Homelessness in the United States

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of poverty on young children and their families. The focus will be on homelessness and how the child is affected in two major settings: the home, or lack of, and school. In both of these settings, children are impacted by different social forces and must push through barriers that are set before them given their circumstance. “Living without permanent, long-term housing creates a number of stressors for children and families, but being homeless can be particularly detrimental to the healthy development of young children” (McCoy-Roth, Mackintosh, & Murphey, 2012). “Homeless families with very young children are one of the fastest growing segments of homelessness. This period in the life cycle is recognized as the most formative and fragile time for children and families” (Swick, 2010).

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, in 2012 there were over 53,500 children under the age of 17 years of age that were living below the poverty line in Mecklenburg County (United States Department of Agriculture, 2014). The Federal Poverty Guideline for a family of four in 2012 was $23,550 a year (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2014), when the poverty line is this low it makes it impossible for families to climb out of poverty and many end up either on the streets or torn apart due to the regulations on shelters. During one of the multi-cultural events I attended this semester, I got to speak to a Maya Graham, who works for the Urban Ministry in Uptown. Maya said that services are available to families as long as their children are enrolled in Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools, but that many families are unfortunately broken apart due to the single gender shelters we ha...

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Graham, M. (2014, March 21). Community Education VISTA. (L. Macho, Interviewer)

McCoy-Roth, M., Mackintosh, B. B., & Murphey, D. (2012, February). When the Bough Breaks: The Effects of Homelessness on Young Children . Child Trends: Early Childhood Highlights , 3 (1), pp. 1-11.

Powell, T. (2012). The Impact of Being Homeless on Young Children and Families. NHSA Dialog: A Research-to-Practice Journal for the Early Intervention Field , 15 (2), 221-228.

Swick, K. J. (2010). Responding to the Voices of Homeless Preschool Children and Their Families. Early Education (38), 299-304.

United States Department of Agriculture. (2014, March). United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved April 2014, from United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service: http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/county-level-data-sets/poverty.aspx#.U01kxV7S4kc