Category: Homelessness

Introduction

Each year, roughly 1% of the United Kingdom population, some 1-2 million people, experiences a period of homelessness that puts such individuals in contact with homeless care providers and no less than 750,000 individuals are homeless in the United Kingdom at any given period (Burt et al., 2010). People facing homelessness can gain from the various services offered by the program supported by the Community Human Services (CHS).

Among this group of people, there are various significant sub-groups, comprising: chronically homeless  among the 1-2 million people who face homelessness yearly, 10% have been classified as chronically homeless because of their prolonged durations of homelessness. At any given period, such a group will signify nearly half of the population (Park et al., 2004). This sub-group has been categorized as the chronically, or permanently homeless.

CHS, the United Kingdom Department of Urban Settlement (DUS), the United Kingdom Department of Housing Activities (DHA) and the United Kingdom Inter-agency Group (UKIG) have unanimously accepted the following description of permanently homeless people: unattended homeless individuals with hindering conditions who have either continuously been homeless for 12 months or have had no less than four cases of homelessness during the last 36 months; homeless family  information derived from the Public Analysis of Homeless Caregivers and members approximates that during 2009, family units encompassed 29% of the homeless individuals; 19% were young people and 10% were mature people in homeless family units (Burt et al., 2010).

On yearly basis, this implies 431,000 family units, comprising 929,000 young people, face homelessness in the U.K. Based on this proposal, a homeless family refers to one or two mature individuals escorted by no less than one young individual who are either homeless or who have had latest cases in which they were homeless; and at-risk persons  those people who may be vulnerable to become both homeless and permanently not-housed.

For instance, the yearly frequency of homelessness amid adolescents is approximated at 6.1% amid people aged 13 to 18, and data shows that people in this age set are endangered for facing homelessness (Koegel et al., 2010).

For the purposes of this proposal, a homeless adolescent refers to a person aged between 15 and 23 years who does not get support from family members and is not accompanied  living on the streets or in an unhealthy state. Other susceptible individuals in danger of homelessness comprise the disabled, refugees, individuals leaving institutions (for example, incarceration, hospitalized treatment for persistent medical or psychological states), frail aged, individuals facing abuse, and catastrophe survivors.

CHS and homelessness

The community human services is the U.K chief agency for guarding the health of U.K citizens and assisting the provision of basic human services, in particular for any individual who is least capable of assisting himself or herself.

The community agency is the biggest grant-making group in the U.K. The projects and assignments financed by the agency are managed by 11 functioning departments that function directly with national, local, and community-based organizations. Various CHS-financed programs are offered at the community level through national, regional or local groups, or by local and faith-oriented organizations and private division.

Ending persistent homelessness needs accommodation combined with the kinds of activities backed up through CHS projects. The provision of healthcare to people facing homelessness is encompassed in the operations of the agency, both in two projects mainly focused on homeless persons and in three non-focused, or ordinary, service provision projects (as illustrated in table 1 below).

Very frequently, individuals facing homelessness may be suitable for any service financed by such projects. Since the funds available for the ordinary projects are so much higher compared to the funds allocated to the identified homeless projects, CHS has dynamically followed a concept of enhancing access to usual packages for individuals facing homelessness (Koegel et al., 2010).

Table 1: CHS projects appropriate to individuals facing homelessness

CHS homelessness proposal

Purpose of proposal

The objective of the proposal is to provide the agency with an outline for the future based on an official document that deals with how persons, young people, and family units facing homelessness can be better reached via the proposed management of agency funds. This proposal aids the leader in highlighting any achievement that has been attained in the last several months, as well as in charting an option for future operations for the agency that draws from the recent endeavours. The proposal covers a three-year period, from FY 2013-2016.

Audience for the proposal

The proposal has both intrinsic and extrinsic audience groups and hence may be implemented in very many avenues. The intrinsic audiences consist of the CHS working and personnel departments that shall endorse the proposal and accept to put it into practice as is suitable to their relevant program. For instance, the proposal may affect CHS groups operation and promotion schedules, group functions, coaching, information gathering/decision-making, and/or financial planning.

The extrinsic audiences will be broad-ranging, comprising CHS beneficiaries and other key supporters of settlement programs, members of the agency settlement policy academy, the investors of agency/community 5-year strategies to curb homelessness, a participant of DUSs program of medical care procedure, support/interest groups, community representatives, researchers, national participants, and the United Kingdom Program on Housing.

Approach utilized to develop the 2013 framework

In developing the 2013 framework, a Strategic Planning Team was created, including participants from the different groups taking part in the Agencys Program. This planning team, working in collaboration with the agency, used a strategic procedure in reviewing current achievements and in developing suggestions for the scope and tactics to be the outline of the 2013 activities, the planning team reported to the entire team and reviewed the program as per the responses of the entire team. The 2013 proposal was distributed to the CHS working and employee department leaders before being endorsed by the agency and released to the public.

Measuring group results

The Agencys Planning Team will keep on meeting frequently. Before any meeting, the working and personnel departments that take part in the Planning Team will be required to meet with a view of updating the activities monitoring template. This template comprises main activity that the agency is implementing associated with housing and is drafted based on the objectives and procedures documented in the agency activity framework.

All activities recorded in the template comprise data regarding the activities, their durations, and their outcomes or expected results. The template can later be utilized as a diagnostic instrument for assessing the agencys development associated with the activity through goals or strategies, in addition to through participants. All revised templates are circulated to those participating in the agencys planning Team meetings. Also, any contributing group reports verbally on its operations in the meeting; meeting minutes are written and circulated to participants (Corey & Corey, 2006).

The following sections present additional discussion about different elements of the proposal. The first section outlines the 2013 Program Activities in detail, offering illustrations of tasks that might be carried out with a view of supporting the objectives and tactics suggested in the proposal. The second section underscores what is new in the proposal and the justification for extending the current goals and tactics developed in the previous plan. Lastly, an appendix, which provides a poster that would appeal to the target population, is given.

The proposal in detail

The section describes each goal and strategy identified in the proposal. The section as well presents, under each tactic, some examples of feasible tasks the agency could carry out with a view of fulfilling a given tactic. It is presumed throughout the proposal that no strategy, or activity, will be carried out before searching for and obtaining all necessary legal and/or dogmatic alterations required for ensuring that each program within CHS keeps on operating within its given authority.

It is in addition presumed that to the extent the strategy seeks to incorporate specific inclusion criteria to candidates as barriers to individual prizes, before doing so, any program will check that its approving agency and policy/management practices allow such incorporation of procedures. It is also presumed that no strategy will be carried out before deciding any intrinsic financial plan inferences.

