Mental Illness, Homelessness, and Public Administration: Recommendations

1138 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Mental illness causing homelessness a peer reviewed study

Dealing with severe mental illness and homelessness is a complex issue that affects the person dealing with the illness, their families, the community, and the government. In the past, people with severe mental illness were treated in institutions but in the 1960’s policies were changed and treatment moved to the communities (Newman & Goldman, 2009). Since that time, issues have arisen with housing and supportive services with the severely mentally ill population. After reviewing the issues with the current programs and policies in my previous two papers, the following is my recommendation on how to improve on the issue. Severe mental illness covers several specific diagnoses that have different needs for treatment. The “one size fits all” approach cannot handle all the needs of this group. Throughout the research, adequate housing was one of the most important concerns that needed to be met for people with severe mental illness to increase the stability of their disease. Securing housing for this population is difficult due to the symptoms of mental illness and issues arising when people relapse. Using public and private services could help alleviate some of the issues seen in the programs and policies that are used today in dealing with severe mental illness. A more personal approach to this issue could tailor to the needs of the individual and better support them in the community in order to bring about the best possible outcome. The way a person with severe mental illness is housed and the environment of that housing play an important role in the health of that individual. By using both private and public services, like social workers, clinicians, support groups, and clergy, a plan can be made to best serve the person with... ... middle of paper ... ...u/pub/The-Severely-Mentally-Ill-Homeless-Housing-Needs-and-Housing-Policy Lezak, A.D., & Edgar, E.. (1996, April). Preventing homelessness among people with severe mental illness: A guide for states, Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, & U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved from http://www.umaine.edu/mainecenteronaging/documents/Preventing_Homelessness.pdf Newman, S., & Goldman, H.. (2009). Housing policy for persons with severe mental illness. Policy Studies Journal, 37(2), 299-324. Retrieved October 17, 2011, from Research Library. (Document ID: 1717997571). Teaster, P.B.. (2003). When the state takes over a life: The public guardian as pubic administrator. Public Administration Review, 63(4), 396-404. Retrieved October 17, 2011, from Research Library. (Document ID: 370511071).

Show More
Related

  • A History of Mental Care in America

    563 Words  | 2 Pages

    Harrison, Erica. "Homelessness Among the Seriously Mentally Ill: What We Can Do to Help." Clarityhumanservices.com. N.p., 5 Mar. 2013. Web. 13 Nov. 2013.

    Read More

  • Homelessness and Mental Illness

    1085 Words  | 3 Pages

    Imagine a man on the streets, who society has forgotten. This man emits the smell of garbage; he has not bathed in months. This man sits quietly mumbling to himself. To the outer world he is just one of the many homeless, but little does society know that this man has a mental illness as well. Homelessness and mental illness are linked. These two happenings have similar beginnings. Homelessness is influenced by drug and alcohol disuse, being homeless at a young age, money problems, and trauma symptoms. Mental illness is caused by many of the same things, but it can also happen at birth. The effects that each entity has on a person are comparable. Rehabilitation is a necessary process if a victim of homelessness and or mental illness wants to rejoin society. Homelessness and mental illness have similar, if not the same causes, effects, and rehabilitations.

    Read More

  • Re-institutionalization of a deinstitutionalized nation: Mental Illness

    1452 Words  | 3 Pages

    Boughton, Barbara. "Substance Abuse Rife Among Homeless With Mental Illness." Medscape Medical News. Medscape, 04 Nov. 2011. Web. 02 Dec. 2013.

    Read More

  • Deinstitutionalization of the Mentally Ill

    1469 Words  | 3 Pages

    The homeless- found on city park benches, street corners, and subway grates. Where did all of these people come from? One third, to one half of the homeless suffer from a mental illness. A lot is said about the homeless-mentally ill, but what their plight says about us may be more significant. We still have not found a place for those who are both poor and insane. Once there was a place for them; the asylum fulfilled the basic needs of thousands for decades, but now these institutions lay empty and in ruin. Has the hope to heal the mentally ill also been abandoned? Is there once again a need for the asylum? The disbandment of the asylum was the first step in ending segregation for those with mental illness, but we have yet to accomplish integration.

    Read More

  • Homelessness In Canada Essay

    1215 Words  | 3 Pages

    A. Thomas McLellan, et al, "Individual characteristics of the literally homeless, marginally housed, and impoverished in a US substance abuse treatment-seeking sample." Social Psychiatry & Psychiatric Epidemiology 43, no. 10 (October 2008): 839-840, EBSCO Academic Search Premier (accessed April 4, 2012).

    Read More

  • Solutions To Homelessness

    1837 Words  | 4 Pages

    Many believe that a common thread among the homeless is a lack of permanent and stable housing. But beyond that, the factors leading to homelessness and the services that are needed are unique according to the individual. To put them into one general category ? the homeless- suggests that people are homeless for similar reasons and therefore a single solution is the answer. Every homeless person shares the basic needs of affordable housing, adequate incomes and attainable healthcare. But a wide range of other unmet needs cause some people to become or remain homeless which include drug treatment, employment training, transportation, childcare and mental health services (Center 8.)

