...Introduction Homelessness is a crisis faced across the globe. Homelessness can be simply defined as a person living without a home, forcing them to reside on the streets. Some homeless people exit the situation quickly, but many more fall into homelessness long term. Much of this trend is due to many social-economical factors in the society. Drugs, finances and abuse are some of the root causes to this problem. The lack of jobs, rise in living costs, addictions to drugs, and domestic disputes are what drive people to become homeless. According to a report released by the US census Bureau, (2014), the rise in homelessness is significant, hitting 3.5 million people who experience the situation in every year. Out of the 3.5 people experiencing homelessness, 35% of them are families that include children. The families in the United States are the fastest growing segment of homeless individuals. The military veterans who are homeless constitute 23% of the total people who are homeless in the United States. Of the 3.5 million homeless people, 25% are minors who are aged below 18 years (U.S. Census Bureau 2014). The minors become homeless when their families or the caretakers become homeless. Some of the homeless children lack paternal families and may have run away from the orphanage and children homes to make lives on their own. The statistics showed that 30% of the homeless people had experienced domestic violence and 25% suffered from mental illnesses. In the urban settings...
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...The Homeless Plight Student Name Course/Professor Date The Homeless Plight Homelessness is on the rise. Homeless people can be seen sleeping in a variety of places such as city subways, terminals, stations, and the underground world of transportation. In the winter, the homeless may be sleeping on top of grates for the warm steam; fires may be burning from cylinders on street corners, under bridges, or in alley ways for warmth. In the summer, buses, subway cars, malls, and fountains are but a slight relief for those homeless until an authority figure moves the person(s) on. In small suburban areas, most of the homeless are hidden and out of view. The United States faces many social problems; however, homelessness is a major dilemma. To understanding the issue of homelessness from a sociologist point of view, different lenses need to be used. The sociological perspectives of functionalism, conflict structuralists, and symbolic interactionism, provide the best angles to assess homelessness in the United States as well as analyzing the efforts to resolve the homeless dilemma the nation faces. There are approximately two million homeless men, women, and children, and the numbers are increasing. For the second consecutive year, homeless families are on the rise (AHAR, 2009). Causes of this dilemma are vast and include hardships from loss of employment, illness, lack of affordable housing, poverty, and the current economy. The number of homeless is constantly changing. Researchers...
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...Homelessness is not a new problem facing our nation; it dates back to the beginning of time. Homelessness is defined by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as “an individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence.” This definition is how the number of homeless individuals in the U.S. is calculated. There are many reasons why a person becomes homeless; some people are homeless by choice, others are forced there by circumstances. According to a 2006 report issued by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the main causes of Homelessness are: lack of affordable housing, poverty, low paying jobs, unemployment, mental illness, substance abuse, domestic violence and prisoner re-entry. This report will take a closer look at each cause to determine why it is such an issue. Is homelessness and problem people must accept as inevitable or is there a solution to reduce the number of homeless in our community? Over the past 25 years, several trends have contributed to the rise in homelessness. The first trend is a shortage in affordable rental housing. This includes all forms of rental property whether it is a house or apartment. Rental rates rose with the rate of home values but when the housing market crashed at the end of 2007, the rental rates did not drop. The increased popularity of luxury, resort-style apartments have also aided in a high rent market. The foreclosures that the United States has been experiencing have left many people with...
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...Homelessness in California Introduction Homelessness is a condition or a state where an individual or a family does not have a home to live in. Along with that, the person is deprived of the legal and the social dimensions making him emotionally weak and in the state of isolation. Since the year 1980s, there had been a great shock to the Americans due to the rising homelessness. This led to a burst in the studies and the rising stories related to the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act of July 1987. In this act, there was an interference allowed of the federal government into this policy of homelessness, which had created many issues. For many years after that, this issue of homelessness remained on the top of the line in the political issues face by the Californian government. Basically the non-profit organizations focused on improving the life quality of the people in the city, especially those who did not have a place to spend their nights. It is a fact that there should be some very efficient approach to eliminate this homelessness problem, the Californian government has taken some steps and brought in a modest change in their policies to attack this homelessness problem very obviously. Their main change in the policy was to provide housing to the poor and the needy people (Hombs, Mary Ellen, and Mitch Snyder, 1982). Despite this action which the government took, there had been a consensus in the year 1980 which reflected the fact that the homelessness in US...
