...Homelessness has been a problem in our society for as long as houses have existed. This will always be a problem and will unfortunately be a problem forever. There have always been people without houses and there always will be. Because of the paramount importance of balance of society and the economy, homelessness is both a good and bad thing. It is obviously awful because people aren’t living in houses, but it exceptional at the same time because without it, we would not have wealthy people. There always needs to be a balance in the economy, which includes both extremes. Homelessness is becoming an epidemic in recent times, and to stop it we should all have a broader understanding of the problem, which is mainly caused by poverty, natural disasters, and personal health reasons. The first main cause of homelessness is poverty. This issue is on a level of its own, being caused by many different factors, but for most people they either lose their job, or something else drastic happens. Because theses people do not have money, they then lose their house and have to live either on the...
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...Hawaii's Homeless Homelessness is an enormous social challenge, one that is apparent throughout the United States. Hawaii is no exception. In 2012, there were a total of 4,353 homeless individuals (Statewide Homeless Point-In-Time Count, 2012), according to these studies conducted by the Department of Human Services, only 70% were living in shelters. Obviously, the remainders of these destitute parties are found scattered throughout the islands. These homeless groups consist of males and females, young, and old. Whole families are not exempt, concerning this epidemic. We find that wrong. Because homelessness is a concern to many, Team A conducted a personal and confidential survey that revealed surprising responses. Selected persons, (ages 18 and over) were spouses, peers, and coworkers who answered 10 questions that pertained to the homelessness condition on Oahu. Our survey showed most people viewed the homelessness situation in Hawaii, no worse than other states. It is a dilemma everywhere. Our survey also disclosed a true concern for our homeless brothers and sisters. When asked, to choose a major contributor to homelessness, the answers varied greatly. Although unemployment is significant, substance abuse continues to plague the natives. In addition to these two factors, mental illness ranks high, as so evidently witnessed on the streets of King and Keeamoku. In recent news, the Honolulu Police removed a large group of homeless people from Ward Street. Were they justified...
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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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...questions, you are not immune to homelessness. These questions are not meant to create alarm, but rather to spread awareness that people experiencing homelessness are people just like us. They desire financial stability and a secure home, but have confronted difficult circumstances without sufficient resources to overcome the situation and remain housed. Unfortunately, that is the reality of homelessness today. Typically, families become homeless as a result of some unforeseen financial crisis - a medical emergency, a car accident, a death in the family - that prevents them from being able to hold on to housing. Most homeless families are able to bounce back from homelessness quickly, with relatively little public assistance. Usually, homeless families require rent assistance, housing placement services, job assistance, and other short-term, one-time services before being able to return to independence and stability. In the case study, "Mayor Schell's Zero Homeless Family Pledge", Norton discusses the challenges facing a policy manager in a large city (Seattle) government agency who is expected to implement a bold new policy to reduce homelessness that may exceed the local government's capacity to address the issue. In the case, the mayor of Seattle pledges in June that there will be no homeless families with children or homeless women by Christmas. The manager in the case, Alan Painter, shares the mayor's commitment and enthusiasm for reducing homelessness in the city, but has many...
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...Running head: Homeless in Seattle Homeless in Seattle Melissa Elliott PAD 500 Dr.MCCue August 17, 2012 Abstract The epidemic of homelessness has taken a great toll on our society as we know it. America has been noted as the land of great opportunity and provision for one who wants to get ahead in life, it is often times referred to as the land of milk and honey. How did America get in such turmoil in housing its own citizens? America is noted to help other countries with all types of aid food, clothing, protection etc. .We must get back to the basics and create a solution to house our homeless population. Homeless is defined as a person or people not having a permanent residence or dwelling place. Mayor Schell’s Zero Homeless strategy was written to help combat the serious issue of homeless citizens in Seattle. Mayor Schell’s declaration was very pure ad heart felt concerning the homeless. He made decree that some may have viewed as an unrealistic goal. His firm decree declared that by Christmas of 1998 there would be no homeless families with children or single women out on the street. This was a great goal for a six month period and definitely not attainable. There are several reasons, taken from the public administration literature, why the strategy is not likely to be appropriate in this case. Principally, as Ring & Perry (1985) concisely...
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...have, and shall have the same validity as my handwritten signature. Student's signature (name typed here is equivalent to a signature): Christopher Holland Introduction The purpose of this paper is to explore the homeless population in the United States while thinking critically. The research for this paper shall detail the history of homeless from its first noticeable conception. The paper will examine the time line of homelessness stating contributing factors as well as detailing the homeless struggle. This paper shall research the nature of the social problems or issues experienced by homeless people meanwhile showing the stereotyping and discrimination of homeless people. This paper will explore the different demographic groups along with common clinical issues and intervention strategies. After the research has explored the many aspects of homelessness then this paper will detail the future intervention to alleviate the the struggle of homelessness. The History of Homelessness The history of homelessness teaches us the epidemic dating back as far as the Middle Ages where most emphasis was put...
