Write a 40 page essay on Critical Evaluation of Support Services for homeless 16 : 18 year olds.Download file to see previous pages... Although, there are no doubts that a significant amount of work h

Write a 40 page essay on Critical Evaluation of Support Services for homeless 16 : 18 year olds.

Although, there are no doubts that a significant amount of work has been carried out by the UK government and other non-governmental organisations, much remains to be done before all the children under 18 years of age in UK are adequately housed. This research paper will critically analyse the present conditions of the accorded Support Services for homeless (16 – 18 year olds) in UK, and study the various policies and legal context associated with housing and homelessness, in order to find out whether the present support is adequate to safeguard the homeless children within the age group of 16-18 years. Evaluation of Support Services for homeless 16 – 18 year olds 1. Introduction “Homelessness means loss, loss, loss… It is not just the loss of a home, maybe of a partner or of family life, of supportive friends or of a known community. It involves the loss of confidence and self-esteem. The loss of opportunities. These losses are less obvious… and the long-term effects on children in particular, and the stigma of homelessness, are not ever really taken on board. It’s not just the reasons why people become homeless that are important but what it does to you” (Shelter, 2007, 2). 1.1. Background history The present existing data on the homeless 16-18 year olds in UK has a great deal of strictures, especially taking into cognizance the fact that these numbers represent only the young people that remain in contact with the UK services. According to reports by the Shelter in 2008, around 130000 children below the age of 18 years were homeless, while a report by the Joseph Rown Tree foundation in UK estimates that around 75,000 young children within the age group 16-24 years experienced homelessness in UK in the years 2006–07 (Quilgars, Johnsen, and Pleace, 2008, xi). The Joseph Rown Tree foundation further reports that of the 75000 reported as homeless, 43,075 were given the official status of homeless that were within the age group 16–24 years. while of the 43075 around 8,337 were given ‘priority need’ category as they were between the age group 16 - 17 years. Additionally almost 31,000 of the homeless adolescents that fell under the unauthorised category also used the UK government’s Supporting People services in the period 2006–07 (ibid). The overall number considered as homeless in UK, mainly increased after the broadening the scope of the ‘priority need’ category during the early years of the 21st century, though present observations reveal that the levels have shown a downward decline in the last few years. From an overall view, England and Wales have shown a decrease in the number of homeless adolescent youths seeking Support services, but numbers remained constant in North Ireland and Scotland (ibid). In the Joseph Rown Tree foundation report of 2008, we find Scotland shows the highest number of homeless young people aged within 16–18 years (a rate of 15.1 young adolescents for every 1,000 young adolescents within the general population). This is followed by Wales with a rate of 8.2 for 1000, England showing 4.