This can include families who are breaking up, adult children forced to leave home, and any number of other situations (Editors, 2006). New York City has made it a priority to prevent homelessness as part of its comprehensive Action Plan for the Homeless, which is mandated through 2009. This plan includes ideas on how to prevent homelessness, redirect more homeless to shelters, create "viable alternatives" for the homeless, coordinate services so people are not "dumped" between them, and provide more housing options. As of 2005, the Action Plan was at least indirectly responsible for reducing homelessness by 10% in the city. It seems the plan is working, and other cities would do well to implement an appropriate plan for their own areas. Traditionally, most people have looked at homelessness as a problem of demographics and personal attributes. However, more researchers now understand homelessness is more than demographics; it is a sociological problem that society must face and alter. New York City's study of the homeless indicates that at least a small percentage of homeless people prefer their lifestyle to entering a homeless shelter. Some cannot stay off drugs or alcohol, while others do not prefer the shelter lifestyle's controls, and still others fear the shelters because of violence and other issues (Editors, 2006). Society must alter the homeless shelter experience to help get these people off the streets, but there also must be a shift in the overall view of the homeless. Many people feel the homeless are responsible for their own plight, and must be responsible for pulling themselves...
While this may be true, many homeless people simply do not have the skills or mental capacity to get off the streets. These people need more help, and they need more compassion from society. More compassion equates with more opportunities for the homeless population, and the most desperate homeless as well. Ultimately, the best way to serve the homeless is to prevent homelessness in the first place. Author Baumohl states, "[H]elping homeless people without preventing homelessness is like bailing a boat without fixing the leaks: it might keep things from getting worse, but it will never solve the problem" (Baumohl, 1996, p. 187). As New York's plan shows, it takes comprehensive planning, more housing resources, and income increases to veterans, the elderly, and the disabled could help stop the spread of homelessness in America.
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
Homelessness Intervention Social Work Universally in the developed world, homelessness is something that communities want to end rather than manage. Co-ordinated social services can come together to create and enhance community-based responses that tackle the threat of homelessness rather than attempting to deal with it on the other end -- after the fact, after people are demoralized by the experience. An important part of any community response to homelessness is affordable housing. But
With the increase in families, and thus children and teens on the street, there has been a subsequent increase in youth drug use, pregnancy and crime, especially violent and sexual crimes. This disturbing trend has created a new challenge to how to deal with the homeless epidemic as new resources are needed. Further, many of the traditional charitable organizations are unequipped to deal with this new need, meaning that few
Talents are noted as an individual's naturally recurring patterns of thought, feeling, or behavior that may be applied productively. The more dominant a theme in an individual, the more that particular theme will likely influence that person's behavior and performance (Strengthstest 2009). Table I: Thirty-four Talent Themes (Strengthstest 2009). Achiever® People strong in the Achiever theme have a great deal of stamina and work hard. They take great satisfaction from being busy
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
et al. (2005) Facts on Trauma and Homeless Children. National Child Traumatic Stress Network - Homelessness and Extreme Poverty Working Group. Online available at http://www.nctsnet.org/nctsn_assets/pdfs/promising_practices/Facts_on_Trauma_and_Homeless_Children.pdf Burt, Aron, Douglas, et al., (1999) Homelessness: Programs and the People They Serve: Summary Report - Findings of the National Survey of Homeless Assistance Providers and Clients Washington, DC: The Urban Institute, 1999 Burt, Martha, (2001) What Will it Take to End Homelessness? Washington, DC: The
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