Goal 1: Avoid cases of homelessness within the CHS clients, comprising persons and family units

In preventing cases of homelessness, the group will identify threat and preventive aspects for preventing instances of homelessness for in danger populations. One activity under this strategy entails, identifying and promoting the utilization of efficient, evidence-oriented homelessness protection programs like exoneration, liberation, or evolution scheduling; critical condition plans; access to prevention instructions, lawful support and security management for casualties of abuse; property-owner arbitration, and family reinforcing, together with managerial and cross-managerial based methods.

Another activity involves, promoting managerial growth and flat leadership between agencies like settlement, mental condition and drug misuse intervention and protection, and justice systems for providing incorporated wide-ranging services with a view of preventing homelessness.

Another activity involves, encouraging stakeholders and societies to experiment with different systems to developing an organized, inclusive approach to dealing with homelessness protection (e.g. providing a leadership that backs up any protection activity, fosters flexibility in the allocation of resources, and allows the growth of an orderly relationship between the group and implementing human service agency).

Another activity entails examining how CHS groups can generate, fund, or perform epidemiological, intrusion, and medical programs study regarding threat and preventive aspects for homelessness and establish protective intrusions that could be offered in Medicare and human services environment that is efficient at protecting vulnerable individuals from going into patterns of housing and individual insecurity that may lead to destituteness (Koegel et al., 2010).

Furthermore, the group will recognize threat and preventive elements with a view of preventing persistent homelessness amid individuals who are already destitute. One activity under this strategy involves, reviewing and generating the released and non-released literature with a view of identifying threat elements linked to persistent homelessness and preventive elements that lower the threat for persistent destituteness.

Another activity entails, examining how CHS can finance or carry out epidemiological, intrusion, and Medicare study regarding threat and preventive elements for persistent homelessness and identification of protective intrusions that could be offered in Medicare and human service environments that are efficient at protecting currently destitute persons from turning out to be persistently homeless.

Another activity involves, developing tailored intervention protecting persistent homelessness particularly for utilization in CHS program that is providing presently homeless persons like PATH, Food for Homeless beneficiaries, and Medicare for the homeless individuals (Corey & Corey, 2006).

Goal 2: Assist qualified, destitute persons and family units obtain socio-economical services

In strengthening promotion and commitment activities, the group will persuade ordinary projects that back up promotion and program leadership with a view of identifying persons and family units facing homelessness as possibly qualified participants for such programs.

Also, the group will recognize and facilitate creative promotion and commitment activities effectively working in active projects like mobile medical services, promotion employees who work as program leaders, and creative hospital-oriented program that operates via the Medicare for the Homeless Project and the PATH programs (Koegel et al., 2010).

In improving the inclusion check guideline, the group will establish instruments for agencies that shorten or rationalize the inclusion check procedure, similar to the Medical Funds and Program Leadership (MFPL)-financed publication named Rationalizing disability: Easy ways for health care provisions, which offers collaboration tools for the socio-economic managements Homeless Promotion Programs and Assessment (HPPA) project, focused on aiding qualified, persistently homeless persons to apply for Additional Social Fund (ASF) and Socio-economic Disability Insurance (SDI) gains.

The group will also enhance the eligibility of homeless aid activities among the agencies carrying out inclusion and participation duties for ordinary projects (Park et al., 2004).

In examining the working of CHS projects, correctly ordinary program that serves not only homeless individuals but also non-homeless individuals, the group will regulate ordinary CHS projects, determining hindrances to access for individuals facing persistent destituteness and recommend methods for reducing and eliminating such hindrances to services.

Also, the group will focus on identifying policy obstacles and extra problems experienced by any human service agency as it implements its Homeless Strategy Academy community proposals for increasing access to ordinary services (Koegel et al., 2010).

Group process

When the agency developed the Groups Planning Team on eliminating homelessness, the team was to suggest proposal for an agency-wide framework that would be utilized in the agencys endeavour to end persistent homelessness and to enhance the agencys capability of assisting individuals facing persistent homelessness.

Proof of the increasing number of homeless family units backs up the increased scope of the agencys proposal to integrate homeless family units with young people. Results based on available literature indicate that family units are an essential group that requires special consideration and intrusions that may vary from those that are effective to serve destitute persons. Recent study shows that homeless family units are more similar to disadvantaged sheltered family units than to sole destitute persons.

Many types of research have related sheltered and non-sheltered low-earning family units with a view of documenting what features or related aspects affect a low-earnings familys possibility of facing homelessness. Whereas such researches each assess the incidents of homeless family units in only single region and thus are not globally representative, the studies indicate similar outcomes (Park et al., 2004).

In order to identify which family units might be at highest threat for destituteness, one has to identify personal attributes that might show greater chances to experience homelessness like drug misuse and psychological sickness; family aspects, domestic violence; in addition to background aspects, such as absence of reasonable shelter in the society.

Other concerns associated with the origins and repercussions of family destituteness, such as families relationship with the children wellbeing or foster family frameworks, may be critical as the activities of a young person and his or her parents while he or she moves through the housing framework may be different (Koegel et al., 2010).

CHS runs various projects that may be accessible to destitute family units with young people and fugitive and destitute adolescents. The following poster indicates CHS projects (both focused and ordinary) that offer services to destitute family units:

Figure 1: Poster indicating CHS programs

In conclusion, extending the scope of the proposal with a view of encompassing family and young people destituteness will formalize the agencys currently ongoing efforts in assisting homeless family units with children and young people, in addition to tie the work of the agencys groups directly to the agencys goal and objective for the organization as a whole.

References

Corey, M., & Corey, G. (2006). Groups: Process and practice (8th ed.). Buckingham, England: Brooks Cole.

Koegel, P., Elan, M., & Audrey, B. (2010). Childhood risk factors for homelessness among homeless adults. American Journal for Public Health, 85(12), 1642-1649.

Park, J., Metraux, S., Brodbar, G., & Culhane, P. (2004). Child welfare involvement among children in homeless families. Child Welfare, 83(5), 423-436.

Introduction

There are several veterans who are homeless in the United States of America and are estimated to range between 130, 000 and 200,000 at a given one night. Homeless veterans represent a fifth of all homeless people in America. There are also those veterans who struggle to meet the excessive rent burdens and this has worsened their homelessness.

There is also a growing concern regarding the status of the veterans in the future. Women veterans and those with disabilities are becoming increasingly isolated and are likely to become homeless. This is a common characteristic of those veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Demographics

The records at the department of Veteran affairs in the US indicate that majority of the homeless veterans are males, and only four percent are females. Majority of them are single, from poor and disadvantaged backgrounds. Approximately, forty-five percent of them suffer from one form of disability or the other and nurse the effects of drug and substance abuse.

