Homelessness, the Causes Behind It

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Homelessness, the Causes Behind It

Eric Fournier

Liberty University Online

                                     

Abstract

This paper actively sought to understand the reasons why people are homeless and researched government programs that are meant to help guide people out of homelessness and into personal stability.  It is important for readers to understand the complexity of homelessness because it affects everyone in one degree or another.  Stakes are set high for the homeless and society as it strongly ties into the economic health and governmental spending of the host country.  The McKinney-Vento Homeless Act is an integral part of the United States legislation and is responsible for many great programs such as housing for impoverished families and for protecting the rights of children in the education system.  Despite the concern for the homeless population very little research has been done on the effects of government sponsored programs, and with the negative attitude toward the poor that exists in America, a very big change in the pendulum swing of opinion must take place in order to effective combat homelessness.

 

Homelessness, the Causes Behind It

Homelessness has many causes, some stem from personal choices while others develop from circumstances of life; whichever, homelessness continues along the timeline of human development as the leading product of poverty and is a concern for humanity.  For research purposes this paper will focus on a definition of homelessness which includes persons living doubled up and or living on the streets or in shelters.  It is this author’s belief that at present in the state of society today, there is no “cure” for the homeless issue; only vaccinations for the issue which still allows the plague to occur.  The view of the public about vagrants and homeless people presents one of the largest barriers against government sponsored or church and charitable programs which all work to benefit those less fortunate.  There does seem to be a pendulum swing effect on the public as to their perception of the poor.  This pendulum usually swings with world events, the most recent events in history which saw the swing take effect were the Great Depression and the economic boom of the 80’s and 90’s.  Martin (2013) describes the effects of these two events and tells readers that during the Great Depression there was greater sympathy for the poor and homeless, while during times of greater economic boom there has generally been a decline in view and agenda for the poor. (P 198-199)   Sadly, because of the most recent views of the homeless in history, there has been a greater call to protect the rights of individuals blessed with economic stability rather than to protect the rights of the poor or homeless.  In general it is difficult to discuss only the homeless population without including the poor who generally live on the brink of their own financial collapse into homelessness; such collapses can be caused by: medical emergencies, lay-offs or job loss, mental health disorders, disabilities, unwanted youth, run-aways, personal choice, and list that continues as the causes for homelessness are not easily bound into one issue but are usually because a combined link of two or more reasons.  Never the less, fortunately there remains a portion of the population which does deeply care about the needy of society and has focused on researching the causes of homelessness, needs of the homeless, and are producing laws which are meant to help the those who are either at risk for or are homeless. 

Study of Homeless and Effects on Society

One of the brightest stars currently in law for those experiencing poverty at deep levels is The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1986, according to Moulton (2013). “The original act consisted of 15 programs that provided a number of services to homeless people, including job training, health care, education, emergency shelter, transitional housing… and permanent housing.” An article by the National Coalition for the Homeless discusses in depth the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistant Act, the Act itself has (2006) “… been amended four times: in 1988, 1990, 1992 and 1994.” 1988 held very few changes for the Act, in 1990 the changes were much larger and included the addition of a few more programs. (2006)

These included the Shelter Plus Care program, which provides housing assistance to homeless individuals with disabilities, mental illness, AIDS, and drug or alcohol addiction, and a demonstration program within the Health Care for the Homeless program to provide primary health care and outreach to at-risk and homeless children.

The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act remains the only piece of federal legislation which was created to help the homeless and impoverished population.  The Act also is used to engage and help to improve the education of the homeless, especially the families which are homeless.  The law makes it an impossibility for schools to segregate the homeless from the public schools where other non-homeless children attend, and allows for grants to be provided to states which actively seek to take part in educating the homeless children population.  In addition in 1992 the Act was amended again to include more inclusive housing benefits including the establishment of low-income housing, and in 1994 more educational benefits were added to the Act. 