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...There are two sides to every story, as if that explains and justifies everything you know what I say when someone tell me that? I say well of course there are two sides to every story. The two stories there are sides to are the cause of been homelessness in America is not something that was created overnight, it’s been around for a long time; often we choose not to see the homeless, or bother them, so we think it’s alright to look the other way. We frequently falsely accuse homeless people to be existing/former drug abusers or once patients released from mental institutions. Homelessness is not a disease that you can catch if you come in contact with a homeless person, but it certainly has afflicted many of us. Isn’t this the country called the “Land of Opportunity”, while there’s millions of Americans deprived of such success-but why? There has been 4 major trends that are largely responsible for the rise of homelessness over the past 25 years: a growing shortage of affordable rental housing, a rise in the increase of poverty, and an increase in mental illness and chemical dependency. The shortage of low rent housing in the US reached a record high in 1995 when the number of low income renter households exceeded the number of low cost rental units by 4.4 million (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities). The shortage of affordable housing grew extraordinary even in the 1990s despite the strong economic growth. Between 1991-95, when the recession of the early 1990s reached bottom...
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...Child homelessness is on the rise in America. ¬This must be corrected before more children become homeless. In 2013 Alabama ranked #50 for having the most homeless children in the United States, Arizona is number 45 (Sco). Children who are homeless are more likely to be victims of poverty, domestic violence, and affordable housing. Right now in America, NBC reported that in 2014 one in 30 American children are homeless (Martha C. White). Why are so many children homeless this day and age? How would it feel it have a homeless son or daughter? Homeless children are often victims of poverty, domestic violence, or affordable housing. This is why so many of them are homeless. Homeless people have something in common whether you are young or old, its substance abuse (Zeisemer). Youth and teens ages 12-21 often find themselves lost with nowhere to go. Some of these teens often resort to the use of drugs and alcohol (Ringwalt.) Drugs and alcohol for these kids help cope with what they are experiencing. With the use of drugs and alcohol this leads to the children killing themselves because they overdose or become addicted. Drugs and alcohol are a factor to homelessness, because of this child homelessness is on the rise....
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...Homelessness: Understanding Why Abstract In January of 2014, 578,424 people were going through homelessness, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness. The three main reasons for the large measure of homeless families and people in America and other countries as well are affordable housing, low wages, and mental illnesses. Other reasons also include addictions, abuse, health care, and/or natural occurrences are contributors towards the distressing circumstances of homelessness, which often leads to divorce, health concerns, and educational obstacles. This paper introduces where homeless began and where it needs to end. Homelessness: Understanding Why T.S, Elliot stated “Home is where we start from”. David Belgum, a volunteer Chaplin with the Salvation Army Corp, asked these simple questions, “Is the length of residence in one place a criterion? How substantial does it have to be to be classified as a home? Who should judge whether or not the category of homelessness is to be applied in a given situation—the resident or residents, or someone from the "establishment"?” (Belgum). For many people this is true, but for many it’s not, but whose call is it to make? Many studies are inadequate when it comes to know accurately knowing how many people are in shelters or on the streets. The information found through these studies can be helpful when it comes to knowing roughly the amount of people that use the places like shelters and soup kitchens, but it could...
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...As the homelessness rate in America continues to rise, it is important to consider the implications of it on society as a whole. Examining the problem of homelessness, there are many different viewpoints on ways to combat it. These include the idea of doing nothing, in which a homeless individual must provide for themselves. Another view is that adequate assistance is provided in order to assist those that are homeless. Lastly, in an opposing viewpoint to the first, some believe that there is not enough being done to help the homeless. The best response to this problem is to continue providing support as a foundation for homeless people to work off of. Addressing the first viewpoint, some believe that should be the responsibility...
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...Homelessness is the big issue for every country which give rise to rough sleeping on streets, parks or grounds which not only affect their health but also have a bad impact on their mental stability. Many of them are also experiencing violence, abuse , injuries and deaths. Rough sleeping is the mark of housing crisis. Individuals those who are homeless from a longer period, the situation of housing crisis is worsened due to the effects of mental illness, unemployment, substance and child abuse. Homeless people also suffering from so many disadvantages, getting the home is the half challenge. ‘Staying housed’ is equally difficult. Rising of homelessness has blown away the minds of government. Thus, the Victorian government stated two year...
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...In the article “Media and Professional Interest in Homelessness over 30 Years (1974-2003),” they state that the media plays a substantial role in the way people view the homeless. This article examines coverage of homelessness in four major newspapers. As they researched it showed an increase in coverage during the mid-1980’s, how it decreased during the late 1980’s then went steady after the early 1990’s. As we start the article it talks about the different ways the media researches the homeless. One way is interviewing those who are homeless to see how they live and get to know the individual. Doing this type of research is crucial when learning about the topic but doing so may lead to false assumptions to the cause of homelessness. An example...