These homeless veterans are those who served in World War II, Cold war, Vietnam war, Korean war, Panama, Grenada and Lebanon. Female veterans are likely to be married but most of them end up suffering from psychiatric problems (National Coalition for the Homeless 1).

Programs and Policy Issues

Various attempts are made to ensure that veterans who are homeless acquire homes. The department of veteran affairs is responsible for funding temporary housing for the homeless veterans. These programs include: shelter and a two year transitional housing that is funded by the grant and their per diem program, long-term care through domiciliary care for the homeless veterans and imparting of some skills such as Compensated Work Therapy. However, these programs do not meet the required demand or the existing needs.

There is also the Department of Housing and Urban Development that have collaborated with the HUD-VA to offer supportive and housing programs that can connect the housing choice to the vouchers with the VA case management system and services. The HUD program mainly targets the veterans.

The addition of extra vouchers by the government was considered to be a major boost. Veteran assistant staff has been collaborating with local coalitions in various states to ensure that the homeless veterans are guaranteed of their security and safety by providing shelter, food, clothing and other forms of assistance (Todd 21).

The response by homeless veterans gained prominence in the 1980s when the Congress realized that veterans were unrepresented in the data of homeless persons. The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans was established to provide services and support to the increasing number of homeless veterans (Perl 18).

Conclusion

The needs and the demands of the homeless veterans are similar. The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans Affairs advocates for effective programs, and they suggest for community based non-profit organizations like veterans helping veterans group to spearhead the process. It has been shown that veterans can be successfully assisted to acquire homes.

The government needs to take proactive action to curb the menace of having so many veterans being homeless. Long term planning will make it possible for the veterans to be provided with social amenities and health care. The government also needs to actively examine the issue of wage disparity as it directly contributes to homelessness. Unless these are addressed, the tragedy of veteran homelessness will be an unending mess plaguing the American communities.

Works Cited

National Coalition for the Homeless. Homeless Veterans. National Coalition for the Homeless, 2009. Web.

Perl, Libby. Veterans and Homelessness. New York, NY: DIANE Publishing, n.d. Print.

Todd, Ernest. Homelessness: Is Society Looking the Other Way? New York, NY: Nova Science Publishers, 2005. Print.

Executive Summary

Homelessness has continued to be the most evident forms of systematic failure within the American society. For a long time, the majority of homeless people were simply individuals but the harsh economic conditions within the country have made more families and children homeless as well. This raises a big issue considering that 42% of these children are aged six years and below.

Seventy-five percent of homeless children are of elementary school going age. This has created a need for policy intervention, which can make it possible for these homeless people to live a more comfortable life that is free of upheavals.

These policy interventions must adequately deal with housing, psychological and social needs that cannot be accessed by homeless persons. Teachers should also be trained to deal with problems experienced by homeless schoolchildren in order to ensure counseling.

Introduction

The issue of homelessness in America is one that has proved to be a big challenge to policy makers and social systems. Homelessness has become one of the most visible signs of failure as regards efficient planning, which burdens cities and state governments in America.

A homeless person is the one that cannot access a regular and fixed residence (Herbert, 1976). This paper is going to highlight the problem of homelessness, policy frameworks and policy recommendations that can help deal with this challenge.

The Problem of Homelessness

The phenomenon of homelessness has been found to be more prevalent in urban areas than in rural areas of America because of large numbers of people residing within these urban settlements. This has created a burden on the system, which has made it difficult for some people to find decent accommodation and shelter that can cater for their needs.

The increase in population being experienced has made it difficult for urban authorities to construct decent shelter for large numbers of people needing accommodation. This has had an effect of pushing many to the streets thereby increasing the number of people within America who cannot afford rent or buy good housing units.

It is estimated that the majority of those who are homeless live in central cities and they constitute 71% of all the people who are homeless in America (Drake, 2002). Twenty-one percent of the homeless live in suburbs while the remaining portion lives in rural areas of America.

This issue therefore requires a strong participation by the federal government and other state governments to come up with ways in which these challenges can be addressed.

The homeless do not enjoy any dignity as a result of deprivation and poor conditions, which they face and are a stark reminder of the torment they have to undergo just to survive. The homeless people living in rural areas of America face difficulties in finding shelter and they are exposed to various harmful weather conditions that are a threat to their health.

The major causes of homelessness have been found to be economically related. This means that homelessness results from job loss, unemployment and poverty. All these factors make it difficult for a number of people to afford decent housing and as a result, they are faced with difficult circumstances forcing them to become homeless.

It is estimated that the number homeless people in America increased by 20,000 from 2008 to 2009 translating to an increase of about 3%.

This means that if the number of people who find themselves deprived of decent shelter remain unchecked, there could be bigger implications that the society might have to care for (Radin, 2000). The homeless in the country can be categorized into families, individuals, unsheltered and deprived children. All these groups form a significant segment of people who cannot access shelter in America.

The majority of states in the country have had an increase in the number of people who are homeless, with the largest number being registered in Louisiana. The consequence of homelessness is a social issue that America cannot continue to ignore. The condition threatens the dignity of some Americans in a country that is reputed to have the strongest economy in the world.

A worrying trend is that the number of family households that are homeless has increased and this is a situation that should be redressed as fast as possible. The homeless families increased by more than 3200 households between 2008 and 2009, with the majority of these being in Mississippi. These families are larger in number, which has created a major challenge to the social systems within the country.

Several homeless people live in the streets, where they cannot access basic shelter. This creates a problem that is hard to deal with. It is estimated that four out of ten homeless persons in the country cannot access good shelter and live in places that are not fit for human habitation. These exposes such people to various security and health risks making the conditions that they live in hazardous to their wellbeing.

They are likely to be exposed to cold weather and rain, which can make them acquire chest infections such as pneumonia. They are also exposed to vices and the possibility of bodily harm from criminals who may perpetrate acts of violence against them. Some of these people can be easily lured into criminal activities thereby creating social problems to the society.

The economic hardships that were experienced within the US economy because of the recent recession contributed high levels of homelessness in the country. The majority of homeless persons in the country cannot access public social services in form of healthcare, education and shelter, making them not to fit within the context of American society.

The homeless are not able to access preventive remedies that can be effective in making them not susceptible to diseases because of the risks that exist within the environment. Homeless people cannot get routine check ups for diseases such as diabetes, heart diseases, and cancer because they lack medical insurance.

The health system within the country does not offer ways in which they can be able to access health services at an affordable cost.

The homeless are more likely to be admitted to emergency rooms in hospitals for acute illnesses, which make them stay longer in health facilities compared to other Americans from low-income groups.

