ten and eighteen will run away at some point (“Running Away”). People need to pay more attention to the reasons why teens run away when there is the risk of becoming homeless. According to the National Runaway Safeline (NRS) there are between 1.7 and 2.8 million runaway and homeless youth that live on the street each year. It is important for people to know this because it estimates the number of children and teens that runaway and possibly become homeless each year. Forty six percent of runaway and homeless youth reported being physically abused, thirty eight percent reported being emotionally abused , and seventeen percent reported being forced into unwanted sexual activity by a family or household member (Homeless and Runaway Youth). Physical, emotional and sexual abuse are common reasons why teens run away. Teens that are experiencing abuse, have issues with their parents, may develop a drug addiction and often become teenage runaways.

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

Youth homelessness in Canada is regarded as an unacknowledged national crisis. In fact, one third of Canada’s homeless population is comprised of youth between the ages of 15 and 24 (Stewart, 2010). These youth are huddled on park benches, surfing friends’ couches and sleeping in emergency shelters with the entirety of their future relying on the responsibility of the country to ensure that they can access the support programs they need to survive. Similarly to any other social issue, youth homelessness as a whole is composed of its own set of causes, risk factors, failing solutions and proposals. The following article analyses will discuss youth homelessness on the basis of these aspects in a critical format to display that youth homelessness is a highly stigmatized, serious and “unaccepted” Canadian issue.

Homeless individuals can be easily detected in our society. They are the individuals dressed in drab clothing asking for money, the people sleeping on park benches in the middle of the night, and the people who we judge when they beg for money wondering why they don’t get a job. They are judged under a certain narrative that reduces the homeless individual into their current state of being (Lancione, 2013). To understand homelessness one should not only look at the current condition of the individuals but also look at the discourse of factors and events that led homeless individuals into their current states. Homeless youth although hard to spot are still very much a current problem in our society. Many youth fall in between the cracks of the system and are forced to find different ways to produce some sort of income. There is a strong stigma involved when it comes to homeless youth and many face dangers and a great amount of stress while living on the streets (Kidd, 2007). Many of the homeless youth find it difficult to survive and often don’t have shelter and are always hungry (Kidd, 2007). To support themselves, many homeless youth find themselves engaging in prostitution as a means of income and survival (Kidd, 2007). It is not enough to look at the current state of homeless youth but also important to understand the different factors that lead them to making certain decisions; it is no ones first choice to participate in illegal work. In my paper I argue that, the

Homeless runaway youth are on the rise in the US and is a serious issue. One in seven youth between the ages of 10 and 18 will run away and never return (National Runaway Switchboard, 2010). A homeless runaway youth refers to those individuals under the age of 18 that