Critical Review of the Social Position of Young Homeless People - Assignment Example

Critical review of the social position of Young Homeless People Introduction The problem of homelessness is one of the most important as it often becomes the reason of other serious problems in our society. Fortunately, it is possible to trace significant alterations in the UK legislation regarding the issue of youth homelessness made during the last few years. These alterations are directed at the improvement of young homeless people’s position providing them with appropriate legal protection. The main groups of homeless youth who needs were identified as follows: the main group is 16-17 years old homeless people; the second is youth of 18-20 left on their own resources without opportunities to get proper education and consequently unable to find a job that would allow to solve their problems with accommodation. Such people will not be able to improve their position without the special help from the society. The corresponding measures were taken in different parts of the UK. For example, in Scotland special permanent housing provision schedules were created. Plans issued in England are focused not only on housing but on medical help provision. The authorities of Northern Ireland aim at the implementation of social inclusion of homeless youth. The given paper will review the social position of homeless young people in the UK and assess the effectiveness of the already taken measures (Quilgars et al, 2008). The statistics It is not possible to determine the exact quantity of homeless young people in the UK, because, unfortunately, not all of them apply to services. According to the available data, approximately 78,000 young people were homeless in 2006-2007, while around 45,000 were officially recognized as homeless and around 33.000 used special services for homeless but had no official status. Certainly, the number of sleeping rough young people is very low, but it is proved that almost every homeless young person has such a period in his life before he founds an accommodation. During the last few years the number of homeless young people decreased in England and Wales, but it remains high in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The representatives of fair sex often become officially recognized as homeless, while homeless young men prefer not to have an official status. It is interesting that among the homeless youth there are very few ethnic minorities’ representatives. The highest quantity of homeless representatives of ethnic minorities is determined in London. Special services and social inclusion Young individuals from families with poor conditions are at risk to become homeless. The main reason of homelessness is bad relations with parents. Many young homeless people went through violence and their mental health is usually very poor. It is essential that special agencies understand that such people need much care that they usually offer. It is obvious that homeless youth remain uneducated and consequently unemployed. They are not able to participate in social life. According to Solicitor Oliver Studdert (2009), “some may come from homes they cannot return to because of irreconcilable differences and others have experienced violence, abuse or are unaccompanied minors seeking asylum with no support and nowhere to go” (“Young need more than a roof”) . It was agreed that being officially recognized as homeless must not be the “best” result for young homeless individuals, they must be given permanent accommodation, but the main task of authorities is to implement social inclusion of young homeless people. Many of they are simply afraid of being recognized as homeless and do not want to apply to services because very often can’t find an expected understanding there. The moral needs of young homeless people are emphasized in the report “Young need more than a roof” (2009): The Law Lords ruled that councils should accommodate and support young people through their childrens services rather than passing them to housing authorities. This would usually involve the teenager being assessed for various needs - such as health and education - rather than just in terms of their housing needs (“Young need more than a roof”). During the last few years the authorities tried to expand the preventative services. The work with children from poor families and their parents has been implemented. The accommodation plans were also worked out, but it is not clear if the accommodation will serve as temporary or will be treated by young people as an opportunity to get necessary skills and experience. The second variant was called “transitional” accommodation and recognized as more appropriate: Models of temporary accommodation for young people were well developed, although further clarity was needed as to whether some should be short-term or more ‘transitional’ accommodation. Nonetheless, there remained a lack of suitable emergency accommodation and move-on housing options. Floating support was widely available and appeared successful (Quilgars et al, 2008). The opportunity to get skills and education will provide young people with chance to obtain their own houses. Young people are usually unable to buy a house especially in the conditions of crisis. Thus, special support plans were created to help young homeless people take affordable loans: New approaches to homelessness assessment, and services, had been developed in response to the government’s preventative agenda. However, tensions remained about the role and timing of some interventions, and there was scope for further development of earlier ‘pre-crisis’ interventions, including parenting initiatives. Effective prevention also requires the creation of affordable housing pathways for young people (Quilgars et al, 2008). Speaking about mental health, young people with serious mental illnesses are actively provided special help, however people with light mental disorders or alcoholic dependence like depression are not paid enough attention. Progress evaluation There is an agreement concluded between the parts of the UK regarding homeless young people and it is recognized that the already taken measures have positive results. However, this point of view is not shared by the young homeless individuals as they still meet a lot of problems on the way to find at least a temporary accommodation. Though home loans still remain unavailable, social inclusion is successfully implemented: Floating support schemes were well established, and appeared successful in improving young people’s ability to sustain tenancies. Providers were increasingly seeking to complement these by (re)building young people’s social support networks (promoting mentoring and befriending schemes in particular) (Quilgars et al, 2008). It was also recognised that conflict in the family keeps a lot of young people away from home for a long time, so one of the most important task is prevention as well as regulation of family conflicts. Support groups like Targeted Youth Support were created to focus on the problems of young people abuse, bad health, alcohol dependence, etc. There is a concern that a support system should be recognized by young people and should turn into a place, where they apply at once if have some problem in their family that can result in homelessness. It was agreed that it is necessary to find the ways to make home loans affordable for homeless youth. Notwithstanding that support became more available for young people, there is still a problem with temporary accommodation provision. There are still many rough sleeping young people met in the country. Some measures have been already taken, but the situation analysis testifies about the necessity of more accommodation. Oliver Studdert states: As a borough were very committed to looking after young people in need and this judgment means we, and many other boroughs, will need to review and in some ways change the ways in which we provide these services (“Young need more than a roof”). . Conclusion and recommendations The conclusion can be made that more analysis of the taken measures are need. They must be checked for effectiveness and weak places must be revealed. It is obvious that young individuals from families with poor conditions are at high risk to become homeless. The problems of poverty and unemployment are closely connected with the problem of homelessness. Poor families with unemployed or drinking parents generate conflicts, which make young people homeless. Homelessness in its turn prevents young individuals from receiving any education and from getting a job that would allow them to hire a flat or afford a home loan. The already taken measures have positive results. However, this point of view is not shared by young homeless individuals as they still meet a lot of problems on the way to find at least a temporary accommodation. Though home loans still remain unavailable, social inclusion is implemented. It also was noticed that people of 16-17 years old receive more help from the authorities and the conditions of their life are considerably improved. Homeless youth of 18-24 years old still suffer from poverty and despair being innocent. Thus, the development of policies should continue in order to help homeless youth and safe the future of the state. It is important to understand that young people really need more than a roof, they need moral support and hope that many of them have already lost. Works Cited Quilgars, Deborah, Johnsen, Sarah and Pleace, Nicholas (9 May 2008) Youth homelessness in the UK available at http://www.jrf.org.uk/publications/youth-homelessness-uk “Young need more than a roof” (20 May 2009) available at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/education/8059651.stm Read More