Theory and Research Related to Social Issue

SOCIAL ISSUE INTERVENTION 7

Social Issue Intervention: Homelessness

Christopher Malone

HHS 497

Instructor Michelle Wilson

January 23, 2017

Social Issue Intervention

Identify a social issue that health and/or human service organizations address in some capacity and discuss its current impact on group(s) affected by it.

The society is affected by many issues, which directly influence the lives of its members. The country’s human service organizations make significant efforts to make the society a better place and thus they utilize certain means with an aim of improving the society by eliminating its negative issues. Among the many issues that this department combat is the issue of homelessness. Homelessness refers to an individual’s state where a person lacks a permanent dwelling like a house or an apartment, where he or she lives in. The individuals who are considered homeless are mostly the ones who lack the ability to acquire and maintain regular, secure and safe housing. Homelessness therefore mainly affect the poor individuals in the society, who do not have funds to acquire or maintain their own houses.

In the year 2015, about 565,000 individuals were homeless in the united states, which implies that they were either sleeping outside, in emergency shelters or were members of a transnational housing program. This issue is a major problem in the society. To begin with, a homeless individual cannot be in peace. He or she spends the day worrying about where he will spend the night. This is because like for the case of all other individuals, sleeping outside is not a good embrace aspect. A homeless individual is also exposed to the risk of insecurity. Although ill-intended individuals like robbers or other individuals who simply like to cause harm to others have the capability of breaking into people’s houses and committing crimes. The house is a security shelter that has helped people on many occasions to survive such attacks. When an individual is, however, homeless, it implies that he can easily be acquired by the ill-intentioned people while other individuals are sleeping in their houses and thus they may not manage to offer their assistance. This clearly shows that homelessness is a major problem in the United States that requires being addressed (Augusto, 2008).

Describe the historical underpinnings of this issue. Factors to consider include where and how it originated, pertinent events and their dates, and its current status.

Homelessness is among the issues that have been in existence within the society for a long time. It was however declared and started being viewed as a national issue in the 1870s. During these times, many individuals lived in the urban cities that were currently emerging like New York. As the time approached and the United States began experiencing the great depression, a significant devastating epidemic of hunger and poverty emerged in the country. This session made a significant increase in the number of people within the country that can be considered poor. The increase in the numbers of the poor people also caused a significant increase in the number of the homeless individuals. About two million homeless individuals were then known to be migrating towards the United States. In the 1980s, the number of homeless individuals increased, mainly due to the increase of housing and social service cuts. The year 1987 is when a significant progress was made with regard to the problems of homelessness when President Reagan signed the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. Over time, the numbers of the homeless individuals in the United States have been decreasing significantly. Currently, the United States has about 564, 708 individuals who are considered homeless. Among these individuals, 15 percent are considered the chronically homeless individuals. These are people that have been homeless for about a year or more, and also have a form of disability (Singer, 2003).

Discuss specific factors contributing to the social issue. Consider environmental, social, political, and economic reasons that have attempted to explain why this issue persists.

Many aspects bring about the issue of homelessness. Among these factors is the main factor of financial and economic aspects of individuals. A homeless individual is a person who lacks the ability to acquire and maintain a house to live in. This ability is simply defined by the financial state of an individual. People who have good financial grounds cannot remain homeless. Unless they are willing to stay without a specific place where they can reside, for their other personal reasons apart from financial issues. The main cause of homelessness, therefore, is poverty in the society. Other aspects that influence this issue is the political aspects. Currently, the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act is the main law that highly addresses the issues of homelessness in the United States. The government also makes many other significant efforts aimed at helping individuals manage to manage to improve their financial status. The success or fail of these efforts significantly contributes towards the individual’s ability to attain homes and cease to become homeless.

Evaluate the impact of this social issue on the delivery of health and human service efforts. What impact has this had on how health and/or human service organizations provide support in terms of direct practice with clients and within communities?

The health and human service initiate significant efforts with an aim of attempting to solve and eliminate this issue. To begin with, the department of the United States health and human service has established numerous programs aimed to help the homeless individuals attain both temporary and permanent housing. These programs help these individuals attain a shelter where they can reside during the night, an aspect that helps them cease to be regarded as homeless individuals. The department has also established programs that help in the delivery of treatment and other services to the individuals that are homeless. This is a significantly important aspect because in most cases, the homeless individuals are also not able to afford healthcare service provisions. This implies that inclusive of the need to be provided with a home in which they can reside, they would also need medical assistance. The department of health and human services make significant efforts to provide this assistance. The health and human services department of the United States, therefore, make significant efforts with an aim of eradicating homelessness in the United States (HHS, 2007).

References

Augusto, V. (2008). The institutional dynamics of homelessness: The United States of America and Japan compared, Bingley: The International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.pc.maricopa.edu/docview/203708750?pq-origsite=summon

HHS, (2007). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Strategic Action Plan on Homelessness: U.S.Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved from https://www.hhs.gov/programs/social-services/homelessness/research/strategic-action-plan-on-homelessness/index.html?language=es

Singer, J. (2003). Taking It to the Streets: Homelessness, Health, and Health Care in the United States. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 18(11), 964–965. http://doi.org/10.1046/j.1525-1497.2003.30903.x