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THE HOMELESNESS 1

The homelessness

Mario Berrios Concepcion

Columbia College

This research was prepared for HUMS 365
American Social Policy Instructor Jessica Whitmore
24 july 2014

THE HOMELESSNESS 2

The homelessness Homelessness is a major problem facing many US cities today. According to Foundations of Social Policy in the United States a house is a commodity, developed and traded for profit. A house can provide shelter and protection. A home provides continuity and a social context for individuals and families, and those become homeless lose more than a shelter (Smith Barusch 165). With its many causes, homelessness is an extremely diverse problem that has proven difficult to remedy. Though some homeless people find themselves in unfortunate situations, others are homeless by choice. Those who choose homelessness do so either indirectly, by making decisions that result in negative consequences, or directly, by opting to be free of life’s responsibilities. This belief is not commonly found in print since society most often feels compassion and pity toward the homeless. Still, assistance is offered on a federal level, as well as on local levels. Although there are many charitable organizations, along with the government, that offer assistance to the homeless nationwide. Homelessness remains a prevalent problem mainly due to the fact that some of the homeless choose that lifestyle. The Stewart B. McKinney Act, which provided assistance to protect and improve the lives of the homeless, defines a homeless person as “one who lacks a fixed permanent nighttime residence or whose nighttime residence is a temporary shelter, welfare hotel, or any public or private place not designed as sleeping accommodations for human beings” (Blau 8). These people can usually be categorized into two types: “the episodically homeless and the

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