This is because they are not able to get preventive care to the health conditions that they face, making it difficult for them to recover quickly from acute illnesses. The mortality rates of the homeless are higher compared to those of other population segments, with their life expectancies being estimated to be below 45 years.

This makes the mortality rate of the homeless people living in America to be more than four times higher than that of the rest of the population living in the country. The harsh conditions that the homeless experience within their environment make them predestined to a shorter life cycle in comparison to other people within the country (Kuhlman, 1994).

The phenomenon of homelessness in the country has also brought about problems to children who are more vulnerable to dangers that emanate from horrifying lifestyles. It is estimated that one out of every fifty children in America are homeless because of several problems that exist within families.

This drives these children out of their homes. The children are driven out of their homes mainly because of parental neglect and abuse hence forcing them to the streets. Most of these children are exposed to depression, violence and anxiety, which affect their character when they become adults. Some are tempted to engage in criminal activities and other undesirable vices.

Texas, Louisiana and Georgia have the highest number of homeless children in America. This is because of destruction of property and loss of lives caused by Hurricane Katrina. The increasing number of homeless children affects social welfare programs that exist across different states in the country. Since it is estimated that forty-two percent of children are below years.

This makes their educational and healthcare needs limited compared to children from other families. These numbers create a terrifying situation for the country because there might be a higher number of homeless children in future because of inadequate budgetary and social support needed to eradicate the problem.

Some children are exposed to various forms of abuse when they are homeless, ranging from sexual abuse, drug abuse, initiation to crime and sexual violence. These children are exposed to an environment whereby such vices are common and as a result, they are likely to be psychologically and emotionally affected as they grow up.

Girls are at a higher risk of being sexually abused, and are more vulnerable because they are weaker and may not be able to defend themselves adequately.

Such girls may become pregnant at a very young age making it difficult for them to access job opportunities that they can depend on to sustain themselves and their children. This creates a situation where more people are not able to acquire quality shelter leading to prevalence of homeless families in the country.

There is a possibility of homeless children becoming juvenile delinquents. The justice system can be burdened with cases of criminal acts committed by minors hence creating social problems for the country. The high levels of violence and criminal acts experienced by the homeless may embolden them to become craftier as far as survival techniques and crime are concerned.

It has been noted that victims of physical or sexual violation are more likely to turn out more violent, especially if they do not receive any form of counseling (Kraft, & Furlong, 2010). Children develop sadistic instincts, which justify the use of violence to acquire any form of material possession without any regard to the likely consequences of their action.

Policy Intervention

The chronic homeless people should be supported to access housing services as quickly as possible so that they can be protected from vagaries of nature. The homeless policies nationwide must be structured to deal with the first time homeless people in order to help them settle as quickly as possible before they can be offered ways in which they can rebuild their lives.

Some homeless people are known to suffer from serious conditions of alcoholism and drug abuse and as such, they must be housed within shelters from which they can be offered health services (Kusmer, 2003). A combined health and housing plan help such addicts to recover quickly and help them live a positive life with a roof over their heads.

There are a number of solutions to the problem of homelessness such as political, perceptual and personal solutions. Perceptual policy is more costly and time consuming because it relates to changing the views of members of society. As an alternative, the policy is applicable only after solving political problems.

Personality policy is another alternative to the problem but it is more specific meaning that individuals themselves can come up with ideas on how to improve their lives. Community-based organizations can help individuals accomplish personal missions. Political solutions are more important because they consist of governmental action. It is about coming up with sound policies that aim at eliminating the problem.

It takes place in government that is, in the legislature, judiciary or executive. In this paper, more emphasis will be put on the executive branch because it is concerned with public policy.

The government must come up with policies that guarantee affordable housing, timely prevention and rapid re-housing plans, all-inclusive mental health services and increased social help (Drake, 2002). Policy makers from government are the only officers charged with designing all public programs.

State agencies must formulate key policies and legislations that aim at eradicating homelessness. The intention of homelessness legislation is to facilitate eradication of homelessness and reduce the load that lead to homelessness. For instance, the No Child Left behind Act, which was approved in 2001 ensures that schools do not discriminate homeless children by coming up separate classes.

In fact, it is a criminal offence to exercise discrimination against homelessness. Besides, one of the key aims of the McKinney-Vento Homelessness Assistance Act was to put off schools from keeping out learners who could not provide contacts of their houses.

The Chronic Homelessness Initiative Act created by Bush aimed at ending persistent homelessness by the year 2012.

To help in realizing this objective, the head of state collaborated with the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to form a plan that helps homeless persons obtain shelter and employment in quite a few communities. The tenets of the policy should be implemented fully to guarantee homeless people security.

Conclusion

In conclusion, homelessness is a social problem that has to be dealt with in order to ensure the American society does not suffer negative consequences. There should be effective policies that deal with the issue of homelessness comprehensively. Homelessness is an issue that policy makers have tried to handle in many years. However, the solutions and policies have not been conducive to the homeless people.

The Bushs regime tried to solve the issue by coming up with a policy aimed at preventing segregation and discrimination of the homeless children. The Obama regime established another policy referred to as no child left behind, although it was not successful at the start.

Overall, affirmative action should be taken to guarantee equality in society. The problem of homelessness can be solved in case policy makers pay attention to the existing policy frameworks.

References

Drake, H. (2002). Constantine and the Bishops: The Politics of Intolerance. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

Herbert, S. (1976). Administrative Behavior (3rd ed.). New York, NY: The Free Press.

Kraft, M., & Furlong, R. (2010). Public Policy: Politics, Analysis, and Alternatives (3rd ed.). New York, NY: CQ Press.

Kuhlman, L. (1994). Psychology on the streets: mental health practice with homeless persons. New York: J. Wiley & Sons.

Kusmer, L. (2003). Down and Out, On the Road: The Homeless in American History. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Radin, B. (2000). Beyond Machiavelli: Policy Analysis Comes of Age. Georgetown: Georgetown University Press

Homeless individuals lack access to protection, sense of belonging and are affected by diseases and seclusion. They are compelled to stay in crisis shelters or live with acquaintances and family due to a lack of options. In life, there are three basic needs of life which are food, clothing and shelter.

One without the other may be considered as a miserable life. Being homeless simply means being unable to acquire and maintain regular, safe, and adequate housing, or lack fixed, regular, and adequate night time residence (LHA Support Services, 2012). If a person lacks residence, then the person is homeless. In most cases, being homeless comes along with lack of food and proper clothing.

In Ohio State, the situation of homelessness may be considered to be worse. It is characterised by the American natives, blacks, whites, and other American. In fact, 10,576 homeless Ohioans were in shelters or transitional housing in 20103 (Facts on Poverty & Homelessness, 2012). This is a very huge number which translates to many homesteads.

