...Homelessness Homeless people are seen on the streets very often, especially in big cities. It is seen so often that people do not really take a minute to think about it. Is homelessness really a big issue in America? It does not affect the lives of fortunate people, so it does not matter to them, but the issue is bigger than what it seems. Imagine not having food, shelter, or new clothes to change into every day. What about sitting on the streets all day begging for money or even a bite of food, but instead people walk by not even paying attention? Does not sound found, does it? Well imagine that, but instead it was a child. A child who no longer has a home, family who can afford to take care of them, or any way of getting help. People do...
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...every day, as passersby ignore their existence on sidewalks, in parks, in subway stations. Based on the U.S. Conference of Mayors report from 2008, 19 of the 25 cities reported an increase in homelessness from 2007. More specifically, 16 cities reported an increase in the number of homeless families. Also, due to the recent foreclosures crisis, homelessness has been on the rise. In the U.S. Conference of Mayor’s 2008 Report, 12 of the 25 cities surveyed reported an increase in homelessness. There were some campaigns have been done after the increasing of the population of homelessness in America. Firstly, The National Center on Family Homelessness launched the Campaign to End Child Homelessness in 2009 to ensure that not one child in America goes to sleep for one night without a home. They believe it unacceptable for any child in the United States to be homeless. The Campaign's legacy will be that all children who are homeless will have stable housing, vital support services, and the same opportunities available to more fortunate children. The campaign plans to better address the needs of homeless children, improve programs and services to meet the unique needs of homeless children. Unfortunately, according to the America’s Youngest Outcasts 2010 State Report Card on Child Homelessness the numbers of homeless children increase by more than 448,000 from 2007 to 2010; 1.6 million (one in 45 children) are homeless in 2010—that is a 38% spike from 2007. Base on my own opinion...
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...Homelessness in America seems to happen with alarming frequency. Homelessness affects millions of Americans each year, with approximately one third of the population suffering from severe mental disorders. It is a devastating experience for families. Every year, the United States conduct an enumeration of homeless people around the nation. These reports of homeless people conducted by the National Alliance to End Homelessness are based on the definition set by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), in what is commonly known as a “point-in -time” count. Point-in-time counts are the only measure that captures unsheltered persons experiencing homelessness. Last year's point-in-time count is the most recent national estimate of homelessness in the United States. As of January 2013, the national count of unsheltered people experiencing homelessness decreases by 11.6% between 2012 and 2013. There is a common misconception that homelessness is an issue that only pertains to single men and women, but in reality over 600,000 families a year will experience homelessness. The problems of family homelessness are not solely restricted to urban areas; rural area and suburban communities are increasingly plagued by the problem. The three main reasons for the abundance of dispossessed families within America are the following: 1) the lack of affordable housing, 2) poverty, and 3) mental illness. In today's society, these causes are the main contributors towards...
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...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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...promised outpatient psychiatric and social services -- led to a large increase in the homeless, mentally ill population in the late 1970s. The number of homeless grew in the 1980s, as housing and social service cuts increased. This was in part a consequence of the transfer of federal dollars to a huge military buildup (including the spectacularly wasteful and unsuccessful "Star Wars" strategic missile defense initiative) and consequent large budget deficits. Fortunately, public compassion soared, and in 1986, 5 million Americans joined hands across the country to raise money for homeless programs (May 25, 1986 Hands Across America). In 1987, the McKinney Act authorized millions of dollars for housing and hunger relief (Donahue, 2007). Nature and Issues of Social Problems Homeless and poverty go together. People are unable to pay for food, clothing, shelter, child care, health care, and education. Choices have to be made to have what they need for their daily life so they have to put other things behind to cover necessities. Domestic violence leads people to become homeless because they are forced to choose from the abusive relationship or becoming homeless. Mental illness issues also force people to become homeless. They are unable to find supportive housing or adequate treatment. Addiction issues also put so many people on the streets to feed their addiction before any other basic need. They need to address low-income housing crisis. Accident or an emergency...
