Youth Homelessness In America

While the causes that lead a kid to life on the streets are incredibly diverse, below are a few critical issues that often lead a child to the streets (Covenant House, n.d., para. 5). Even though foster care is an option of resource, there are adults in this world who do not deserve to be foster parents. There are a lot of teenagers who are in and out of foster homes. This can lead them to homelessness as well as juvenile justice systems, and unemployment.

A social issue is a form of conflict that influences members of a society and often extends into debates about what should be considered morally justifiable. Social issues such as: illicit drugs, gender inequality, age discrimination, education, and recidivism are all heavily discussed topics of debate. However, one social issue that affects several people on a day to day basis is homelessness. Homelessness is the condition of having no permanent dwelling such as a house or apartment. Homeless is a prevalent problem on a global scale that can be viewed and interpreted many ways.

Homelessness in America has become a traumatic way of life for so many over the past decade and has changed tremendously since the Great Depression. During those times, many of the homeless were either elderly or white and now you will find homelessness doesn’t discriminate and that it can consist of any race, age or gender. What is homelessness? According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “a homeless person is defined as an individual who lacks housing (without regard to whether the individual is a member of a family). Including an individual whose primary residence during the night is a supervised public or private facility (e.g., shelters).

Individuals who have experienced homelessness before and sometimes many times are referred to as the “marginally or episodically homeless”. As a result they require a range of more intensive services and support for both adults and children. They may alternate between the shelters or streets and friends, family or independent living, often perceived as having mental health or substance-abuse issues and relying on other homeless people rather than family members. While they may accept concrete assistance, they may not be able to find housing and require a long-term commitment of time and resources to assist them in reestablishing themselves as participating members of the community. By adapting social roles that do not demand high levels of personal functioning, they have adjusted to periodic homelessness.

For families itself, this situation makes them hard to pay bills, a serious illness or disabling accident may deplete their funds and push them out onto the street. They can be homeless because of several reasons such as loss of combined income, legal fee, extra payments, and others. Whereas they do not have places to survive with sufficient money and end up they decide to sleep at the road, bus stop, bridge and street. Changes in family structure, such as the increase in single-parent families and the decline of marriage rates, are thought to have made families weaker to changing economic conditions which can lead to homelessness. That is, more families are becoming dependent on a single-wage earner, making them increasingly liable to severe economic hardship as a result of a job loss due to economic conditions, poor health, or some other

The issue of homelessness in America is controversial because Americans have different views on the causes, conditions, and solutions to homelessness. Advocates for the homeless cite economic problems, a limited supply of affordable housing, and domestic violence as the main causes of homelessness, while opponents vehemently contend that homelessness in America is due solely to a lack of personal industry. Nevertheless opponents and advocates for the homeless are in agreement on the conditions of homelessness, but the solutions to homelessness are vigorously debated by both groups. Opponents cite personal responsibility (a steady job) as the main solution to homelessness, while advocates for the homeless cite a steady, well-paying job, and

All we think of we see a homeless person is some that just doesn’t want to work, or that they are on drugs, we act as if it’s their fault when many times it’s not. There are many reasons in which a person can become homeless such as poor physical or mental health, lack of affordable housing, unemployment, poverty, domestic violence and physical and/or sexual abuse. According to the “National Alliance to End Homelessness” there are four main cause of homelessness in the United States, Housing, income, domestic violence and

Causes can be divided into the following. Structural Causes: These can include poverty, unemployment, and lack of good quality, affordable housing. More people are now at risk of becoming homeless as a result of the financial crisis of 2008 which has impacted on the most vulnerable in society and has made more and more people vulnerable. With a high unemployment rate, more people now experiencing poverty and it is becoming more difficult for people to get out of poverty. Also, with no social housing being built there is a shortage of affordable housing for people on little or no income.

I think many homeless people are happy to be homeless. Some primary causes of homelessness are lack of affordable housing, unemployment, poverty, and low wages. Homeless adults seem more likely to become homeless because of both choice and circumstance. Children, however, are most likely to be homeless because of circumstances, such as their parents. Rose Mary and Rex choose to be homeless.

Homeless youth are always dealing with poor nutrition, victimization, substance use, and abuse. Unfortunately the services provided are very limited and cannot help a huge chunk of the homeless youth. Homeless youth experience more substance abuse and drug addiction than non-homeless youth, this causes them to be mentally unstable and unable to be a functioning member of society. There are many temporary services provided such as shelters, drop-ins, meal programs, literacy improvements, and counselling programs; although these are available and there to help the youth, they are all flawed in their own ways. What the government does not take into consideration is the long term solutions to put youth in poverty to an end.

There are three main factors that lead to homelessness which are structural factors, system failures and individual and relational factors. The structural factors is when a person is affected by economic and societal issues that affect their opportunities and social environment for example, the lack of adequate income and/or the experience of discrimination may lead to homeless. Furthermore, the system failures occur when the support from individual’s family and care fails resulting people become homeless helplessly. The third factor is individual and relational factors in which family violence and extreme poverty plays a role. The family with violence, abuse, addiction, mental health problems of other family members and extreme poverty can lead to being homeless.