The causes of homelessness may vary from time to time and from person to person. Major ones can be classified into economic, social and political. In Ohio, however, many individuals experience homelessness through mental health cases, drugs and unemployment.

Ploeg et al. (1997) indicated that the effects of poverty and a tight housing market were more important than individual psychosocial problems as causes of homelessness among families. The causes of homelessness in the current Ohio include the rising costs of housing, poverty and the lack of affordable housing.

For instance, current levels of housing costs, coupled with low wage jobs can result in the working poor being forced out of their homes, divorce, domestic violence and lack of family support, broken relationships, chronic health problems or physical disabilities and sudden job loss due to injury or illness. Others include mental illness, engaging in drugs, alcohol, gambling addictions and natural disaster (Facts on Poverty & Homelessness, 2012).

There are various effects of homelessness to the community and to the homeless. These effects have impacted negatively on the homeless individuals depending on the underlying causes. They include:

1. Psychosocial health. Homelessness leads to mental imbalance, thus, there are so many madmen in the streets. Facts on Poverty & Homelessness (2012) indicate that 20-25% of the US homeless populations suffer from some form of mental illness, compared to 6% of the general population.
2. Other health effects of homelessness are cold injury, cardio respiratory diseases, tuberculosis, skin disease, nutritional deficiencies, sleep deprivation, mental illness, physical and sexual assault, drug dependency and HIV/AIDS.
3. The persons life is also affected (perhaps the accelerators of mental disorder) in a number of ways some of which are loss of self esteem, becoming institutionalized, Increase in substance misuse, loss of ability and will to care for oneself, Increased danger of abuse and violence, Increased chance of entering the criminal justice system, and development of behavioral problems (Oracle Think Quest, 2012).

In conclusion, it is of prime importance for the government to perform proper planning and education. If the population is educated and provided with various avenues of earning a living, then the issues of homelessness may be drastically reduced. A society that provides food, shelter and clothing to its citizens is a healthy society.

References

Facts on Poverty & Homelessness. (2012). Sheltered Accommodation. Web.

LHA Support Services. (2012). Homelessness and Young People. Web.

Oracle Think Quest. (2012). Learning Disabilities. Web.

Ploeg et al. (1997). Homeless Youth. London: Sage publishers.

The Purpose and Goals of the Campaign

Background Information

Improving the state of housing is a current priority but is severely competitive and insufficient right now. Housing and shelter for the homeless are deeply tied to the current lack of welfare services that the homeless are able to use and rely on. There are many reasons why this crisis is a serious concern. The homeless experience structural barriers, which are obstacles in the welfare system that prevent even eligible individuals from receiving the services they require. For instance, the location of a program, method of organization, or special requirements from participants can affect the chances of a homeless person receiving welfare assistance (U.S Department of Health and Social Services, 2020). Capacity barriers are also detrimental. Frequently appropriate funding or resources are not given due to the lower sign-up of participants due to structural barriers. Eligibility barriers are also a serious obstacle as they dictate standards, time limits, and other factors that homeless people must meet before receiving life-changing services that they are in dire need of. The issue is embedded in an infrastructural and policy-centered field, and any successful campaign should address both the restricting bureaucracies and the lacking fundamental groundwork.

The Campaign

Currently, the majority of the progress being made is driven by federal authorities and local government. However, the presence of community members can have a staggering effect on an issue like this. One of the issues the campaign is currently facing is the lack of information about the problem, the current government programs, their strengths and weaknesses, and the input that general citizens can make for the improvement of homeless shelters and services. The proposed campaign would focus on recruiting community members to be informed and inform others of the currently available programs and offered services, with the potential to expand the reach of these services both through information and increased infrastructural improvements. This is essential as certain areas do not have corresponding services to certain individual needs. An informed center or person can communicate with the local homeless population about their needs and the available or lacking services in their region. Additionally, increased attendance of these programs will allow these organizations to request better funding and resources.

Publicization of the Campaign

The campaign will have multiple ways to recruit individuals and then inform them of the issue, the current programs, the solutions, and what their contributions can pertain to. Though recruiting volunteers through social media is important, it is a tool that is unavailable to many homeless people and is not only then useless but a dividing force. As such, social media can be used to promote the campaign and its events. The events can be hosted with the help of volunteers and local government. The most useful type of gatherings would be workshops with specialists. This will allow the homeless population and the volunteers to build a sense of community and teamwork while learning the essentials of current welfare. Additionally, the face-to-face meeting allows for questions and answers in real-time. Though such a gathering is difficult in the pandemic, these workshops can begin on a small scale and branch out as lockdown restrictions begin to ease.

Evaluation of the Campaign

Goals

Awareness Goals

Since the events will take place publicly, an estimated count of attendees can be made with every workshop. Volunteers can sign-up through social media and mark themselves as present if they arrive at the event. These numbers can be compared from area to area to estimate the impact the workshops are doing in comparison to population sizes.

Infrastructure and Services

Since the majority of provided services and welfare resources will be offered by federal authorities, there is likely to be a statistical collection of the increase or decrease of program applicants and users.

Feedback

Most importantly, qualitative data should be collected from attendees. It is essential that the primary hosts acknowledge the difficulties the homeless and volunteer attendees face. Feedback will be vital in understanding the workings of the campaign on a very grounded and individual level.

Plan

Introduction

Contact local programs and organizations that already work with the homeless and address issues of shelter, service availability, and general access to resources and information.

The Group

The initial group should be formed from volunteers and at least one specialist either from independent recruitment or from the organizations. The team will focus on reaching out to other volunteers and the homeless population.

Workshop

The first workshop is crucial as it will set a standard for the necessary funding, equipment, attendance rates, length of the event, and topics of discussion.

Reference

U.S Department of Health and Social Services (2020) Housing and shelter,SAMHSA. Web.

The notion of quality nursing care encompasses a variety of behavioral and social concepts that are to be regarded when planning any intervention. Such a responsibility, in its turn, requires sensitivity for various social layers, including generally accepted vulnerable groups. Vulnerable populations may be defined as social groups that have lower expectancy rates and poorer access to health care caused by disparities in their physical or socio-economic opportunities. In the US, vulnerable populations generally encompass homeless people, people with disabilities, the elderly, ethnic minorities, people living with HIV/AIDS, the uninsured, and low-income populations (Joszt, 2018). For some regions in the US, especially when it comes to metropolitan areas, homelessness remains a significant social issue. According to the statistics, seventeen people out of ten thousand Americans experienced homelessness on a given night in 2019 (State of homelessness, 2020). For this reason, it is important for nurses to realize the scope of the issue in order to create a framework for addressing this populations health.