Despite the Government’s efforts Rasheed’s research shows, (2013) “In 2011, the poverty rate remained at record levels of 15 percent for all Americans and nearly 22 percent for children, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.  This means roughly 46 million Americans were counted as poor, or $23,021 for a family of four, which is the most poverty the nation has seen.” With the growing need placed on the current programs; there has been very little effort by the Government to understand the effects of their work, Moutlon’s research concludes; (2013) “Virtually no empirical work has been done on whether it is possible to decrease the number of chronically homeless people through housing assistance policy.”  The concern that no research has been conducted on the homeless issue and how much government sponsored supports helps eliminate homelessness is due to the amount of government spending.  When everything boils down to the bedrock of the issue among Congress, the public wants to see results.  When, (Moulton, 2013) “About $1.2 billion a year is provided to the Continuum of Care (C of C) system, the federal government's primary means of helping homeless people,” many people balk about the amount spent and some would rather the funding be directed elsewhere.  Despite the lack of research, there has been a limited effort and Moulton reports the results in his article, (2013) “estimates indicate that a $1 per capita increase in federal homeless funding is associated with a 1.80 person decrease in the number of chronically homeless per 100,000 population. This estimate implies that the first-year cost of moving one person out of chronic homelessness is $55,600.”  Weighing between costs and sympathy the government and society have much on their plate, especially in current times when natural disasters, wars, famine, homelessness, joblessness, and other economic stimuli are effecting the economy.  It is hard for people to empathize and relate to the chronic needs that most homeless people have.  Perhaps the only group that does get a touch of sympathy are the adolescents and children who find themselves homeless.

Adolescents and Homelessness

Perhaps because of their status adolescents seem to gain the priority in the laws which are made to benefit the homeless.  The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act strongly supports the education of impoverished and homeless children, protecting them from discrimination and segregation due to their social status.  Despite the public’s sympathy adolescents face discrimination because of their lifestyle and tendency towards vagrancy and criminal mischief.  Despite the well-meaning laws and programs that the government sponsors on societies behalf the number of homeless youth continues to rise, (Schwartz, Sorensen, Ammerman, Bard, 2008) “…estimates range from 300,000 to 1 million homeless youth per year…”   Reasons for the incline are mass; families seem to be struggling more and more especially due to the economic decline of the Great Recession in 2009; other reasons range from children running away, being tossed away by parents, families being forced from housing due to financial or criminal factors, and illegal activities in the social services programs.  Deeply saddening is the report from Edwards, Crain, and Kallabet (2007) who briefly touch on how the illegal activities in social work programs undermines the abilities of families to find stability in their lives. Another government short coming according to Rasheed is, (2013) “the near-disappearance of cash assistance and ‘welfare’ programs, known as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, has left nearly 6 million Americans with no income besides food stamps, or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).”

            The fragileness of youth makes it harder for social workers to identify and define homeless adolescents and their needs.  Most adolescents are distrustful of well-meant help because of their past.  Children finding themselves in a position that renders them homeless often come from abusive situations which can result in higher risk of mental and health disorders and a rise in substance abuse problems.  Once one is hooked onto a substance that forms dependence it often leads into more destructive actives like prostitution, drug running, gang activity, and dangerous drug usage.  Workers also have harder times defining the needs of homeless children according to Johnson and Chamberlain because, (2011) “young people do not always progress through these stages in a systematic way’. However, they talked about homelessness as a ‘downward spiral’, and said that for some homelessness is a ‘progressive decline,” the variety in progress and growth deepens problem in meeting adolescents at the proper stage of their growth.  Another factor which plays part in the cause of homelessness in children is that most will often find other homeless children who form a family together.  The family that forms out of the unique need for human companionship and protection makes it harder for workers to dislodge the adolescents from their perceived street families.  Reasons differ but mostly revolve around loyalty to their street family and their perceived abandonment of the only people who have loved them.  Martin (2013) describes adolescents who do leave with such attributes as fear of abandonment and not being loved again and are hardened against attempts to love them due to past hurts caused by caretakers. (p. 203-209) Like children and families the government also fails to meet another growing group of the homeless population, military veterans.

Homeless Veterans & The Elderly

Causes for veterans to be homeless are as vast as those for children, families, and single persons.  Brenson (2011) discusses that mental illness and traumatic brain injury (TBI) are among the top factors of homelessness among veterans.  Greenburg and Hoblyn (2006) relate the following most common issues with most homeless veterans: drug usage, poor financial standing or choices during war time, child support and alimony payments because of divorce due to military duty or personal reasons, failure to be able to hold jobs because of medical disability or mental problems, a standard long wait time after submittal for the Veterans Affairs benefits before the benefits are actually paid out to the veteran, the limited amount of health care clinics and hospitals in states leaving many veterans to be forced to go to public health care providers which cost the veteran highly.  Sadly Berenson agrees, (2011) “… that veterans make up a disproportionately large percentage of the overall homeless population. According to HUD, veterans make up approximately 15% of the homeless adult shelter population, whereas only about 10% of the adult population has served in the armed forces.”  Due to the veteran’s lack of ability to provide funding for necessary legal actives to protect their rights, many are taken advantage of and are forced to forfeit much of their financial gain.  One protection that veterans do have is the inability of the courts to force payment from their tax free earnings from their disability or education benefits as they are legally protected, from such levies (Brenson, 2011) “According to 38 U.S.C. [section] 5301(a):.”

