Chronic Homelessness Issues - Essay Example

Chronic Homelessness According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (2003) chronic homelessness isa situation where an unaccompanied disabled individual has been continuously homeless for over one year. According to this definition, chronic homelessness initiative does not take into consideration children with or without disabilities living with their parents, parents with or without disability who are homeless and are living with their children. In addition, the initiative also does not include the youth with disabilities long enough to meet the federal definition of chronic homelessness. Whether unaccompanied or not, disabled or not disabled, communities or families, there will always be some people without roofs above their heads. The causes of homelessness are evident in the society. The first cause of homelessness is the societal trends and the changes that the wider segments of the population experience such as changes in housing markets and land use, employment opportunities and the quality of public education. Other important factors causing homelessness include institutional support for the people with disabilities and discriminatory policies of several varieties. High housing prices, all other factors being constant, makes housing affordable to fewer people especially to the disabled individuals who do not have any relative able to afford or provide housing services to them. The disabled persons also suffer the effects of homelessness when there are high unemployment levels in the country. Unemployment and the subsequent low pay levels ensures that fewer people, especially the disabled do not get adequate housing facilities relative to their low earnings, they are the most affected. Further, if the quality of public education and other institutions do not prepare most people to obtain jobs that pay a living wage more people will be at the risk of homelessness, the disabled being the most disadvantaged. Other factors that affect the society thus leading to homelessness are personal in nature. These factors include mental illness, developmental disabilities, physical disabilities, illnesses, illiteracy and addictions whether an individual is unaccompanied or accompanied (Burt, 2003 pp 1-5). Personal circumstances such as domestic violence, too many individuals to support on one income, individuals in foster care or familial abuse, and loss of housing facilities to fire, floods, hurricane and war automatically lead to homelessness (Anderson and Christian 111). It is important therefore that the unaccompanied and disabled individuals get the immediate attention in the efforts to provide housing services to the vulnerable citizens. The numbers of people experiencing the problem of chronic homelessness in the United States combine both structural and individual factors causing homelessness (Department of Health and Human Services 4019). These factors have not been solved with public policies adequate to reduce the problem of homelessness. The initiative to end homelessness in the coming years will be fruitful at the point when the government and other stakeholders will realize that public policy change could make a substantial difference in the problem of homelessness, not just chronic homelessness. According to Culhane and Kuhn (23), proponents of the chronic homelessness initiative base their argument on the research analyzing the shelter use patterns of single adults in publicly funded shelters in New York and Philadelphia. The findings of the research show that 80% of the shelter users had gone through a single duration of homelessness and stayed in the shelter for a short period of time. In addition, 10% had four or five episodes of homelessness and stayed in the shelter for longer periods of time, this group is referred to as the chronically homeless and they usually suffer from serious health and mental health issues. Proponents of chronic homelessness have come up with a conclusion based on the research findings. They say that the chronically homeless group ended up using half of all the shelter days, a larger share of homeless assistance should be used to prepare permanent housing for them (Anderson & Christian 108). The above research being cited is quite informative however; the conclusions drawn from it are misleading and inappropriate on the basis of national policy. The study only included data regarding single adults who used publicly funded shelters in two major metropolitan areas. The research does not include families with children or unaccompanied youth. In addition, the study did not measure use of any service other than the public-funded and the centrally administered emergency shelter days. The argument that the chronically homeless people represent 10% of all homeless people and use up half of all homeless services is incorrect and should not be used on the basis of national policy (Culhane, & Kuhn 25). The idea that the chronically homeless people are the most vulnerable among the people experiencing homelessness is inappropriate. All homeless individuals deserve and need a greater attention as well as the resources allocated. This type of argument put needy populations’ against each other. In addition, the credibility of the research is questioned when the research on children is considered. The most important factor causing homelessness that seems to be ignored by the proponents of chronic homelessness is poverty according to Anderson and Christian (110). It is evident that there is poverty that affects the affordability of housing units and it affects all the populations. An attempt to separate homelessness from poverty is aimed at fundamentally distorting the causes. Any individual experiencing the problem of homelessness deserve better services whether disabled or not disabled, accompanied or unaccompanied. Consequently, the chronic homelessness initiative is incapable of ending homelessness for the people with disabilities. Permanent housing facilities are being put in place to curb the problem, but it can not prevent the currently housed disabled individuals from losing their houses, this is because new individuals with disabilities will continue to be homeless because the underlying causes have not been addressed by the study. In the true sense, chronic homelessness should not be defined separately from the problem of homelessness. When it is argued from the definition that chronic homelessness is the lack of housing services to single and unaccompanied individuals, we fail to consider other vulnerable groups. Homelessness should be the term used in describing those in need of housing services. Apart from the unaccompanied individuals, other groups of people that need to be considered include poor people with or without disability, parents with or without disability who are homeless and are having children with them. The factors that determine homelessness should apply to wider population affected by both societal factors such as the high cost of housing, unemployment and individual factors such as poverty, domestic violence and natural calamities for example, earthquakes, hurricanes and floods. Conclusion Homelessness has been defined in terms of chronic homelessness. The two terms “chronic homelessness” and “homelessness” are being confused, being used as though they were one and the same. The term “homelessness” is more appropriate as it includes all sectors of the human population affected by both structural as well as individual factors affecting homelessness, chronic homelessness view ignore the privileges of other members of the society. Homelessness exist and is worthy of discursion or at least, action. Works Cited Culhane, D.P. & Kuhn, R. “Patterns and determinants of shelter utilization among single homeless adults in New York City and Philadelphia: A longitudinal analysis of homelessness”. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 17 (1) 23-43. 1997. US Department of Housing and Urban Development. “Notification of Funding Availability for Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance Programs, Office of Community Planning and Development”, Federal Register: Vol 68, No 80. 2003. Department of Health and Human Services. “The US Notice of Funding Availability for the Collaborative Initiative to Help End Chronic Homelessness”. Federal Register, Vol. 68, No. 17.p 4019. 2003. Martha Burt “Chronic Homelessness: Emergence of a public policy: Health-Social Justice-Human Rights MA MS degrees Brandeis University”. Fordham Urban Law Journal, Vol. 30. 2003. Anderson, I. and Christian, J. “Causes of homelessness in the UK: a dynamic analysis”. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, Vol. 13: 105–118. 2003. Read More