People struggling with homelessness are at higher risk of obtaining various chronic health conditions because they do not have the ability to be socially secure from the health risks related to poor nutrition and the absence of housing (Stevenson & Purpuro, 2018). As a result, such a lack of protection makes these people labeled as vulnerable. Moreover, homeless people are generally rejected in society, which makes people with no housing feel rather insecure about health professionals intention to help, as they believe that they are not welcomed in society and, therefore, do not deserve help.

According to the statistics, the vast majority of homeless people in the US are white men who experience various reasons for having no permanent housing, including substance addiction, severe financial problems, and suffer from financial fraud (State of homelessness, 2020). Stevenson & Purpuro (2018) that one of the ways to improve the current situation is to provide nursing students with enough knowledge on the specifics of the homeless populations health. In such a way, they will be more prepared to come up with quality personalized approaches to health care for this vulnerable populations representatives.

References

Joszt, L. (2018). Five vulnerable populations in health care.Web.

State of homelessness. (2020). National Alliance to End Homelessness. Web.

Stevenson, E., & Purpuro, T. (2018). Homeless people: Nursing care with dignity. Nursing, 48(6), 58-62.

Introduction

• Homelessness refers people without shelter.
• Cities have formulated enacted and enforced laws that criminalise homelessness.
• Concerns of these cities relate to the use of public space.
• Kristen Brown (1999) notes that cities enact and enforce these criminal laws as quick-fix solutions to remove homeless people from sight, rather than addressing the underlying causes of homelessness(p. 1 ).

Factors contributing to homelessness

• Lack of affordable housing.
• Social exclusion.
• Poverty and lack of employment opportunities.
• Mental problems and disabilities.
• Drug abuse.
• Wars and social crimes.
• Natural disasters.
• Domestic violence.
• Forced eviction.
• Relationships issues within families.

Laws

• Most city laws prohibit or restrict begging, camping, squatting, and or sleeping in a public space (Longstaffe-Gowan, 2012; SNOB(AHA), 2012).
• Cities have engaged in crackdowns on homeless individuals while the police conducts sweeps on homeless people.
• Courts have prosecuted homeless person on accounts of breaking city by-laws (Amster, 2008).
• Homeless persons and lawyers have challenged the constitutionality of such laws.
• Homeless persons remain vulnerable to legal challenges and constant prosecution (Wardhaugh, 2000).
• In Hungary, the UN warned that it was a violation of the law that guaranteed legal certainty, right to human dignity and the right to property.
• Such laws led to discriminatory effects on people living in poverty and social exclusion.
• Such laws did not account for the basic rights of homeless people to liberty, privacy, personal security and protection of the family.
• They also ignored international best practices on human rights and violated European democracies.

Intolerance of homeless people

• Homeless people face many forms of violence and the rate of such crimes are on the rise.
• Intolerance of homelessness and homeless people by cities, law enforcement agencies, and the public accounts for such violent crimes against homeless people.
• Anti-social behaviour order and prescriptive list of authorised behaviours allow police to harass, threaten or even arrest groups they consider undesirable.

Criminalisation of homelessness

Herbert Breidenbach of International Network of Street Papers (INSP) claims that criminalising homelessness, especially in public spaces, is futile, anti-democratic, illegal and indicates a self-hatred within society (Breidenbach, 2012).

Brown (1999) also claims that criminalisation of homelessness is a poor public and misinformed policy (Harding, 1994).

Such critics consider criminalisation of homelessness as a way of removing homeless people out of public sight rather than providing lasting solutions (Cunningham, 1999; Feinberg, 1984).

Criminalisation: an ineffective approach

• The approach fails to address the real cause of the problem.
• Homeless people engage in innocent activities.
• Criminalisation of such activities cannot reduce homelessness.
• Homeless people lack alternative places or shelters.
• People who punish poverty (lack of adequate resources and services) are engaging in inhumane and futile activities.
• Criminalisation of homelessness puts extra and unnecessary pressure on law enforcement agencies.
• Criminal justice system cannot address challenges like drug abuse, mental problems and other diseases, which homeless persons experience.
• Instead, health care service providers should handle such issues.
• Police officers lack the required skills for handling health problems of homeless individuals.
• Criminal justice systems do not have proper facilities for handling unique cases of homeless persons.
• Criminalisation does not offer any long-term solutions to homelessness.
• The approach does not address the effective use of public space by everybody (Dennis, 2011).
• It is expensive to keep prisoners than to offer alternative shelters (Brown, 1999).
• The approach is oppressive to marginalised homeless individuals with regard to the use of public space (Garkawe, 2011).
• It goes against the noble idea of co-existence among citizens.

Best approaches to handling homelessness

• Cities should embark on constructive solution to homelessness and the use of public space.
• Courts have ruled that homelessness is a social issue, which needs to be addressed by the provision of adequate services and not by criminal proceedings (Sofia Globe, 2012).
• Hungarian government has noted that the country lacks enough shelter for all homeless individuals (this is a similar case across many European cities).
• Reducing homelessness requires constructing many houses.
• Reducing poverty and allowing people to gain access to their social rights.
• The best approaches to solving the problem of homelessness involve collaboration among city officials, police departments, and business communities.
• Homeless individuals and their advocates must also collaborate with others to find solutions.

Long-Term Solutions

• The above are some of the ways in which cities can address the problem of homelessness and the use of public space. However, such approaches are not adequate.
• Long-term solutions must address punitive approaches of the criminal justice system.
• The ultimate solution must address the issues of affordable housing and the inadequacy of services, and causes of poverty. These are the underlying causes of homelessness.
• Transitional housing: offers temporary housing for given groups as they plan to get their affordable housing.
• Supportive housing: provides both housing and other social services for the homelessness in order to enhance stability in their lives.
• Pedestrian villages: such places could offer both temporary and permanent homes for the homeless, as well as treatments required.

Effective solutions must offer

• Improved access to treatments and services for health problems and drug abuse cases. The police and other law agencies lack such services.
• Improved coordination across different services for the homeless.
• Reduced cases of rising violence against homeless persons.
• Improved studies and evaluations of interventions for future improvement.

Summary and Conclusion

• Poverty is not a crime.
• Homelessness and the use of public space should not force cities to embark on oppression and coercive policies.
• Cities should use the law, resources, and cooperate with other bodies to provide enough housing facilities for the homeless.
• The criminal justice system should not use their time and meagre resources on poor and vulnerable homeless populations.
• Cities, public, and police brutality and intolerance of homelessness and homeless persons do not address causes of homelessness.
• Effective approach to regulating homelessness should involve elimination of homelessness among homeless persons and identifying people who are at the risk of becoming homeless for support.
• Cities need effective policies for problems of homelessness and not punitive laws.