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...Homelessness is one social problem that has been around for decades. I chose this topic because my church ran a home for homeless men for 10 years in Brooklyn, New York. Most people have this preconceived notion that all homeless people have mental issues and dangerous. But it amazed me over the 10 years of volunteering at the shelter and seeing these men coming and go and learning of the circumstances that cause them to become homeless. Homelessness has been and still is a social problem that has been and epidemic in our society. But with the increase in homeless, comes the challenges facing our health care facilities regarding access to health care. According to Nickasch,B.(2009) Homeless individuals expend tremendous energy on survival strategies such as obtaining food, shelter, and a place to rest (Capponi, 1997; McCormack & Gooding,1993). Only after these basic human needs have been satisfied are they able to focus on their other health issues. There are basic needs that humans need to service such as He contended that all people are born with a set of basic needs that they seek to fulfill. Once the lower needs have been gratified, then the next set of higher needs emerge and fulfillment of them is sought. Maslow described the five basic needs in his "Hierarchy of Human Needs." The first set of needs, physiological, include food, water, shelter, sex, and sleep.(Byrd & Mcneal,2006) Access to HealthCare Besides that they also have certain barriers such as access to...
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...the rest were found in unsheltered locations” (Henry, Cortes and Shivji). American author John Grisham wrote “Somewhere for Everyone” a story that depicts that homelessness is more of an inconvenience rather than exploring the underlying issue on how to eradicate the subject on hand. The same can be said about abandoned children. Jessica Valenti clearly explains in “Not Wanting Kids is Entirely...
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...Issues in Behavioral Science May 25, 2016 GLT1 Task 2 A. Describe the social problem you have chosen. I have chosen homelessness as my social problem. Homelessness is defined as a person whom lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. Their primary residence could be a private or public operated shelter to provide temporary living accommodations. It could be an institution that provides temporary residence for individuals needing to be institutionalized. It also could be a public or private place not designed for regular sleeping accommodations for human beings. This could be on the street, park, an abandon building or bus station to name a few. Homelessness has become an epidemic that has tripled since 2000 (Homelessness in the United States, 2016). B. Analyze the extent to which the social problem affects the Untied States. Homelessness affects a range of people. Around 75% of the homeless are adults. The number of children is also climbing but very difficult to collect adequate data. Males make up 60% will a large amount of these being veterans, the number of families is on the rise. Women are usually a result of domestic abuse accounts for 25%. The average age is 30-50 years with 64% of them being one person households. 62% of these people are in minority and 38% have some type of disability. Causes of homelessness include affordable housing, community -based treatment for mental health opposed to institutionalized treatment, veterans...
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...Intervention and |Prevention Homelessness and being poor go hand in hand. Lack of having enough money to live comfortably is becoming a real problem in the United States. Poor people are continually unable to pay for housing, utilities, food, childcare and when this happens some very tough choices must be made. When the bills are more than the paycheck often it is the housing they must drop. When you are low-income-or below the government’s poverty level a family is literally one paycheck away from being homeless. Many low-income people in the United States cannot afford even basic housing (Macionis, 2002). Two facts that increase poverty are: 1. Lack of employment or loss of job. Jobs are hard to find. Even when a person is working it is not enough to cover the bills. 2. 2. Diminished availability of public assistance leave many families homeless even though many states have set up an alternative system that lets families and individuals obtain employment and sustain themselves between jobs. There are other factors that contribute and make homelessness increase that is lack of affordable healthcare, domestic violence, mental illness (16% of the homeless population have a diagnosis mental illness). Addiction to alcohol and/or drugs are also a problem (U.S. Conference of Mayors, 2005). The typical stereotype of a homeless person, women with shopping cart, man sleeping on park bench, have been replaced by the production worker that is...
