Another issue is prison release, because newly released inmates often have nowhere to live, they cannot get a job because they are convicted felons, and so they end up homeless. A frightening statistic is that there are so many young people that are homeless. Another group of researchers note, "A reliable determination of the prevalence of homelessness among adolescents is difficult to obtain, but the most recent and vigorous attempt estimates that there are more than one million youth nationwide who are homeless during any given 12-month period" (Johnson, Rew & Kouzekanani, 2006). Often, these young people are on the streets because of dysfunctional families. Many are runaways, who have left home because of anger and violence in the families, or sexual abuse. The researchers continue, "High rates of sexual abuse have been found among homeless and runaway adolescents" (Johnson, Rew & Kouzekanani, 2006). Yet another reason for homelessness is low-paying jobs. Minimum wage is $6.65 an hour, and that calculates to a little over $13,000 annually, which is well below the poverty level, and people working at minimum wage jobs cannot afford housing many times, so they become homeless. There are certain outcomes of homelessness that affect people, too. Many people abuse drugs and alcohol, and become homeless because they are unable (or unwilling) to hold down jobs. This can lead to criminal activities by some homeless people, which often gives the entire homeless population a bad name. In addition, lack of education can lead to homelessness, because the less...
Any kind of disaster, from an illness to job loss could force them to be homeless.
Homelessness Hearing the story about the 90-year-old being arrested in Fort Lauderdale for feeding the homeless had me thinking that South Florida, with its warm weather, probably has a significant homeless issue. So I decided to look at the homelessness situation in Miami. As it turns out, Miami-Dade County and the City of Miami have an interesting situation with respect to homelessness. In some ways, they seem to have similar views
Homeless Mental Health Mental health is an issue that is deemed to be very under-treated and very under-diagnosed within the United States. Beyond that, there are populations that are much more at risk than others. A good example would be the prison population where drug use and mental health issues are both rampant. However, there is another group that is highly stricken and very vexing and difficult to treat and that
Homelessness Is homelessness increasing in the United States? Homelessness has become progressively more apparent in the United States over the past quarter century. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has amassed a wealth of data that confirm low-income housing is a critical requirement. Even as some communities are realizing a decrease in their homeless population; others are experiencing the opposite. It is disheartening to note that the largest increase in
" How many people are homeless? The number of homeless is difficult to ascertain because estimates vary depending on the methodology used. Numbers also vary substantially depending on whether a measurement is taken on a single night or is extrapolated to a given year. One approximation of the annual number of homeless in America is from a study done by the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, which estimates between 2.3 and
But mentally disturbed individuals, being confined to a greater proclivity toward chronic homelessness, are a separate problem, addressed most directly by the Center for Mental Health Services, which is a federally chaired organization. The CMHS is a channel through which policy regarding disbursement of social resources is implemented. It garners all of its data from the National Resource Center of Homelessness and Mental Illness, which is the only agency
This is exacerbated by the "...growing gap between wage earnings and the cost of housing in the United States which leaves millions of families and individuals unable to make ends meet." (Homelessness in the United States) Low Incomes and minimum wage workers also add to the problem. A further cause of the high levels of homelessness is the cuts in programs like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). Policy change
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