Reference List

• Amster, R 2008, Lost in Space: The Criminalization, Globalization, and Urban Ecology of Homelessness, LFB Scholarly, New York.
• Breidenbach, H 2012, Criminalising homelessness is anti-democratic and instigates hatred. Web.
• Brown, K 1999, Outlawing Homelessness, National Housing Institute, vol. 106, p. 1.
• Cunningham, K 1999, Out of SightOut of Mind, DIANE Publishing, London.
• Dennis, J 2011, The Right Not to be Criminalized: Demarcating Criminal Laws Authority, Ashgate, London.
• Feinberg, J 1984, Harm to Others: The Moral Limits of the Criminal Law, OUP Publisher, New York.
• Garkawe, S 2011, Modern Victimology: Its Importance, Scope and Relationship with Criminology, ActaCriminologica, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 9099.
• Harding, R 1994, Victimisation, Moral Panics, and the Distortion of Criminal Justice Policy, Current Issues in Criminal Justice, vol. 6, pp. 27-42.
• Longstaffe-Gowan, T 2012, The London Square: Gardens in the Midst of Town, Yale University Press, New Haven.
• SNOB(AHA) 2012, A Brief and Incomplete History of Squatting in Brighton (and Hove). Web.
• Sofia Globe 2012 UN experts urge Hungary to reverse law criminalising homelessness. Web.
• Wardhaugh, J 2000, Sub city : young people, homelessness and crime, Aldershot, Ashgate.

It should be stated that the problem of homeless people is an acute social issue that should be addressed by continuous efforts and initiatives coming from both governmental institutions and society. It is important to obtain essential data from reliable sources while assessing a communitys challenges (Edelman et al., 2013). This assessment will focus on this issue within the scope of Los Angeles, California. A reliable organization that provides statistics on the problem and aims to overcome it is the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, or LAHSA. The findings of the latter will serve as a foundation for a comprehensive analysis.

The crucial facts regarding the theme might be formulated as follows. According to LAHSA (2020), about 66 000 people in the city are experiencing homelessness. Then, This years Count revealed that two-thirds of the unsheltered adults experiencing homelessness were homeless for the first time last year, and 59% of them cited economic hardship as the cause (LAHSA, 2020, para. 11). What is more, LAHSA (2020) states that about 12% of homeless people are under 18, and about 30% are women. It should also be emphasized that there has been an increase in homelessness for LA if to compare with the previous year.

The community of homeless people has a number of significant strengths. First, it is well-organized and managed due to the authorities concern and assistance. For instance, in 2019, the rehousing system helped 22,769 people move into permanent housing (LAHSA, 2020, para. 5). Second, the essential indicators of this community are constantly monitored and assessed  it allows coherent and consistent planning on how to address vital issues related to homelessness in LA. The given strengths might imply that the community can be provided with the necessary help appropriately.

Nevertheless, there are some concerns within the scope of the issue. First, the community is susceptible to various diseases as its representatives do not possess permanent and reliable housing that might protect them from diverse illnesses. For example, Covid-19 put considerable pressure on homeless people as it turned out that it is critical to stay self-isolated (LAHSA, 2020). Second, the community cannot afford a sufficient level of education; hence, there are high rates of illiteracy. The latter makes it difficult to find a well-paid job and get rid of the homeless status. Although the listed concerns are critical, the above strengths might compensate and address them to an exact extent.

However, there is also a number of barriers that hinder health plan implementation for homeless people. Some of them exist in conditions that put some particular obstacles in providing these plans (Cowan, 2020). Above all, it is hard for them to keep a supply of medication while there is life on the street. This street gives many opportunities to harm health with alcohol and drugs. It leads to drug and alcohol abuse, which is added to numerous physical and mental diseases. Moreover, plenty of homeless people does not tend to trust healthcare institutions due to insignificant experiences in the past.

In order to overcome the above barriers, it might be rational to launch several healthcare programs aimed at charitable provision of related services to homeless people in LA. The critical point here is that these programs should be promoted and delivered in such a way that the recipients could have no doubts regarding participating in them. Then, society may better tolerate the community if it gets rid of the thoughts about the personal guilt of each homeless person in his or her current situation. It might be appropriate to provide some societal advertising campaigns via central television and social media.

References

Edelman, C. L., Kudzma, E. C., & Mandle, C., L. (2013). Health promotion throughout the life span (8^th ed.). Mosby.

Cowan, J. (2020). What Los Angeless homeless count results tell us. The New York Times. Web.

LAHSA. (2020). 2020 greater Los Angeles homeless count results. Web.

Background Analysis

Inequality is increasing throughout the The United States and this is having a negative job effect on social conditions. In California, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Hawaii, and Alaska, homelessness exceeds 50 people for every 10,000 people. On the East Coast, only New York and Massachusetts have such high rates (Schweid 34). It is expected that US homelessness could increase by 45% this year (Routhier 9). Homeless people are gradually becoming more numerous in other affluent cities on the west coast. There, too, people lose their homes, mainly due to rising prices and evictions from the housing by court order. At the same time, housing is unavailable for low-income people in the US (Routhier 4). However, this crisis has been developed for a long time  over the past few decades, the federal government has reduced funding for affordable housing and mental health facilities, which has led to the situation when many people across the country appeared homeless.

UN studies also show that the number of homeless Americans in the USA is steadily increasing. Despite the undoubted successes of the Trump administration in the economic sphere  it appeared possible to significantly reduce unemployment and overcome the mortgage crisis  the number of homeless people is constantly growing (Schweid 90). The reason for this is steadily increasing rental rates, while the median hourly wage in the United States over the past half-century has not changed. According to the calculations of the Institute for Economic Policy, in 1973, it amounted to 16.7 dollars, and in 2016  17.8 (when calculating, the purchasing power of the dollar was taken into account). However, if in 1973 a studio in the prestigious New York area of the Upper East Side could be rented for $300 a month, now it will cost $3800.

According to various data, the authorities unfairly treat the homeless throughout the country. They are transferred to the category of criminal elements when they are accused of violations  spending the night in the open air, begging (Willse 64). Moreover, the homeless appeared one of the most vulnerable populations in the United States during the coronavirus pandemic. Failure to comply with social distance and basic sanitation leads to the rapid spread of infection.

Officials cited three reasons for rising homelessness: unemployment, poverty, and lack of affordable housing, but in fact, there are many more reasons. In particular, there is a large number of veterans among the homeless, because the US Department of Veterans Affairs is not coping well with its duties and does not provide its wards with social housing and medical services sufficiently. There is another reason people often lose their homes. It applies to those who live in disadvantaged and poor areas, which appeared under the process of gentrification. Parks, business centers, and expensive apartment complexes appear on the site of demolished old houses. Renting a house in the area has risen sharply, and people unable to pay it also join the ranks of the homeless. The number of homeless people is regularly replenished by ex-criminals released from prisons. Most of them have practically no chanctooa we- id jobs and rent a house.

