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Stereotypes Of Homelessness

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Homelessness is a major problem in our society today. No one can get around homelessness; it is a problem that needs a lot of attention. I have seen the stereotype that others believe that those who do not have a home or a job are not regular people. The reason I choose homelessness is because I know of someone with a child that lost her job and is about to be evicted from her apartment.
The purpose of this paper is to examine different groups of homeless people and different neighborhood characteristics. We examined the complexities of physical and social environment surrounding people living on the street and in shelters. A better way to understand these environment is to use census data as indicators of social, economic, and housing conditions …show more content…
Department of Housing and Urban Development’s 2013 “Annual Homeless Assessment Report” furnishes data on both the sheltered and unsheltered population according to the results of a survey done on a single night in January this is called “point in time” counting, and is generally acknowledged to be the most accurate way to establish valid trend data. Again, it is not a projection on an annual basis. For the first time, communities reported the ages of those affected. The report defines “chronic homelessness as cases where a disability of some kind is involved and the individual or family has either been continuously homeless for one year or more or has experienced at least four episodes of homelessness in the last three years.” Survey data can be used in this study. A Baseline is necessary to be used as a starting point and to see the changing throughout the study. Without a baseline the researchers wouldn’t know what situation changed. People that were found on the street throughout the city were selected, screened, and asked questions on where they were recently staying. If the individuals were qualified as homeless according to the definition of homelessness they would be asked to come in for a baseline interview. The survey was updated so that the first question asked where respondents stayed on the night of the PIT. Individuals who did not stay in a location that met HUD’s criteria for homelessness did not complete the rest of the survey. A question was added at the start of the survey asking if the respondent had already completed a PIT survey during the administration time period. This question was added to help identify duplicate cases and minimize the data collection burden on individuals that may have had the opportunity to participate several times. Questions about the primary respondent head of household were moved from the start of the survey into a matrix which collected demographic information on both the primary respondent as well as any

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