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...February 24, 2013 The homeless population in America, as well as the metro Atlanta region is not what it used to be 20 years ago. The Giving to Live organization is working hard and often to see that the rate continues to decrease as well as offer up as much help as they can to take care of those who are still in need. The Giving to Live organization feeds about 50,000 homeless people per year. 40%-60% of those homeless people are employed but cannot afford meals. This organization not only provides food assistance to the homeless but also to others with varying circumstances on a daily basis. This is not an easy task. Several steps and precautions go into making sure this happens. Sometimes, circumstances that are beyond man's control causes changes to take place without notice and some may suffer still. But Giving to Live works diligently with many community workers and volunteers to see that meals are prepared and food is available for homeless families/children, low-income families with children, the elderly, transitional facilities, and orphanages. The number one benefit of Giving to Live is to decrease the number of hungry people in city of Atlanta and in the southern region of America. This factor, though not the only one, is what keeps our director, Ms. Miriam Wilson and her team working around the clock to take care of so many. As a member of this organization, I have been doing some research on Child Hunger in America. * Did you know that Atlanta, Georgia is...
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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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...Homelessness in America is a huge issue in our nation today, with an array of causes and effects. There are many reasons why people become homeless.They are unable to afford their rent so they have no place to go but the streets. A complete solution to homelessness has yet to be found. But, activists have came up with many alternatives for example like affordable housing and homeless shelters. Alarmingly twenty-two percent of people in shelters were children. There are a lot more statistics like this that just wanna make you cringe. But, they are receiving shelter and food so that is a great alternative than sleeping on the streets. Although this isn't a complete solution to the issue of homelessness we are getting closer to a final solution. Homelessness has gradually become a...
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...There’s no place like home | | Homelessness started as far as the 1930’s when the stock market crashed causing “The Great Depression”. During this time people lost jobs and their homes. People were devastated at the fact that that they were forced to sell their belongings. Later on in the years homelessness began to increase after the war because the vets couldn’t find jobs and were forced to live on the street because no one would hire them. The reason that there are so many people homeless is because the economy. People can’t find jobs so they have to sell their home and downgrade to a smaller home or apartment. Often there are times when families are broken up because the husband can’t provide for his family and they end up on the streets. The root cause of being homeless can be explained by economics, it’s said that people who become homeless are going through a financial issue and are unable to obtain or maintain their homes. Research shows that 83% of the homeless population experience episodic, transitional, or temporary periods of homelessness. The challenges that people in poverty ridden areas in trying to keep their get a home is the level of the housing cost burden. When housing is 30% or less of monthly income then it is considered to be affordable. Data collected from the US Census Bureau’s 2010 American Community Survey shows that 75% of the households at or below the poverty line are severely housing cost burdened. When your housing accounts for 50% or...
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...When i’m riding in a car or walking down the street and spot a homeless man or woman, I begin to have mixed thoughts. Part of me wants to know how they ended up there.The other part of me wants to help. It pains me because sometimes I feel that I am too young to help. In school, teachers are hard on students, tellings us to stay in school or else we will end up on the street. But dropping out of school isn't the only reason people become homeless. Family and relationship problems, drug or alcohol abuse and even eviction can cause homelessness. Homelessness can result to mental illness, hunger and loneliness. Homelessness is a serious problem all communities all over the world need to address. Homelessness affects a person’s health...
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...you call your bed. As you wake up to the chattering noises each morning you decide which public place will allow you to clean yourself up. When you get hungry, you beg people for change to eat a cheap meal or you search the nearest garbage can. For the rest of the day you sit in the city hoping people will notice you and want to help out. Knowing that you are not judged by whom you are but what you are, you realize that most people in society do not understand homelessness, and wonder if the circumstances in homelessness will ever change. Every day in cities and towns across the country, men, women, and children dressed in rags walk the streets, often talking to visions and begging for money. However, many causes are the problems to the homelessness which have theirs impact on children and people should think about finding solutions for the homeless. Homelessness is the condition of people without a regular dwelling. According to National Alliance to End Homelessness, 578,424 peoples were experiencing homelessness in 2014 (2015). There are several circumstances that can cause individuals to repeatedly end up on streets. First, poverty is a difficult one to break. Once an individual falls below a certain income level, it becomes more and more difficult to acquire the resources needed to get a better job. So poverty can lead to lack of affordable housing and lack of affordable healthcare. An example is people who have some kind of chronic and weakening disease but cannot...