    Read More

  • Memo

    1312 Words  | 3 Pages

    Homelessness is one of the biggest issues society (Unites States) faces today. Homelessness is caused by lack of affordable housing, economic situations and decline in federal funding for low income families and the mentally ill. A homeless person is defined as an individual who lacks housing (without regard to whether the individual is a member of a family) including an individual whose primary residence during the night is a supervised public or private (shelters) facility that provides temporary living accommodations and an individual who is a resident in transitional housing. This definition of housing is used by the U.S Department of Healt...

    Read More

  • The Criminalization of the Mentally Ill

    3759 Words  | 8 Pages

    The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world and of that over sixty percent of jail inmates reported having a mental health issue and 316,000 of them are severely mentally ill (Raphael & Stoll, 2013). Correctional facilities in the United States have become the primary mental health institutions today (Adams & Ferrandino, 2008). This imprisonment of the mentally ill in the United States has increased the incarceration rate and has left those individuals medically untreated and emotionally unstable while in jail and after being released. Better housing facilities, medical treatment and psychiatric counseling can be helpful in alleviating their illness as well as upon their release. This paper will explore the increasing incarceration rate of the mentally ill in the jails and prisons of the United States, the lack of medical services available to the mentally ill, the roles of the police, the correctional officers and the community and the revolving door phenomenon (Soderstrom, 2007). It will also review some of the existing and present policies that have been ineffective and present new policies that can be effective with the proper resources and training. The main objective of this paper is to illustrate that the criminalization of the mentally ill has become a public health problem and that our policy should focus more on rehabilitation rather than punishment.

    Read More

  • Homelessness with Mental Illnesses in Crisis

    1741 Words  | 4 Pages

    Rosenfield, S., (1988). Homelessness and rehospitalization: The importance of housing for the chronic mentally ill. Journal of Community Psychology, 19(1). 60-69.

    Read More

  • Homeless Essay

    1319 Words  | 3 Pages

    The homeless population in the United States does not only include the humans out on the streets, but also the ones in living in vehicles, emergency shelters, transitional housing, and other unstable environments. Over six-hundred thousand individuals are currently homeless in the U.S. In our current society, people often become homeless due to circumstances beyond their control. Humans often face abrupt personal and public challenges within their lives causing change and displacement in their housing status without notice nor a choice. In relation to personal reasons for homelessness, individuals who identify as LGBTQ and victims of domestic violence encounter many different situational problems leaving them displaced. Furthermore, there has been a sharp increase in unaffordable housing recently causing other people to suffer issues in a more public manner.

    Read More

  • Deinstitutionalization Essay

    969 Words  | 2 Pages

    Those with mental illness would live in the community with an array of services and be able to be free from the constraints of confinement. In the early 1960’s the United States began an initiative to reduce and close publicly-operated mental hospitals. This became known as deinstitutionalization. The goal of deinstitutionalization was to allow people suffering from mental illness to live more independently in the community with treatments provided through community health programs. Unfortunately, the federal government did not provide sufficient ongoing funding for the programs to meet the growing demand. States reduced their budgets for mental hospitals but failed to increase funding for on-going community-based mental health programs. As a result of deinstitutionalization hundreds of thousands of mentally ill people were released into the community without the proper resources they needed for their treatment. (Harcourt,

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Homelessness

    930 Words  | 2 Pages

    Homelessness is a major public health problem throughout the United States due to increasing income disparities.1 About 650,000 people are homeless on any given day.2 Homelessness not only affects individuals, but families which include adults, children who may also experience mental illness, disabilities, or substance abuse.3 Homelessness is correlated with mental illness, substance abuse as well as loss of employment, poor health and, limited access to resources. While the state budget immediately considers fund housing initiatives to solve chronic homelessness it may not be the most efficient policy that this population needs. Housing does not provide necessary health services, may offer unequal aid to individuals and families, and may not be a priority for those individuals who are homeless. The state government should not fund housing policies for the homeless.

    Read More

  • Dangers of Budget Cuts on Mental Health Care

    1213 Words  | 3 Pages

    States obtain many services that fall under mental health care, and that treat the mentally ill population. These range from acute and long-term hospital treatment, to supportive housing. Other effective services utilized include crisis intervention teams, case management, Assertive Community Treatment programs, clinic services, and access to psychiatric medications (Honberg at al. 6). These services support the growing population of people living in the...

    Read More

  • The Importance Of The Mental Health Community

    1062 Words  | 3 Pages

    The societal issue that I have selected is that of community inclusion for those people suffering with mental health issue and their ability to successfully integrate into the community, after years of institutional living. Two cornerstone of community building is movement beyond problem solving toward changing conditions, and the people affected should play a major part in improving the conditions (Homan, 2011). For those who are affected by mental illness, it is key that they are given resources necessary to live and thrive in their new environment.

    Read More

  • Community Mental Health Case Management Essay

    1459 Words  | 3 Pages

    Since the beginning of deinstitutionalization in the mid twentieth century, there has been a significant need for community mental health care, which was recognized after long term institutional care was considered ineffective. One concept that arose during the community mental health movement was case management. An important goal of the community mental health movement was to create full time mental health centers throughout the United States, and case management was to provide outpatient care to those who suffered from severe mental illness. Case management is still widely recognized today, and continues to be effective in providing care to clients who suffer from mental illness. Case management is a fundamental solution to the advocacy, recruitment, treatment, and care of both the disadvantaged and mentally disabled individuals.

    Read More

More about Mental Illness, Homelessness, and Public Administration: Recommendations

Open Document