The Main Reason For Runaway And Homeless Youth Essay

Jill Lepore’s New Yorker article Baby Doe: A political history of tragedy provides documented history of child abuse in the U.S. that date back to colonial times. She illustrated tragic cases Massachusetts Child Protective Services had been confronted with and gave a synopsis of the challenging history the Department of Children and Families.

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.

It was at that time that states began passing laws that prohibited placing children across state lines. Additionally, there was criticism from abolitionists who felt that the Orphan Trains supported slavery. Pro-slavery advocates criticized the practice as well, saying that it was making slaves obsolete. In 1912, the U.S. Children’s Bureau was established with the mission of helping states support children and families and alleviate many of the factors that led to children living on the street. As state and local governments became more involved in supporting families, the use of the Orphan Trains was no longer needed (Brown, 2014).

With the five dollars that Archbishop Closkey gave to start the program, Sister Mary Irene formed the New York Foundling Hospital. The Adoption Agency of the New York Foundling Hospital was dedicated to finding suitable homes for the orphan children left on their doorstep. After hearing of Brace’s orphan trains, Sister Mary Irene started her own “mercy trains” in which children would travel west to live with a good family and to get a Catholic upbringing. This was the start of the Orphan Train Movement.

The differences between the New Deal reformers and the child welfare workers who provided services to Malcom X’s family was that the child welfare workers were not providing adequate and equal services to the family(Haley, 1996). Malcom X ’s stated that when the social worker came to their home “they were looked at as if they were not people”. Even though Malcom X’s family was receiving some kind of service, to the eyesight of these people Malcom x’s stated that “they were just like things”.

One of the biggest leading social issues around the world is homelessness. In the United States alone, there are more than half a million people experiencing homelessness. There are different factors that led a person to homelessness, economic, social, political issues, and natural disasters. But in the United States, homelessness is often caused by system failure, and people and with related issues. A brief history of homelessness, the issues documented during the early colonial period, back then it was viewed as a character flaw in the person and not outside causes. The Great Depression hits the United States hard and millions lost their jobs result in homelessness. Comes swooping in with the New Deal policy from presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt helps save the economy by providing jobs and helps reduce homeless population (Homelessness). In the early 80’s the economy was losing jobs again due to the decline of manufacturing, causes a high-rise in homelessness. That led to many cutbacks in affordable housing, medical care that makes many mentally ill patients unable to afford housing. With that many Individuals with disabilities or mental health issues that can’t afford proper health can be in danger of homelessness. But for those who are already living on the streets don’t have access to nutrient, personal hygiene, and other serious health conditions. There is some organization across the United States that provides health care service for

4). In the scope of adoption, it is evident that child welfare agencies use the majority of their available resources for placing children in foster families, investigating child-abuse cases, and providing other family services. “As a consequence, they do not possess adequate additional resources for efficiently placing children in adoptive homes once they are available for adoption, depriving many children of the benefits a stable, permanent home provides” (Snell, 2000, p. 2). The current government operated child welfare system is detrimental to the children involved due to its inability to ensure their safety and

H.R. Bill 1779 is an amendment to the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act to ratify the bill through the fiscal year 2020. The United States federal government funds Basic Center Grant programs (BCG), supports safe community shelters known as basic centers. They provide emergency care for runaway children and homeless youth. The shelter assists with family reunification services offers a bed to sleep in, food, clothing, medical services, counseling services, and recreational programs. They assist in referral services for aftercare when an individual’s 21 days of stay expire (114th Congress, 2016).

As of September, 2011 in the United States over 400,540 children were in the foster care system. The Minnesota Department of Human Services, 2011) defines foster care as, ?A 24-hour substitute care for children placed away from their parents or guardians and for whom the State agency has placement and care responsibility.? Of the 400,540 children in foster care nationwide, 195,400 were Floridians. With the fifty social service programs nationwide, Florida is one of a very few states in the nation with statewide privatization of social services, for this study, with an emphasis on privatization of foster care. In the present paper, the privatization of foster care plays a significant role in the care and placement of Florida?s abused, neglected, and abandoned children. The major thrust of privatization of foster care was implemented under the administration of Governor Jeb Bush, a staunch political conservative. The purpose of privatization was to provide better foster care services to stake-holders, primarily to find permanent homes for foster children. The Bush administration was always trying to adhere to the conservative mantra of fiscal reduction as it pertained to social services

One of my all time favorite musicals as I was growing up was alway Annie, about a sweet little orphan who through determination and a little positivity found a better life. But has happened to orphans nowadays, you don’t exactly drive by your neighborhood orphanage on your way to work. It seems that these children have disappeared, virtually falling off the face of the earth. Today they are called foster kids with families like my own housing them. The early foster system was established in the 1500s in order to care for children who were removed from their parents. Foster care was intended to be a short-term solution until the child is either adopted or reunited with their family. However, the average child will spend over two years waiting to be adopted. But the flaws in this system run much deeper, from mental disorders all the way to human trafficking. Human trafficking through the foster system is a dire problem that can not be neglected. We will examine this today by looking at three points; recognizing what the problem, understanding the pressure that they are under, and finally how you and i can help provide the promise of a new life

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.

Youth homelessness can be define as young individuals, ranging from age 12 to around 25, who are without any support from their families, and are either living on the streets or at a shelter. There are often “referred to as “unaccompanied” youth.” (National Coalition for Homelessness (NCH), 2007). Unaccompanied youths can be categorized as runaway-homeless youths, throwaways, and independent youths. Runaway- homeless youths are youths that leave home without any parental permission. Youths that leave their homes because parents encourage them to leave are categorize as throwaways. The final classified as independent youths who leave home because of family conflicts or other issues. (Aratani, 2009).

Agnes Home was formed in 1912, two years before the Home itself opened by the Sisters of Mercy.  They were a small group of dedicated women who were inspired by the Sisters and worked very closely with them through the years.  They said “if the Sisters would mother the babies, the Guild would mother the Home.”  The 4-story West Hartford Home opened with 50 homeless and motherless babies, eventually accommodating 200 children.  The long history of the Home together with the Guild is a rich one filled with many poignant and faith filled stories, which should be told as it stands alone as a model of a cause that has endured for almost 100 years, yet it still fills and urgent need

After analyzing the entire Runaway and Homeless Youth Act as a whole, much can be said for and against the economic and political aspects. As to any given argument or subject pros and cons as well as strengths and weaknesses will be weighed out enormously. The Runaway and Homeless Youth Act does abide by guidelines and requirements. All parts of the Act provide all involved with a clear and present purpose. I also believe that these shelters or centers provide the troubled youth with a support system that they could be lacking. Most youth probably don’t realize how widespread homelessness is and it happened to be there only option in certain situations. The homeless youth will not have that feeling of being alone under life

Child savers paved the way for “a sustained public commitment to children’s welfare.” The child-saving movement started in the late eighteenth century. American cities were home to some of the worst conditions for children. Poor youths roamed the streets begging for money and looking for food scraps. As systems like apprenticeship declined, growing numbers of delinquent, urban children and infant deaths rates were becoming too widespread to ignore.