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...of Los Angeles: Homelessness Marqueta Oliver BSBO1ELEG6 10/29/2014 Paul Korzeniowski The True Face of Los Angeles: Homelessness Even though some people believe that tourism is a more important focus in Los Angeles than poverty, Homelessness is a crisis in Los Angeles because it affects everyone and reducing homelessness will improve the economy. Homelessness in our nation affects our, communities, economics and families at large. Being a native Angelino, I grew up not realizing that homelessness is an epidemic. I did not understand why there were so many homeless people, nor did I think of seeing panhandlers asking for money and food as a crisis, but I viewed it as “normal”. I always knew local transients by name and would try to help with spare change or a meal when I could. I had no idea of the staggering statistics of homelessness in my community; I didn’t understand the effects of homelessness on our economy and that the alarming rate of poverty level in my metropolitan city, affects us all. By focusing more attention, resources and time to housing our poverty-stricken communities in the long run it would cost less and would also create a more humane society. In the beautiful city of Los Angeles, tourists from all over world fill the cities top attraction sites daily. What most tourist may not know is that every morning before dawn, Los Angeles has a long history of using police to control public spaces by limiting the appearance of homelessness in the city. While...
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...Epidemiology Paper – HIV/AIDS Epidemiology is defined as “the study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states or events in specified populations, and the application of this study to control of health problems” (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2008, p. 243). According to Medscape’s (2011) website, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are prevalent among homeless girls and women (both sheltered and unsheltered) and is attributed to lack of access to condoms, survival sex, prostitution, intravenous drug use, language barriers, and citizenship status. HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is a virus that attacks the immune system, the body's natural defense system. Not having a good immune system means the body will have trouble getting rid of disease. The infection it creates and the virus is called HIV. One of the most important pieces of the immune system is the White Blood cells. The HIV virus targets and destroy a specific white blood cell called CD4+ cells. The human body can’t defend itself from infection if way too many CD4+ cells are neutralized. AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) is the last phase of HIV infection. People get rare Cancer or infections that healthy people almost never get if they have low amount of CD4+ with AIDS. This could be fatal. Although just because you have HIV, doesn’t mean you also have AIDS. It usually takes 10-12 years for HIV to become aids even without any treatment. If the HIV virus is diagnosed before AIDS develop, then medicines...
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...nese, platinum, phosphate rock, silver, uranium and vanadium (South Africa, 2008). It is obvious that South Africa can sustain their economy through these resources. Through the centuries South Africa has faced difficult time since the Dutch came in 1600’s, in 1700 they started importing slaves establishing the dominance of white over non- whites in the region. The non-whites faced discrimination for years under apartheid and political corruption ran by the whites. Today things look better for the people of South Africa, but they still have many obstacles to overcome. Although South Africa has overcome many travesties throughout the years, their reasonably new democracy faces more with complex political parties, recent struggles with homelessness, and what is being done about this situation. Firstly, apartheid is an “Afrikaans word literally meaning apartness,” refers to the policy of racial segregation and its concomitant economic and political discrimination that was adopted by the South African government for a half century. Coined in the late 1930s by the South African Bureau for Racial Affairs (SABRA), apartheid reflected the social, yet non-legal, practices of South Africans. In the 1940s, the Afrikaner National Party used it as their political slogan. When they won the election in 1948, apartheid was written into law” (Apartheid, 2001). It was a bitter century for the...
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...Nora D. Volkow, M.D., became Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) at the National Institutes of Health in May 2003. NIDA supports most of the world’s research on the health aspects of drug abuse and addiction. Dr. Volkow’s work has been instrumental in demonstrating that drug addiction is a disease of the human brain. As a research psychiatrist and scientist, Dr. Volkow pioneered the use of brain imaging to investigate the toxic effects and addictive properties of abuseable drugs. Her studies have documented changes in the dopamine system affecting, among others, the functions of frontal brain regions involved with motivation, drive, and pleasure in addiction. Homelessness is a persistent problem—nearly 690,000 people...
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...Homelessness in America Tonight, across America, as many as 3.5 million people will not have a safe place to go to sleep. The homeless will be sleeping out in the cold, on a park bench or in the gutter. The lucky ones may be sleeping in a shelter tonight. These so called shelters are sometimes even more dangerous because they are frequently over-crowded and understaffed. But the real question is, in the land of opportunity, where the typical family has more televisions than family members and an average of two cars, why are there so many citizens on the street, struggling to survive from day to day? How are so many people, fellow human beings, sleeping on sidewalks, begging for spare change, and digging through garbage cans just to find food to eat? While the general impression is that the homeless are primarily alcoholics and drug abusers, more than half the homeless are families with children. The vast majority of these have been thrust into homelessness by a life altering event or series of events that were unexpected and unplanned for. There are many reasons these unfortunate individuals are seen living on the streets of our cities. Homelessness is caused by tragic life occurrences like the loss of loved ones, job loss, domestic violence, and divorce. Other impairments such as depression, untreated mental illness, post-traumatic stress disorder, and physical disabilities are also responsible for a large portion of the homeless. Many factors push people into living on...
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