Family homelessness has emerged as a serious global problem and over the last twenty-five years the make-up of the homeless population has changed significantly in the United States (Swick Pp)
Women and children now represent up to one-half of the homeless population in most cities and when families with older children and adolescents are included in the count, over fifty percent of the homeless population is families (Swick Pp). Homelessness continues to exist as a consequence of numerous complex influences such as poverty, limited access to affordable housing, unemployment, employment related problems, substance abuse, and domestic abuse issues (Washington Pp)
Homelessness continues to be a major social issue facing the United States and depending on the criteria used to define homelessness, the national incidence of the problem has been estimated 300,000 to 3.5 million homeless persons (Fischer Pp)
Section 202 provides supportive housing for the elderly group of people who also have very low incomes. (Federal Housing Assistance Program, Fact sheets) The difference between what the individual can afford to pay and the actual cost of the housing project will be made up be this HUD administered program
Thousands of children are born into poverty in the United States annually, and thousands more live in poverty, often drifting into homelessness as they become adolescents. (Crosson-Tower, 2009) Visibility of homelessness is one reason why this social issue has warranted greater quantities and types of attention, particularly in recent decades and especially in the United States & with respect to children's welfare
These include being mentally ill as well as being drug or alcohol addicts. Important part of the text is the reason given that has increasingly contributed to the issues of homelessness (Macionis and Gerber, 2011, p
Secondly, the study has investigated the socioeconomic, housing and demographic factors associated with the origins of the homeless people. As a hypothesis, the author has stated that there are various economic and demographic factors that contribute to the residential origins of the homeless people (Rukmana, 2010, p
For the purpose of knowing and looking deeper into the experiences of the homeless people, the main strategy adopted by the authors was interview. Eight homeless people were interviewed in order to gain the required information (Williams and Stickley, 2011, p
Literature Review According to the substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, homeless Americans exhibit a lifetime prevalence rate of 23% for homelessness co-occurring with substance abuse (SAMHSA, 2014). Research has also shown that homeless individuals with mental disorders accounted for a substantial and disproportionate number of persons who were incarcerated in the criminal justice system (McNeil, Binder & Robinson, 2005)
Homelessness On any given night in the United States, 407,966 individuals are on the streets or in homeless shelters; 109,812 of these individuals are chronically homeless (Paquette, 2010)
S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, although the federal government has made significant progress in reducing the number of homeless veterans and the chronically homeless, "it probably will not reach its goal of ending homelessness among these two populations by 2015" (Lowrey, 2012)
). As a result of these conditions, "homeless adults have an age-adjusted mortality rate of nearly 4 times that of the general population; their average life span is shorter than 45 years" (Donohoe, 2004)
In the ensuing years, it would become a major issue for public servants on all level of governance. President Ronald Reagan, by reason of political necessity (refer to the above-mentioned visibility of the homeless problem), became the first president to enact serious legislation to the end of creating publicly funded housing for the homeless (Burt, 34)
Recommendation: While many political leaders focus squarely on the instant gratification of removing the homeless problem from a direct line of sight, they could instead offer the more constructive avenue of rehabilitation provision. With treatment, many individuals who are currently in a circumstance of hopeless and irreversible poverty could instead experience viable prospects of functional assisted or group home living (Lezak, 1987, 23)
Recommendation: While many political leaders focus squarely on the instant gratification of removing the homeless problem from a direct line of sight, they could instead offer the more constructive avenue of rehabilitation provision. With treatment, many individuals who are currently in a circumstance of hopeless and irreversible poverty could instead experience viable prospects of functional assisted or group home living (Lezak, 1987, 23)
But this is not necessarily indicative of a decrease in the homeless population. Rather, many have simply been relegated to alleyways and less-frequented locations, thus incapable of generating even the meager sums acquired theretofore by way of begging (O'Hara, 16)
The "scientific sampling procedures" used in such studies can help to place empirical parameters around the distribution of a survey instrument to possible participants from a large spectrum. (Singleton, 239) Its major advantage is its provision of the ability to contend with a wide variant of sample sizes
The official unemployment rate is of 7.6%, following a constantly ascendant trend; the actual rate, considering those so discouraged who stopped their search for jobs, could be around 14% (Fraser, 2009)
In Los Angles for instance, 1 out of 10 people is unemployed, the statistics reaching the 1983 peaks. The overall economic status is also impacted as the national gross domestic product decreased to its minimum value since 1982 (Pierson, 2009)
People have been out of jobs for months, even more than a year even, and they find it extremely frustrating to constantly receive letters of refusal from the few interviewing companies. And sadly enough, the economists foresee no real improvements in the near future (Simon, 2003)