A significant part of the homeless has a job, but they simply cannot afford to pay for housing. Some have disability social facilities due to physical or mental problems but still cannot afford rent. Those who want to work often are not hired because they cannot apply for a job without a permanent address, clean clothes, and the ability to take a shower.

Letter to U.S. Congressman John Garamendi

Dear Mr. Garamendi,

As an American citizen and resident of California, I would like to address you with the ask to consider one of the most acute social problems in the country as a whole and California in particular  the problem of homelessness. Under the conditions of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the issue of homelessness can potentially affect national security (Clark-Ginzberg et al. 3).

Knowing your special attention to the issues of fighting unemployment and ensuring affordable healthcare for all categories of citizens, as well as your 100% pro-veterans record, I do believe that, based on your beliefs in social justice in California  home to the most diverse population in America  you will take into consideration the information presented below, to include it into drawing up the appropriate policies on the stages of agenda-setting and policy formulation. It is known that the political process has certain cyclicality, repeatability. A wide variety of processes indicates that it is rather difficult to single out the stages of the political process that are common to all types. Of course, in solving the problem of homelessness, the implementation of one policy, depending on the results achieved, will be followed by a consistent formulation of the following. However, at the moment, it seems necessary to begin with examining and recognizing the existence of the homelessness problem and outline potential systemic measures to rectify the situation.

The number of homeless people is rapidly growing, which is caused by a weak increase in real wages and unreasonably high housing prices. It is a shame for the country to have a large number of veterans among the homeless, and the fact that citizens who have served their sentences in prisons cannot find work increases the level of the criminal situation in society. Moreover, there is often an unfair and unprofessional attitude of police officers towards homeless but law-abiding citizens.

Today, the liberalist position that the poor themselves are the culprits of their situation and do not try to make efforts to rectify the situation is erroneous since the level of rental rates and housing prices are becoming unbearable even for the middle class, not to mention people with low qualifications and accordingly low income. The task of governments at all levels is to develop a competent, consistent, and effective policy to help the homeless, taking into account all systemic factors of the economic and social plan.

References

Clark-Ginzberg, Aaron et al. Emergency Homeless Services During the COVID-19 Crisis. RAND, 2020. Web.

Routhier, Giselle. State of the Homelessness 2020. Coalition for the Homeless.

Schweid, Richard. Invisible Nation: Homeless Families in America. University of California Press, 2016.

WWills Craig. The Value of Homelessness: Managing Surplus Life in the United States. University of Minnesota Press, 2015.

Introduction

A significant number of New York Citys homeless children are housed in foster homes throughout the city. These homes have increasingly become important in helping homeless children live normal lives, as well as building strong foundations for their future. In the attempt to illustrate the importance of foster homes in helping needy children, concurrent sections of this paper shall use Roslyn Mickelsons insights as building blocks. The paper shall elaborate on the importance and challenges facing the system, as well expressing ideas on how to improve the current status.

Among the major challenges facing the system is a family separation that is caused by members of the homeless being housed in different foster cares (Mickelson 61). This is shown by the specialization that is seen in the citys, as well as the countrys, foster homes. Indeed, most foster care chooses to either house children (boys, girls, or both), whereas parents are forced to look for other places to stay. The lucky parents could find nice places to seek refuge but could be far away from where their children are housed. This means that they cannot afford to meet on a regular basis.

Main body

Though children are well-taken care of in their respective foster homes, growing up without being close to their parents robs them of a special attachment, loving, and parental care. This could hurt the childrens psychological well-being despite the high quality of life that could be experienced at their respective foster cares. Parents, too suffer from a lack of closeness between them and their kids. Though the parents are relieved of the pains of suffering together with kids on city streets, the pain for not seeing kids more often could take the toll of their hardship in coupling with poverty-ridden lives (McMahon A6).

Foster homes have to also face the challenge of developing the mentalities of the children are their clients, and care should be provided on that basis. According to Mickelson (16), developing such a mentality could lead to the children being helped have some entitlement thoughts that could jeopardize systems effectiveness. These children could also fail to develop self-dependency attitudes that would aid in their working hard by taking advantage of the opportunities provided by the system. Foster families should therefore embark on providing the best care, but also help homeless children develop self-dependence.

Despite the just mentioned challenges that the foster family system has to overcome, there are many strengths that have enabled the system to help many homeless children. First, the system is said to be less restrictive in the process of helping Homeless children overcome their challenges (Mickelson 87). This develops from fact that this helpings system works from a family perspective That is, the children are treated as members of their new homes. As a result, the kids are able to grow to have a family experience, compared to other systems that provide other settings. Parental absence is therefore filled by the foster parents, whereas that of siblings is filled by children in the foster homes.

Foster homes are also credited with providing excellent rehabilitation programs for homeless children suffering from addiction of stigma related challenges (CAB 24). This is aided by the support which foster parents receive from well-wishers. In addition, having foster-related issues done through legal processes mean that authorities would consistently monitor progress being made, as well as providing support and advice to the parents. The work done by foster families is therefore posed to be a satisfactory one, given the presence of procedures ensuring that all is done in a transparent manner that avoids hurting the children that the system is supposed to help.

These families are also credited with the ability to guide Homeless childrens road to gaining psychological and cultural developments that are important for their long-term well-being. This is done by successfully preparing children for their lives after leaving foster homes. Doing this in a family setting help foster parents to track the progress being made and subsequently provide advice where needed. The children also benefit from having adults close enough to ask questions and assure them when needed.

Conclusion

However, despite the benefits of the system in meeting the needs of Homeless children in the city, the city governments have not been providing enough support, which would help foster families to wither through challenges and improve on already strong areas in the system (Mickelson 132). Some of the ways that local authorities can improve the system is by providing both sets of parents (biological and foster) to meet regularly as well as communicate issues regards the children. In addition, authorities should ensure that biological parents have a satisfactory attachment to their children. However, this should not be done at the expense of foster parents who provide facilities and resources to ensure that Homeless children live normal lives. Authorities in the system should consider that homeless childrens best interests are only met when all stakeholders are included in the process, failure of which would lead to inefficiency in this important system.

References

CAB. Profiling New Yorks Street Families. New York: Dpt. Of Homeless, 2006.

McMahon, Robert. New Yorks Homeless Population. 2006. New York Times. 2008. Web.

Mickelson, Roslyn. Children on Americas Streets. New York: Routledge, 2000.