Housing the Single Homeless People in Wales - Essay Example

?HOUSING THE SINGLE HOMELESS PEOPLE IN WALES Housing the Single Homeless People in Wales ………. ……………… Unit …., Semester………, Academic Level………. Name of the professor…….. Date of Submission………………….. The society is characterised by different categories of people based on their social class. Those in the low social class form the majority in the society while those of high social class form a small percentage. Karl Marx, a renowned thinker in the earlier days, had seen this trend and developed a theory of social class where he described the society to be of two opposing classes being: the proletariats and the bourgeois. He envisaged an unfair society that could only be salvaged, in future, through a revolution when the poor majority turns against the rich minority who control the instruments of force. It does not need to get to such a point, since masses are represented politically. The government of the day is the custodian of its citizens’ rights and should strive to realize social protection. This is a noble bid of ensuring the less advantageous members of the society are protected and supported accordingly. Disadvantaged members of the society are often prone to social torture and biasness and as such they should be accorded the necessary assistance. This is why most governments all over the world have developed policies to assist in the management of the vulnerable members of the society. This category for instance include: orphans, the old, widows, physically and mentally challenged people, children and squatters among others. Due to their incapability, the government should have in place a well thought, implementable and sustainable policy to take care of their welfare. This brings us to the question, what is social policy? According to York.ac.uk (2013) social policy is a subject of study that heavily borrows from other disciplines like sociology, political science, economics and geography among others, and its main concern is the noble course of maximizing people’s well being. This is a subject that has increasingly been taught at the universities to train professionals who effectively and efficiently manage issues related to community welfare. The professionals are equipped with the necessary skills to help in the managements of social problems. York.ac.uk (2013) identifies five major thematic areas of social policy as a discipline to be: poverty, ill, health, poor housing, insufficient education and unemployment. Social policy as a discipline has continually gained popularity all over the world. Due to the current era of globalisation social problems have become a common concern for the world’s population and it needs an international approach. Titmuss (1974: p.139) documents that policy means the principles that govern actions directed to particular ends. Policy is therefore a driving force that drives an organisation or a state to specific desired goals. When policies are formulated and implemented well, then it is easy to realise the set goals. Social policy is welfare-oriented and is concerned with enhancing support to the social poor (Titmuss, 1974: p.141). Note that social policy does not only concern the poor, but also other unprivileged, though economically able members of the society like old age, women and children. To drive this point home let’s use an example. It is a fact that not all women are poor or have physical or mental challenges but social policies tend to consider them towards their emancipation from gender business. According to Farlex (2013), social policy is a line of argument rationalising the course of actions of a government as pertains to social issues. The lines of actions are carefully thought and planned to ensure change and amelioration of the lives of members of a community. Having defined social policy in general, it is safe to concentrate on one particular locality and a specific problem in for more elaboration. The paper will delve into examining housing for single homeless people in Wales. Wales is a mountainous, island country in the North-West Europe and is a member state of the famous United Kingdom (Barrow, 2012). Housing is a vital necessity and according to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs it is categorised as a basic need together with food and clothing (Businessballs.com, 2012). It is clear that shelter is a very important commodity for survival and every government should put in place well researched and implementable policies to enhance proper housing. Though vital, housing is a major challenge for many people owing to its high cost. A review on housing in Wales indicates that many single people are homeless in the country. Assemblywales.com (2013: p. 2) reports that, “between July and September 2006, Welsh Assembly Government figures showed that 782, out of a total of 1741, persons aged between 16 and 25 in Wales were deemed by local authorities to be eligible, unintentionally homeless and in priority need of housing.” This is a significant proportion of the population and should be addressed swiftly. About three-quarters of those recognised to be homeless are people who have no dependent children and most of the remaining quarter are lone parents (Poverty.org.uk, 2013). Further, statistics indicate that this number has skyrocketed with time up to 9,000 internal homeless households (Poverty.org.uk, 2013). This is not a negligible position and the government of Wales should move promptly to address this widespread crisis. Note that not every homeless single person has found his or her way to the statistics by the government. It is therefore safe to argue that the number could even be larger than this. Having learnt that this problem is grave, we can now examine the policies that the government has put in place to address it. Policies are often backed by legislation and the legislation of Wales has a provision to ensure that housing is provided to the homeless citizens. According to the Housing Act of Wales (2006), “local housing authorities have a duty to provide accommodation to the homeless, eligible for assistance and in priority needs.” Who