Older people tend to make up a lot of the veteran homeless population, though with the growing amount of traumatic injuries stemming from the Iraqi and Afghanistan wars there has been an incline in a younger veteran homeless population as well.  Research by Crane and Warnes concludes that, (2010) “19"33% were over the age of 50 years, although less than 10% were over 60 years.14"19 In several cities, moreover, successive counts suggest that older people are a rising percentage of single homeless people.” The elderly face many of the same challenges as veterans when it comes to homelessness.  Sadly, elderly face the same discrimination as all homeless persons due.  It is society’s lack of empathy which makes it shameful for many to seek the appropriate assistance which would help them out of their poor living situation.  Common among the growing reasons for elderly homelessness is the increase in how long people live today compared to a hundred years ago.  Acker’s (2010) research suggests that the increase in lifespan makes it harder for people to support themselves as many families are unable to bear the financial burden the elderly member places on them, along with many employers being unwilling to hire elderly due their perception that the elderly are hard to train, unwilling to learn new ways, and because of their advanced age status will be impossible to lead as many mangers would be years younger than their elderly employees.  Mental illnesses like depression degrade the living state of veterans and elderly and is common among other groups of the homeless population.

Mental Illness and the Homeless Population

Australia like the United States has begun to put an effort into understanding and combating mental illness, especially when linked with homelessness.  A better grasp of how to handle the issue of how to care for those disabled by mental disease will help alleviate the burden on society.  Issues such as who will put up the costs of housing and caring for homeless mental health patients, where to house such patients, ensuring humane care and protecting the individual rights of mentally ill patients, and the rising cost of pharmaceutical drugs factor into a nations response to the crisis caused by mental health issues.  Along with mental health, one must include in their research drug and alcohol abuse as they closely come hand in hand as mental health patients who cannot afford medication or even those patients with medication at hand will self-dose themselves to ease the pain of side effects from medication or because they are receiving improper doses.  Reasons do exist for why a patient may receive the wrong dosage such as them being unable to visit a doctor on a regular basis which makes it difficult to regulate medicine and its effects.  Of interest to this research, Johnson and Chamberlain (2011)

(a)ll report very high levels of mental illness in the homeless population and in many cases this is attributed to alcohol or drug dependence. For example, Herrman and colleagues (1989: 1181) found that 72 per cent of their sample had a 'severe mental disorder' at some point during their lifetime. Of the 275 people who had experienced mental illness, 69 per cent had a substance related disorder (mainly alcohol dependence), whereas 35 per cent had a mood disorder and 30 per cent had a psychotic disorder. Thus the inclusion of people with alcohol and substance dependence significantly inflated the figures.

Treatment facilities are unable to handle the costs of the homeless which force many out onto the streets.  According to Martin (2013) in the 1970s during the shutdown of many American mental institutions a rise in homelessness began because of a lack of affordable mental health care because of the privatization of such care.(p 169-170) With the high amount of people in the homeless population, social workers could make a career just helping the homeless; however, many are forced by necessity to help other tiers of people such as families in poverty, child welfare, mental health patients, adoption and abortion clients, etc., causing concern for more implemented programs to take place or for workers to face burnout.  Another problem that the homeless population faces in regards to seeking care for mental health issues is travel and location.  Often many people are faced with the fact that they cannot get to their appointments, or are often dislocated by circumstances which means that they are not in a position to attend a regular doctor but must seek emergency care only.  With a great lack of constant care for this population, mental illness often runs unchecked and can be dangerous for the person that is ill and the general population.

Conclusion

Naturally it is the human condition to feel empathy for both the social workers and the homeless person.  It is not always the case though that people will feel a need to support homeless people.  Most people who stand against legislation that helps the homeless population point to ideas that people who are homeless are homeless by choice, often neglecting the idea that circumstance can cause homelessness as easily as choices.  Though circumstance is often preceded by choice, many people who face the challenge of choice often do not have the benefit of a crystal ball which will tell them if they have made the correct financial choice until the issue is out of hand.  Empathy is the reason behind The McKinney-Vento Homeless Act which because of supporters as McKinney and Vento has established great programs like HUD and education legislation protecting children who are homeless from segregation due to their social status.  However, though the McKinney-Vento Homeless Act exists, it is about the only piece of federal legislation signed into law which protects the homeless population.  Its effects have made a difference, but many of the journals this author read talk about how homelessness is still on a rise never-the-less.  It is disheartening to learn that due to the lack of sufficient health care, affordable health care, lack of quality education, rising joblessness due to poor economic growth caused by the Great Recession, health and financial problems that the elderly and veterans face, the poor timeliness of delivery of financial and housing benefits across the board and spectrum of the homeless population, on top of poor personal choices and drug and alcohol abuse that many will remain in a chronic state of homelessness their entire lives. Though this papers research revolved around understanding why people become homeless, it is impossible not to discuss the causes without reasoning out what is being done to combat them.  This author’s hope is that such legislation as the McKinney-Vento Homeless Act and a growing understanding and concern for the homeless population among mental health providers, social workers, veteran’s affairs, government agencies, and the general public will increase the amount of empathy to enhance the ability of providers to properly care for their homeless clients.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