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...Many Americans live everyday with a risk of being homeless or becoming homeless, America has the highest homelessness rates in the world and the biggest problems are not enough jobs opportunities and outsourcing, not enough affordable housing, and mental illness. PROBLEM 1 Homelessness can be directly related to a shortage of jobs in America due to outsourcing and businesses being shut down. Although most of the population has jobs there is a small percentage that don’t and in that percentage lays the homeless percentage. Long-term unemployed individuals rates have not changed since June of...
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...Rationale and Analysis for Agency Selected Public Personal Management Introduction The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has been around for over a decade. It introduced in 1937. Robert C. Weaver was the first HUD secretary as of January 18, 1966 (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2015). Currently Secretary Julian Castro, holds this position. When most people hear “HUD”, they think of housing for the poor, but HUD helps everyone. HUD’s mission is “To create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all. HUD is working to strengthen the housing market to bolster the economy and protect consumers; meet the need for quality affordable rental homes; utilize housing as a platform for improving quality of life; build inclusive and sustainable communities free from discrimination, and transform the way HUD does business. (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2015)” While HUD provides an outstanding program for our citizens, they still currently work to make sure that the budget they receive is used wisely to meet everyone’s needs. Agency Functions The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has several functions. Its main function is to serve the public. The three main functions are to support the housing market and economic recovery, improve the way federal dollars are spent, and to protect the housing opportunities for the highly disadvantaged. These functions are all highly important...
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...Is homelessness a problem throughout the United States? How can the government help lower the homeless population? The amount of people in the United States that are qualified as homeless has been growing since the 1980s. “Homelessness, the condition of being literally without shelter” is a chronic problem in the United States. Being homeless does not just mean one has no shelter; being homeless can also mean when two families are living doubled up, or in a welfare motel that the government has bought as a shelter for the less fortunate. One can become homeless for a number of reasons, the number one reason being bad luck. Most families that become homeless are the ones living paycheck to paycheck. The lack of affordable housing, unemployment, and the cutting of federal aid...
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...Specific Population and Advocate Role Paper In this country today, there are thousands of people who are homeless. A homeless person is someone who doesn’t have a permanent home to live; this also means a person who is sleeping in a relative’s sofa or floor. Illness, violence, addictions, poor nutrition, and unemployment are some of the problems that come alone with homelessness. “The most proximate cause of homelessness in America is poverty” (St. Martin’s Hospitality Center, 2013). In this paper, I will briefly touch on issues of advocacy in human services. I will also examine and briefly discuss the homeless population; including my perspective on my ability to assist with the issues that the homeless face such as shelter, food, clothing, transportation, and job training as an advocate. Since the population of homelessness is on the rise, new programs have been formulated by experts in order to aid the homeless and try to prevent the homeless population from increasing. “Advocacy refers to influencing decisions that affect the welfare or interests of another individual or group” (Barsky, A.E, 2000). Helping clients set goals, educating them of the resources they have available, helping them find the available resources, and working towards changes in policies that limit their abilities would be a way of me advocating for the homeless. Empowering clients to change their situation is an important way for me to advocate. One of the best ways that I could advocate for the...
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...A Rhetorical Analysis of Duffield’s “Should Federal Agencies Use the Same Definition of Homelessness”? Kim Boltenhouse WRIT 120 H1FF Krista Hilton 12/01/2013 A Rhetorical Analysis of Duffield’s “Should Federal Agencies Use the Same Definition of Homelessness”? The author, Barbara Duffield, Policy Director for National Association for the education of homeless children and youth, writes for CQ Researcher the article “Should federal agencies use the same definitions of homelessness?” Duffield aims to substantiate that federal agencies, using different definitions of the law create complications. That clear guidelines need defined for establishing what is best for families and youth found in a homeless situation. Justification for changing the definition of homelessness is provided in this article by Duffield using ethos to prove creditability with homelessness, logos to support why she believes in modifying the definition and pathos to create empathy the with the readers on effects of homelessness. Duffield proves ethos in the article by quoting Federal law, The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) criteria, and her professional credentials on the issues of homeless. According to HUD in the article it “…bases people's eligibility on where they happen to find refuge: with very few exceptions, HUD limits homeless assistance to people who are on the street or are fortunate enough to have found a shelter bed.” (2013, para. 2) and “Under federal...
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