are these people in priority needs? To start with it is proper to understand that those with priority needs are those who for one reason or another, for instance economic, physical and social reasons, are not able to access housing. According to Crisis.org.uk (2012) the categories of people belonging to homeless person priority needs include: 16 and 17 years old and 18-21 year old care leavers. These age brackets are majorly comprised of single young adults who have lost their accommodation being provided by relatives and friends. It is not their intention to become homeless, but the prevailing circumstances have forced them to this predicament. The single homeless people in Wales are protected by the law and Welsh authorities should address their plight of homelessness. As a matter of policy, the government intends to work with the homeless people, voluntary and private agencies to prevent this menace (Assemblywales.org, 2013: p.6). This is a good participatory policy since it seeks to include all the stake holders in the amelioration of the lives of the homeless people. In community development principles, a participatory approach is vital to realize sustainable change and development. De Campos (2009: p. 5) observes that participatory approach allows all the stakeholders to participate in decision making, program implementation and evaluation coupled with reaping from the outcome of the project. If you don’t include the homeless people in the plans, they may think that it is a project of the government and may not embrace it as theirs, hence, jeopardising its success. It is safe to argue that the government policy of Wales is committed to preventing and alleviating homelessness in the country. Even as we talk about the government’s commitment to provide housing to the homeless, it is important to note that this commitment should focus both on the preventive and corrective strategies to address this serious issue. According to Assemblywales.org (2013: p.6), the government has an undertaking to supply houses and promote access to housing together with providing temporary accommodation and supportive housing to the homeless public. In so doing, the less advantaged members of the society should be considered in the plans as this is the basis of the social policy of any given country. The government has taken cognisance of this fact and their policy covers the marginalized groups like the women and lesbians, gays and the minority communities (Welsh Assembly Government, 2005). The single homeless people in Wales are also part of these groups and as such they are addressed by the policies. Owing to the magnitude of the problem, there are currently many welfare provisions that the government and other stakeholders have put in place to address it. However, the paper will give an illustration using two examples being; provision of temporary accommodation and medical services to the single homeless people in Wales. One of the initiatives that have been used in Wales is the provision of emergency homes for the single homeless people. May, Cloke, and Johnsen (2003: p.3) observe that charitable and voluntary organisations have developed innovative projects to accommodate the homeless people, for example provision of emergency homes. The Welsh authorities have an obligation by law to provide homes for the homeless. The government has developed a strategy of providing temporary homes to the homeless people in Wales. Statistics indicate that currently, about 2,640 households are living in temporary homes in Wales. Though many are still homeless, this is a commendable short time strategy that has helped immensely in tackling the problem of homelessness in Wales. Healthcare is a very vital aspect of life and every government has an obligation of providing affordable, accessible and quality healthcare for its citizens. For economic prosperity, health is paramount since unhealthy people cannot do meaningful and consistent work, hence, reducing productivity. Reduced productivity is detrimental to economic, social and political development of any nation. According to Hutson (2007: p. 5) 52% of the homeless people interviewed indicated that they feel comfortable that their health needs have been met over the past years. This is an indication that the Welsh government has taken up the issue of providing medical care to the single homeless people in Wales seriously. Proper and accessible healthcare is a prerequisite for economic success and emancipation of the populations from the pangs of financial lack. Homeless people in Wales are faced with myriad health problems and the same need to be addressed efficiently and effectively. Some of these problems as documented by Hutson (2007) to include: mental health issues, accidents, dental health problems, addiction, pneumonia, fever, strokes/ heart attacks, poisoning and epilepsy among others. The government has endeavoured to provide medical care to the homeless people through numerous initiatives. To validate this point, let’s examine some of the strategies that have been employed. Hutson (2007) has documented many strategies in his report, but the paper will discuss three of them. The government has provided community nurses to attend to the single homeless people in Wales. Hutson (2007: p.10) observes that 23% of the respondents interviewed reported that they have been attended by a community nurse within the last one year and 88% of the respondents indicated that they were satisfied with the services offered. This is a sure undertaking of ensuring the single homeless people access medical attention since community nurses are found within the locality thereby enhancing their accessibility. In-patient services are also offered to the homeless people in Wales. In the event of acute illness, doctors often admit patients to the wards to facilitate close supervision. According to Hutson (2007: p. 12), 36 respondents translating to 35% of those interviewed reported that they had been admitted to hospitals and most of them were satisfied. It would not be wise to talk about healthcare without mentioning the issue of drugs. The required drugs have also been