 

Acker, G. M. (2010). The challenges in providing services to clients with mental illness: Managed care, burnout and somatic symptoms among social workers. Community Mental Health Journal, 46(6), 591-600. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10597-009-9269-5

Berenson, S. K. (2011). Homeless veterans and child support. Family Law Quarterly, 45(2), 173+. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.liberty .edu:2048/ps/i.do?id =GALE%7CA270374788&v=2.1&u=vic_liberty&it=r&p=LT&sw=w

Chaudhuri, S., Edelman, P. (2012) So rich, so poor: why it's so hard to end poverty in America. CHOICE: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, 50(4), 721. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/ps/i.do?id=GALE %7CA311049920&v=2.1&u=vic_liberty&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w

Chamberlain, C., Johnson, G. (2011). Pathways into adult homelessness: Retrieved from http://jos.sagepub.com.ezpr oxy.liberty.edu:2048/content/49/1/60

Crane, M., Warnes, A. M. (2010). Homelessness among older people and service responses. Reviews in Clinical Gerontology, 20(4), 354-363. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10. 1017/S0959259810000225

Educational experiences of hidden homeless teenagers living doubled-up. (2103). Harvard Educational Review,83(2), 397-399. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/doc view/1399327108?accountid=12085

Edwards, J., Crain, M., Kallebet A. (2007) Ending poverty in America: How to restore the American dream. Pp 288 http://heinonline.org.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/HOL/Page? handle=hein.journals/bctw28&collection=journals&id=563

Erwin, P. C. (2009). Poverty in America. Congressional Digest, 88(7), 193. http://rx9vh3hy4r.search. serialssolutions.com/?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info %3A ofi%2Fenc%3AUTF-8&rfr_id=info:sid/summon.Serial ssolutions.com&rft_val _fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Poverty+in+America%3A+2009-2010+Policy +Debate +Topic &rft.jtitle=Congressional+Digest&rft.au=Anony mous &rft.date=2009-09-01&rf t.pub=Congressional+Digest&rft.issn=0010-5899&rft .eissn=1944-7566&rft.volume=88&rft.issue=7&rft.spage=193&rft.externalDocID=1858 575331¶mdict=en-US

Johnson, G., Chamberlain, C. (2011). Are the homeless mentally ill? Australian journal of social issues, 46(1), 29-48,3-4. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/874 622236?accountid=12085

Greenberg, G., Hoblyn, J,. Seibyl, C., Rosenheck, R. (2006) Housing Outcomes for Hospitalized Homeless Veterans. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved 17.2 425-440 Retrieved from http://muse.jhu.edu.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/journals /journal of_health_ careforthepoorandunderserved/v017/17.2greenberg.html

Martin, M. E. (2011). Introduction to human services, through the eyes of practice settings. (3 ed.). Boston: Pearson

Moulton, S. (2013). Does increased funding for homeless programs reduce chronic homelessness? Southern Economic Journal, 79(3), 600+. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA316663878&v=2.1&u=vic_liberty&it=r&p=ITOF&sw=w

The National Coalation of Homelessness (2006). McKinney-Vento Act NCH fact sheet #18. Retrieved from http://www.nationalhomeless.org/publications/facts/McKinney.pdf

Rasheed, M. (2013). A brief look at poverty in America. Journal of Housing and Community Development, 70(2), 6-11. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/135017 0303? accountid=12085

Schwartz, M., Sorensen, H. K., Ammerman, S., & Bard, E. (2008). Exploring the relationship between homelessness and delinquency: A snapshot of a group of homeless youth in san jose, california. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal,25(4), 255-269. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10560-008-0125-1

 

 

 

 

 

Author's Note

In submission to HSCO 500 B08 LUO FAll 2013 Semester

Reviews

[SpeedyHobbit Armstrong]

This is absolutely amazing. Posting this on my Tumblr called A Voice from the Poor. I also love this because I was once a 5 year old child in that population, though the cause of mine and my mother's is(hopefully) rare

[EJF]

Thank you very much for reading this & for thinking it good enough to share. Many blessings to you.