Question

Homelessness Homelessness is one of our most pressing and complex social problems. As many as 700,000 Americans are homeless on any given night. An estimated 20% to 25% of these individuals have a serious mental illness, and one-half of this subgroup also has an alcohol and or drug problem. Minorities especially African Americans, are over-represented among homeless persons with mental illness ("homelessness" 2003). According to Census data, 31.1 million people live at or below the poverty line in 2000 and are at risk for homelessness. The stereotype of homelessness is often the bag lady or single man living on the street. However, since the early 1980's, there has been an alarming rise in family homelessness not evident since the Great Depression. With homeless children now comprising the fastest growing segment of the homeless population (Mc Chessney, 1993) 1. Can you identify some of the common reasons why children, youth and families fall into homeless situations? 2. Youth on their own may become homeless for different reasons, what might some of those be? 3. Why do you think so many homeless individuals also have an SUD? Did SUDs lead to homelessness or did homelessness lead to a SUD? Please provide an explaination Disabilities Class find your own link to post about how common SUD is for the disabled population and what attributes to this situation?

Answer 1

Homelessness

There has been a tremendous rise in homelessness during the last 20-25 years and has become one of the most complex social problems in the United States. Developing countries like India also having those social issues. But, homelessness is not prevalent in Middle East Countries. There are many reasons for people or families to become homeless.

1. The common reasons for children, youth, and families to fall into homelessness:

The reasons for homelessness among children and youth are different from those of families. The children and youth may run away from families and end up as homeless. The reasons for runaway include domestic violence, substance abuse, sexual abuse from one of the family member, mental illness or substance abuse of one of the family member, etc. Youths involved with foster care facilities have more risk of becoming homeless. When they grow out of foster care facilities, they have limited income to afford a housing facility and thus may become homeless.

The common reasons for families to fall into homelessness are the lack of affordable rented housing facilities and foreclosures. The recession leads to the loss of employment for many individuals who were the breadwinners of their families and they fail to pay their mortgages which leads to evictions and foreclosures. Poverty is another reason for homelessness among families. Poor people can not afford house rents. Their main concern is to feed their families. Those who are living with minimum wages are at risk of homelessness when unexpected illness or accidents strike one of their family members. They are unable to maintain the housing facility which absorbs the big portion of their income in such crisis situations.

Declining wages is another reason for homelessness. Job opportunities decreased after the recession. Job security and other benefits also reduced. The declining wages made housing not affordable to many families. Declining public assistance is another reason for homelessness among families. Mental illness is another reason for homelessness.

2. Reasons for Youth to become homeless on their own

As mentioned above the main reason for youth to become homeless is due to runaway from families. Runaway and becoming homeless can be due to many reasons. The important reason is family problems. Many youths suffer from physical, mental or sexual abuse in their homes which may eventually lead to runaway and homelessness. Mental illness or substance abuse of one of the parents also leads to runaways. Parental neglect is another reason. Lack of an adult to discuss their troubles and issues also may lead to runaways and eventual homelessness. Some mental illnesses or substance abuse of youths also may result in runaways. In rare instances, youths may be asked to leave their homes because of the inability of their parents to meet their expenses.

3. The relationship between SUD and homelessness

Substance abuse and addictions are very high among homeless people. The relationship between SUD and homelessness is very complex. If an individual at a minimum wage or in the lower income group becomes an addict or has SUD, there is a great risk of homelessness in the near future since he or she can not afford the expenses. If a rich or affluent person has SUD or addiction, he may afford the expenses to longer duration and may eventually seek medical help for his addiction and may never become homeless. So, we can not conclude whether homelessness lead to SUD or SUD leads to homelessness though both have a strong relationship. Homeless people have difficulties to get the necessary addiction treatments and thus their problems may get worse over time.