Homelessness In America
Homelessness in America is an issue of concern since it has affected a vast population. Military veterans, children, individuals fleeing domestic violence, mentally ill and families with children constitute the homeless in America. This implies that homelessness is an issue that affects different individuals (Bringle, 2011). Different factors have contributed to homelessness in America, which include political factors, social and medical factors, and economic factors. Economic factors contribute immensely to the situation of homelessness in America; such factors include low incomes, lack of affordable medical care and lack of affordable housing (Hill & Stamey, 1990). Different interventions from the state and private entities have been formulated in an attempt to respond to the issue of homelessness. For instance, different laws and programs have been formulated and implemented in order to provide a solution to the homelessness issue. These programs and laws has made the number of homeless individuals to decline. An increase in the number of such laws and programs will help in mitigating the number of homeless individuals further. Thirty years from now, America’s next generation will view today’s responses to homelessness as just.
There are various responsive programs that tend to alleviate the problem of homelessness in America. One of the programs is the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program (HVRP). This program assists veterans that experience homelessness in gaining meaningful employment and increasing the efficiency of cooperation across all programs that serve veterans experiencing homelessness (Dreier & Appelbaum, 1991). This program is the only program, which works specifically on issues relating to employment of veterans that experience the problem of homelessness while utilizing a client-focused case management model in connecting veterans with the other social benefits and services (Bringle, 2011). The service providers implement the following grant funded activities: career counseling, job placement, workshops and job training among others. Different case managers work with veterans in ensuring that they access the full spectrum of majority benefits and education opportunities available to the veterans from state, federal and local sources.
This program follows virtue ethics since it considers doing rightful things to the veterans; it concentrates more on the welfare of homeless veterans in obtaining employment, which is considered as one of the ways through which homeless individuals can get income that can assist them in becoming independent in obtaining basic wants, thus helps in mitigating the number of homeless veterans. Besides, this program follows retributive justice since it focuses on providing what homeless individuals deserve. Funds are usually distributed to eligible veterans by the Veterans Employment and Training Services office (McNamara, 2008). This program has led to a reduction in the number of homeless individuals in America through helping homeless veterans to acquire employment; the acquisition of employment by the homeless veterans contributes a lot to the financial strength of the homeless veterans. As a result of the homeless veterans becoming employed, they become capacitated to afford accommodation. Therefore, the HVRP has led to the reduction of the homeless individuals (Dreier & Appelbaum, 1991). The HVRP is a just program since it provides employment services to homeless veterans that deserve assistance. The distribution of education and benefit opportunities is available to all the homeless veterans facing employment issues.
Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA) is another program that responds to the problem of homelessness in America. The FVPSA provides the chief federal funding stream, which is dedicated to the support of urgent shelter and supportive services to victims of family violence, domestic violence, and dating violence. Apart from providing support to these victims, FVPSA also offers support to dependents of these victims. Domestic violence is deemed to create vulnerability to homelessness for children and women having limited economic resources. Amid mothers having children that experience homelessness, above 80% have experienced domestic violence previously. Domestic violence entails the exertion of financial control that leaves victims with few resources and poor credit. Finding affordable, safe housing is an immense obstacle that women who experience domestic violence face. However, with the intervention of FVPSA, domestic violence women with their children are able to have safe and affordable housing. FVPSA support grants to territories, states, domestic violence coalitions and tribes.
Through the state and territorial grants, domestic violence coalition grants, and tribal grants, the FVPSA make it feasible to reach the target groups. The three grants have varied appropriations, which make it effective in distributing resources to the target groups. The target groups of the FVPSA are former and current domestic victims together with their dependents, victims in need of technical assistance, and the entire community that deserve education and awareness regarding domestic violence and the related issues (Quigley et al, 2001). The FVPSA follows virtue ethics and retributive justice since it focuses on the needs of individuals and concentrate on doing the rightful thing rather than doing wrong. Through providing education on awareness of domestic violence and providing support to the domestic violence victims and their dependents is a rightful action, which FVPSA provides. The services provided by the FVPSA are just since it does not concentrate on providing its services to one area or region, but it is diverse. Besides, the target group does not only comprise of the current domestic violence victims, but also provides support to former victims and dependents of domestic violence victims. In addition, the FVPSA is just because it focuses on benefiting the entire community rather than a given region or tribe. One of the consequences of this response is the creation of a well educated community regarding domestic violence and associated issues through the response’s action of creating domestic violence awareness. Another consequence of this response is the mitigation of homeless domestic violence victims and their dependents through the support services that the response provides.
Another response to the homelessness problem is Grants for the Benefit of Homeless Individuals (GBHI) program. This program enables communities to achieve the expansion and strengthening their treatment services for individuals experiencing homelessness and who also have mental illness, substance abuse disorders, or both. This response supports programs such as mental health services, substance abuse treatment, wraparound services, outreach services, staff training, screening services, educational services, job training, and relevant housing services. Affordable, permanent housing that is associated with health, employment, mental health and other supportive services provide consumers with a long term community based housing option. Such housing approach combines housing support and intensive personalized support services to the chronically homeless victims having substance use disorders and mental disorders. The grants provided by this response fund programs, which assist in addressing the complex health requirements of the chronically homeless population. From the inception of this response program, approximately 43,819 individuals have obtained grant-supported services. Thus, reducing the number of homeless individuals. Under this response program, supportive housing has been defined to be a housing which is permanent, affordable and associated with health, employment, mental health and other supportive services, which provide a consumer with a long term community based housing option. This program targets homeless individuals having substance abuse and mental health disorders. The GBHI program follows virtue ethics since it concentrates on the needs of the individuals with chronic homelessness issues with mental and substance abuse disorders. The response also follows retributive justice because chronically homeless individuals receive support services that they deserve.
