The United States Interagency Council on Homelessness - Essay Example

Charles EWRT 1B 12th March, Homelessness The United s Interagency Council on Homelessness shows that in California more than 130,000 people who are homeless. In California, every 100,000 people, 351 are homeless which the highest homelessness statistics in the United States of America. The state government does not have sufficient plans for the homeless. Housing and Urban Development defines homelessness as the state where people live in a place not meant for human habitation. For instance, people live places such as emergency shelters, in transitional housing, or are exiting an institution where they temporarily reside. Normally, homeless people may be living in cardboard boxes, domestic violence shelter, a homeless shelter, or other temporary housing situation. In this essay, I will show the different life of homelessness between past and present in the world, why people are homeless, the history of homelessness, social science of homelessness, government policy of homelessness and solution for homelessness problem (National Alliance to End Homelessness 2). Origin of homelessness in the United States of America Homelessness had a different definition in the early century than now. In the 1640s, homelessness was seen as a moral deficiency or a character flaw. It was generally believed that a good Christian under God’s grace would naturally have his or her needs met. During that time, people did not need to pay extra cost on their rent, electricity, water, or other costs that reduced their income as it is today. People would build houses in the village and set up a farm by themselves without paying taxes ((National Alliance to End Homelessness 2). Most of the people could use their talent to support their life. Homeless people were becoming an icon of giving up by the god. In addition, during that time, homelessness was likely an individual issue and it had little impact to the other people (Heidi 1). During the industrial Revolution in the 1820s-‘30s, people began migrating from the farm to the city in search of jobs. For example, Philadelphia and New York had many people walking the streets causing the country’s first panhandling ordinances. City jails became de facto shelter systems. In addition, poor safety regulation caused a lot of physical disability and death. Those disabled and widows, many with dependent children had no means to provide for themselves and nowhere to turn. The 1850s brought the first documented cases of homeless youth, many of whom were kicked out of their homes because their providers could no longer afford to raise and take care of them (Baumohl 24). Homelessness is because of different factors. For instance, unemployment, natural disasters, war, and domestic violence in a family all contribute to homelessness. Baumohl observes that, “Unemployment is one of the main cause that homeless have occurs as they cannot have stable income to maintain their life” (31). U.S. government shows that, “In 2012, unemployment rate in California was about 10.1% of the total population” (National Alliance to End Homelessness 2). People are forced to travel to urban centers in search of employment. The lack of jobs is another factor that contributes to homelessness. Many homeless people do not have jobs. On the other hand, some of them have jobs but with very low income (Baumohl 31). They only can pay for food and the other limited needs except living place. Even if they have jobs, they will still have a problem that makes them in fear all the time. That obsession is job security. A large number of homeless people started their life as any other middle-class people who have their own houses and jobs. However, because there is no job security, they found themselves out on the street in one day (Baumohl 36). Low qualification, lack of opportunities, and economics depression are the main reasons that cause unemployment. “Systemic issues have developed over time. People living in generational poverty do not have the resources and support to become educated and move out of poverty”. People living in generational poverty do not have the resources and support to become educated and move out of poverty. For the past twenty years, majority of College students have graduated with a bachelors degree in America. Low qualification for students who failed to graduate from college exposes them to so much pressure in the high competitive jobs market. Since they have limited education, this means they will have limited selection on their jobs with low income, technique, and high working hours. In society, low qualifications cannot assist an individual to find a job that can satisfy and maintain their life needs. Therefore, the issue of homelessness is part of people in that they unable to pay costs such as rent, electricity, and water. For such people, the best way to stay alive is live on the street and reduce some of the costs (Heidi 2). Lack of opportunities is another reason that causes homelessness. This can be attributed to racial divides in areas of healthcare, education, access to mortgages, access to equal paying jobs among many others. The constant bombardment of racial messages takes root in the social consciousness. This ethos becomes obvious when we study policy choices. These systemic issues raise boundaries making it very difficult for any one individual to live on their own. “Racial divides still occur in the areas of healthcare, education, access to mortgages, access to equal paying jobs among many others. The constant bombardment of racial messages takes root in the social consciousness. This ethos becomes obvious when we study policy choices. Embedded in subconscious, these systemic issues raise boundaries making it very difficult for any one individual to overcome on their own.” In addition, Natural Disasters also contribute to homelessness problem. For instance, the Great Chicago Fire, The San Francisco earthquake, the massive flooding of the Mississippi River in the 1920s from Ohio through New Orleans displaced over 1.3 million people, the Drought of the 30s in Oklahoma and Texas, and Hurricane Katrina are examples of