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...Criminalization of Homelessness in America SOC 331: Social Justice and Ethics April 6, 2015 Criminalization of Homelessness in America Every country faces homelessness in one form or another. Homelessness in America has been an ongoing problem over many decade. Homelessness is not racist or biased as anyone can find themselves without the financial means to provide adequate shelter and food. While there are many definitions for homelessness the most common is “a person who "lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence” (www.pbs.org). Those who are susceptible to homelessness consist of but not limited to children, teenagers, adult men and woman, veterans, mentally unstable and elderly people. Homelessness is not just the problem that the homeless person faces but the problem that we all as citizens of the United States face ethically, morally with the proper forms of justice. Throughout this paper we are asked to evaluate different perspective and responses in regards to the American problem of homelessness. In doing so virtue ethics, distributive, commutative and retributive justices will be used in evaluating the responses. ‘Virtue ethics is an ethical theory that evaluates the morality of the person doing a given act, rather than the act itself. Virtue ethics thus emphasizes that the various virtues and whether a person reflects those virtues in his or her actions are crucial to moral evaluation” (Mosser, 2010). The text book Social and Criminal Justice...
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...When I began a search for an area of concern that affects a child’s development, I remembered a movie that I had watched the previous year called Beyond the Blackboard and while researching this subject, I found out about how homelessness can affect children’s educational development while they are homeless. At the time, I did not even understand that homelessness can affect children since I had thought only adults were homeless. Looking back, it seems very thoughtless that I only thought adults were affected and my research into this subject led me to see that whole families can be affected by homelessness. Throughout this paper, I plan on talking about the causes of homelessness, the prevalence of homeless, signs that children might be homeless,...
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...problem the homeless population is, controversies arise over who should be taking care of these people. Homelessness is not a new concept in America. Having been around for over a century, the past few decades has become exceptionally worse. Homelessness is not something that is easily defined. Alex K. Rich and Geraldine Wagner tell their readers that most who study the problem of homelessness define the issue as “those who are forced to sleep in places not designated for sleeping.” Jennifer Bringle defines the homeless as people who do not have a “fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence” (4). However defined, the fact that they do not have a permanent residence is only the beginning of the problem. Although there are many controversies today surrounding the problem of homelessness and whether the government is responsible or not, the nation as a whole should take responsibility and work collectively to strive for an end to the problem. To some the way to end homelessness means leaving the change up to the homeless themselves. Critics today focus on the idea that people are homeless because of their own actions. In Ted Gottfried’s book Homeless: Whose Problem Is It, Ronald Reagan is quoted as saying, “The homeless . . . are homeless, you might say, by choice” (50). Also quoted in Gottfried’s book, radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh, says that the nation’s homelessness is “tied to a lack of personal responsibility and a . . . decline in respect for the traditional American...
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...children of the next generation are living in today’s society homeless and starving, because there family is taking money away from one bill to pay the other bill. In 2009 the number of people that are living in poverty was the largest in 51 years. The poverty rate and the number in poverty increased across all types of families: married-couple families (5.8 percent and 3.4 million in 2009 from 5.5 percent and 3.3 million in 2008); female-householder-with-no-husband-present families (29.9 percent and 4.4 million in 2009 from 28.7 percent and 4.2 million in 2008) and for male-householder-no-wife-present families (16.9 percent and 942,000 in 2009 from 13.8 percent and 723,000 in 2008)(U.S. Census Bureau, 2010).The National Center on Family Homelessness released a new report in...
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