This response program is just since it does not only consider providing housing services, but focuses on providing supportive housing that combines the services of employment, health, housing and other relevant issues, which when combined gives a person a long lasting solution to homelessness. Besides, this response program is just because it does not consider giving a temporary solution to the problem of chronic homelessness, but offers a permanent solution to the problem. In addition, the distribution of resources is through nonprofit entities, which presents a fair way of distributing funds. The GBHI program leads to a reduction in the number of individuals facing the problem of chronic homelessness. In addition, this response program leads to strengthening of individuals through employment, training, housing, and health support through the different programs that it offers. Furthermore, this response program leads to a reduction of the number of individuals engaging in substance abuse due to its education and awareness program to individuals abusing or intending to abuse substances.
Other than the above responses to the problem of homelessness, there is also another response which is Services in Supportive Housing (SSH). This program was developed in order to assist in preventing or mitigating chronic homelessness through funding services for persons and families that experience homelessness and living with substance or mental disorder. The program addresses the need of having treatment and provision of services to families and individuals. This program focuses its attention on service provision in a participant’s housing facility; this is different to different community-level settings. Because of this, special attention is paid on the quality and quantity of service provided, which seek in enhancing the functioning level and extended housing stability for participants. Evidence based practices are required by this program so as to ensure effectiveness. Besides, the program’s grantees are also required to have permanent housing components and funded by other resources. Services, which are supported under this program entails intensive case management, substance abuse and mental health treatment, outreach and engagement, and help in obtaining benefits. However, the program is not limited to the above services.
The chief target group of this response program entails individuals experiencing chronic homelessness problems and substance abuse and mental disorders. The funding of this program is through the Department of Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). This program concentrates on doing the rightful thing to the homeless individuals, who have a mental or substance abuse disorder. Therefore, the response program follows virtue ethics. The provision of services is not in regard to a certain region or individual, which indicates that the response program is just. Besides, the response program is just because it involves nonprofit entities in the distribution of resources. Furthermore, the program focuses on offering chronic homeless individuals what they require most; therefore, it follows retributive justice. This response program leads to a reduction in the number of individuals that have chronic homelessness. Also, this response program leads to mitigation in the number of persons engaging in substance abuse.
In addition, responses to the problem of homelessness have been through development of laws. For example, the development of Homeless Education Assistance Improvement Act aimed at ensuring that homeless children and the youths become protected and educated. According to this Act, every school district should have a liaison officer that looks at the needs of the homeless students. This Act follows retributive justice since homeless children and youths are offered support to education and housing, which is a requirement that they deserve to have. Besides, the law follows virtue ethics since it concentrates on dealing with individual problems of homeless children and youths. In distributing the resources, the law provides an effective guide, which depicts that the law is just. In addition, the law is just since it ensures that homeless youths and children get an opportunity to learn and have proper housing. These are basic wants, which homeless children and youths may not get; however, because of this law, children and youths have an access to proper housing and education. This response has led to a decline in the number of homeless children and youths in America. The response has also increased the number of homeless children and youths that receive education and become independent.
Furthermore, another response entails Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Rehousing Program (HPRP). This program offers homelessness prevention help to households that could become homeless, and offers rapid re-housing help to individuals that are homeless as defined under the Homeless Assistance Act. By the conclusion of 30th September 2012, the program had prevented approximately 1.3 million individuals from becoming categorized as homeless through the programs funding. The grantees for this program are usually eligible in different activities, which include administrative costs, data collection and evaluation, housing relocation and stabilization services, and financial assistance. This response program follows virtue ethics since it concentrates on doing the rightful thing of supporting the homeless individuals; therefore, it concentrates on solving problems affecting homeless individuals. Besides, this response follows retributive justice since it focuses on providing support to homeless individuals based on what they deserve. The response is just because it does not seek to favor a certain group or certain individuals, but seeks to cater for the homeless individuals without regard to what makes individuals become homeless. This response program has led to a reduction in the homeless individuals. Besides, this response program has led to preventing individuals from becoming homeless.
Conclusion
Homelessness is a major problem facing Americans. Poverty emerges as the dominating factor in leading to homelessness. In order to alleviate the number of individuals experiencing homelessness, different state and private actors must recognize that homelessness is an issue that requires different interventions which can be through the creation of laws, policies and programs that focus on alleviating the problem (Dreier & Appelbaum, 1991). The existing interventions have made an attempt to mitigate the problem, but there is a need to come up with other responses that will help in alleviating the problem further. Thirty years from now, the American generation that will follow will view the current responses as just since they involve the guidance of laws in their implementation and are not skewed.
References
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Kryder-Coe, J. H., Salamon, L. M., Molnar, J. M., & Johns Hopkins Institute for Policy Studies. (1991). Homeless children and youth: A new American dilemma. New Brunswick, N.J., U.S.A: Transaction Publishers.
McNamara, R. H. (2008). Homelessness in America. Westport, Conn: Praeger.
National Alliance to End Homelessness (n.d). Retrieved from HYPERLINK “http://www.endhomelessness.org/” http://www.endhomelessness.org/.
National Healthcare for the Homeless Council. (2011). Criminal justice, homelessness & health.
Quigley, M.J., Raphael, S. & Smolensky, E. (2001). Homeless in America, Homeless in California. Vol. 83 (1), pp. 37-51.