disasters that affected millions of people’s and destroyed their homes. The statistics and demographics of the homelessness show that women greatly affected (Heidi 2). United States Interagency Council on Homelessness shows that domestic violence is major cause of homelessness for women and that makes the need for separate, safe, and secure shelter especially acute. Some people do not realize how domestic violence effect on this phenomenon. Many children and women leave their house and families because of that. Those people prefer to live anywhere just to be away from that problem even if they do not have alternative location. Women and children are usually looking for the place that has stability and safe rather than anything else. If they find the street is the best choice, that would be keeping the homelessness problem increasing. This kind of homeless people will have physical and psychological health problems. Homeless women are more likely as compared to homeless men to have experienced childhood sexual abuse and/or foster care and adult partner abuse. For instance, it is estimated that more than 50% of all homeless women and children become homeless as a direct result of fleeing domestic violence. United States Interagency Council on Homelessness shows that, the availability of domestic violence shelter beds in the United States is poor in that up to 70% to 80% of women, and 80% of children are turned away on any given night in major cities. Shelters are woefully underfunded to the extent that some do not allow children. Average length of stay at a US shelter is 14 days; most allow a 30-day maximum stay. Ironically, women fleeing domestic violence are often not counted in studies of homelessness since they are considered to have a home or are staying temporarily in shelters. Since homeless people lack health insurance, they tend not to get adequate preventive care and appropriate routine management of chronic illnesses such as hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, and emphysema (Heidi 3). Besides lack of health insurance, other barriers to care include the pressure to fulfill competing nonfinancial needs such as those for food, clothing, and temporary shelter. In addition, they face misconceptions, prejudices, and frustrations on the part of health professionals. When hospitalized, the average length of stay of a homeless individual was 4.1 days, or 36% longer than that of low-income earner. In order to tackle the problem of homelessness, there should be programs that help families realize the dangers of domestic violence and how it affects on the society. That will help to overcome the problem on one side. There are many different programs for homeless people that help them to find temporary residences for living. All of those programs have good results since they reduce the size of the problem. However, the numbers of homeless people are increasing faster day after day which makes government programs of making shelters for homeless people inefficient. Since the shelters are not enough and are of bad quality, the government and philanthropist groups must reconsider these programs and make them more active than now. This can be done by increasing the numbers of shelters or improve their performance (National Alliance to End Homelessness 2). It is increasingly apparent that simply providing services to alleviate the problem of homelessness such as shelter, beds, meals, and psychiatric counseling is not enough to address the problem. There is the need for each city in the U.S.A to be responsible in addressing the issue of homelessness by assisting the homeless. For example, the city of San Francisco, California, due to its mild climate and its social programs has provided cash payments for homeless individuals. This in turn has made it known as the homelessness capital of the United States. The citys homeless population has been estimated at 7,000–10,000 people of which approximately 3,000–5,000 refuse shelter. The city spends $200 million a year on homelessness related programs. On May 3, 2004, San Francisco officially began an attempt to scale back the scope of its homelessness problem by changing its strategy from cash payments to the "Care Not Cash" plan. At the same time, grassroots organizations within the Bay Area such as the Suitcase Clinic work to provide referrals for housing and employment to the homeless population. In 2010, a city ordinance was passed to disallow sitting and lying down on public sidewalks for most of the day, from 7 am until 11 pm (Tiernan 1). Summarily, homelessness is a bad new phenomenon that threatens American society in general and the biggest cities in particular. Homelessness is caused by factor such as domestic violence, low qualifications, natural disasters, and unemployment. If there is no perception from the governments, families and companies of the size of the problem, it will not be stopped at this point. There should be a serious study to solve this humanity problem before the situation gets out of control. The government has to start that step because it has the overview, authority, and power to reduce the numbers of homeless people in short time. Homelessness occurred in the past and it might occur in the future. Therefore, in order to alleviate this problem, having charity organizations that donate the money and aid to the homeless will be very helpful to them. Government can provide better policy to help homeless people, which will help them step out the difficulties. Works Cited Baumohl, Jim. Homelessness in America. New York: Oryx Press, 1996. Print. Heidi. The History of Homelessness in America 1640s to Present. Medscape News Toady 16 November 2011. Print. National Alliance to End Homelessness. Changes in the HUD Definition of “Homeless.” National Alliance to End Homelessness, 18 January 2012. Web. 11 March 2013. http://www.endhomelessness.org/library/entry/changes-in-the-hud-definition-of-homeless Tiernan, Kip. Founder of First Shelter for Homeless Women, Dies at 85. 2011. Web. 11 March 2013. Print. United States Interagency Council on Homelessness. No one Should be Without a Safe, Stable Place to Call Home. Web. 11 March 2013. Read More