provided to homeless people in Wales though a low percentage of the respondents had accessed the drugs ( Hutson, 2007: p.16). It is a good gesture by the government to provide medical services to single homeless people in Wales as a matter of safeguarding their welfare. Most single homeless people in Wales are care leavers who were once accommodated by either relatives or friends. When they become homeless, unintentionally, they experience a lot of social strain since they lose economic, emotional and social support. It is a devastating event for individuals to be homeless and to stay in a hostel where one is not acquainted with the dwellers. The process of socialisation is complex and it would take them some time to attain normalcy. They often live in fear since they are aware that the looming possibility of losing their accommodation if they fail to adhere to the set rules. In the event of the same, they often become rough sleepers which is a devastating and a detrimental practice. Let’s elaborate this point by using the psychological torture faced by the single homeless people in the temporary homes. The temporary homes or hostels in Wales are always overcrowded due to the growing nature of homelessness. There is a correlation between overcrowding and depression, psychological symptoms, and accidental and violent deaths including suicide (Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, 2012). An occurrence like committing suicide is very dangerous and it can be argued to be closely connected to the psychological torture that the single homeless go through while in the said hostel. Another negative effect of homelessness is the health risks associated with it. One of the health risks it would cause is related to psychological torture amounting to stress. It is argued that stress is a serious killer in the contemporary society. Single homeless people also face congestion in the hostels or temporary accommodations; congestion is a sure recipe for the outbreak of communicable diseases. According to Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, (2012) there have been numerous researches in the UK on overcrowding and the spread of communicable diseases like diphtheria, mumps and tuberculosis, and congestion has been found to be a cause of the spread of such diseases. There is overcrowding in the hostels in Wales and this is detrimental to the health of the single homeless people who are housed at the said hostels. There are also benefits associated to the welfare provisions accorded to the single homeless population in Wales. The government has strived to provide healthcare to single homeless people in Wales and this goes a long way in ensuring that their health needs are properly and adequately catered for. Though there are challenges associated to health care provision like stigmatization and accessibility, it should be recognised that this act of safeguarding the health of the less fortunate members of the society is commendable. If they were left alone then one thing is sure that the death rates would increase, the life expectancy would reduce, and the general economic productivity would reduce due to medical issues. Provision of health care to the single homeless people in Wales is intertwined with myriad benefits as has been discussed hence it is an expedient undertaking and should be sustained and even improved. Another point to note is that the provision of temporary homes or hostels to single homeless people in Wales has to a great extent helped in solving lack of housing problems like sleeping rough. Report by Fondeville and Terry (2011:p.22) indicates that sleeping rough has been in the increase in the UK between June 2010 and January 2011. The paper has discussed housing the single homeless people in Wales. It is clear that homelessness is a serious problem in Wales and the government and other stakeholders must act swiftly to salvage the situation. In an attempt to house the single homeless people, the government has enacted legislations that help in providing them with houses; the government is obligated by law to provide housing to single homeless people as has been discussed. Further, there are policies in place to that helps in the implementation of the noble task of providing accommodation to the single homeless people in Wales. There are a number of welfare provisions that have been put in place in Wales for the single homeless people. However, the paper has discussed the provision of medical attention to them and it has come out that this is very vital for the development of the nation. The paper has also discussed another welfare provision; providing of temporary accommodation to the single homeless people in Wales and demonstrated that this is very instrumental, to a significant level, in curbing the menace of homelessness. Finally it has discussed the negative and positive effects of such welfare provisions. In conclusion, homelessness in general is a serious problem in Wales and it is good to appreciate whatever has been done by the government and other stakeholders to curb it. However, it is imperative that more practical and sustainable approaches should be developed to save the situation, and the intervention strategies currently used have to be implemented even further for the wellbeing of the suffering homeless population. References Assemblywales.org, 2013. Social Justice and Regeneration Committee; Report on Youth Homelessness [online] Available at: http://www.assemblywales.org/b02fe7256d342615795f1b775b082d74.pdf [Accesed:12 April 2013]. Barrow, M., 2012. Facts About Wales. [online] Available at: http://resources.wooBusinessballs.com, 2012. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. [online] Available at: http://www.businessballs.com/maslow.htm [Accessed: 12 April 2013] Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, 2002. Poor Housing and Mental Health in the United Kingdom: Changing the Focus for Intervention. [online] Available at: http://www.cieh.org/JEHR/housing_mental_health.html [Accessed: 12 April 2013] Crisis.org.uk, 2012.Who is Entitled to Council Housing? 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