The Problem of Homelessness

This report assesses the incidence and rate of homelessness in the United States, examines the causes and effects of homelessness, and offers policy recommendations for potential solutions to this social issue. The report argues that while the exact number of homeless men, women and children in the United States at any given time may be difficult to determine, there are estimates that as many as 12 million Americans may have been homeless at one time and about 200,000 chronically homeless people require services. Persistent poverty, lack of work and work skills, mental illness and other psycho-biological health problems, and drug or alcohol dependence are among the primary causes of homelessness. Recommendations include providing federal assistance to state and local programs and agencies working to ameliorate the problem along with awarding incentives for funding to agencies that focus on serving chronically homeless people.

According to the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH), there are some 12 million Americans who have experienced homelessness at some point during their lives (Dail, 2000). Additionally, it is believed that as many as 200,000 individuals are chronically homeless, or consistently dependent upon government or private sector service agencies, including shelters, for brief respite from life on the streets (HHS releases comprehensiveà, 2003). Of the chronicall

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porarily homeless Americans are homeless because they lack work. A survey undertaken by the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions, an organization that provides shelters for homeless people, captured information from more than 20,000 homeless men and women. The study revealed that almost 60 percent of the sample said it was extremely difficult for them to find employment and listed lack of work as the cause of their current situation; another 37 percent attributed their homeless at least in part to economic conditions. Families consisting of a husband, wife and children accounted for 25 percent of families served by this organization û an increase from 17 percent in 2001 and the largest percentage ever for that group in the surveyÆs 14-year history. Norris, Scott, Speiglman and Green (2003) argued that cutbacks in the SSI program have been instrumental in increasing the number of homeless individuals in the United States. This change in government policy directly impacted upon almost 170,000 SSI Drug Addiction and Alcoholism recipients, some 65 percent of whom lost all SSI benefits in 1997. This fostered greater material hardship among a chronically unemployed group, many of whom are physically concentrated in large cities
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Approximate Word count = 2214
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)

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