Homelessness is a very big issue in the city of Philadelphia. There are so many children who are homeless and the people of Philadelphia do not even recognize it. They blend in with all of the other children because they are embarrassed. Children should never be in a position to be homeless. They deserve all of the same things of as a child who is not homeless.
The most important opportunity that all children should be afforded is a proper education. This is such a big issue. Often, homeless children do not have a mom or dad to go home to at night and do homework with or even a table to do their homework on. Furthermore, ever more sad is how the people of Philadelphia at times cannot tell who is a child that is homeless, because at times these
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In today's world the jobs are limited everywhere and people who have college degrees are having a tough time finding a job. It will be very hard for them to get up on there feet and mature to a young man or a young woman. There are so many organizations out in this world to help youth homeless. For example, there is a non-profit organization called Stand Up For Kids. This organization is a really big help for those who are faced with the challenges of living on the streets. Their mission is to end the cycle of youth homeless throughout the united states. Stand Up For Kids was founded in 1990 by a group of volunteers in San Diego, California. The program wants to make kids who don't have families the urge to continue to fight and to learn life skills. The volunteers walk the streets to look for young homeless children and provide them with the things they need such as food, clothes, and other important necessities. The volunteers also teach the children how to talk and the proper way to communicate to another person. That is important because it will help them get a job or go back to school and get their GED. These volunteers are showing these children that even when times are tough there is always someone who cares for them and will be there with them whenever they need …show more content…
According to www.childtrends.org, “1.4 million student were homeless at the start of the 2013-2014 school year.” While this is more than twice as many as in school year 2004-05 (590,000), some of this increase may be due to improved reporting, as only 65 percent of school districts reported data in that year (compared to 99 percent in 2013-14) (www.childtrends.org). However, there is good reason to believe that at least some of the increase reflects real growth in this population; in school year 2007-08, with 91 percent of school districts reporting, there were only 795,000 students who were homeless. In school year 2013-14, the majority (75 percent) of homeless students were “doubling up” with other families. One-seventh (15 percent) were staying in shelters, six percent were in hotels or motels, and three percent were “unsheltered,” meaning that they were living outside, in abandoned buildings, in cars, or in other places not meant for human habitation. Sheltered homeless children are disproportionately young (www.childtrends.org). In 2013, fully 10 percent of homeless children who spent time in shelters were under the age of one, 39 percent between one and five, 33 percent between six and twelve, and 18 percent between 13 and 17. Among unaccompanied youth, as one would expect, a large majority (87 percent) were between the ages of 13 and 17. However, seven percent were between the ages of
Although The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act is a program that guarantees education for the homeless youth population, many homeless do not receive the proper services they need because they are not aware of available resources (Heinze & Jozefowicz-Simbeni, 2009). Many homeless youths do not have a safe place to stay during the night or do not have any family or friends to rely on for support. In addition, approximately 7% of youth members in the United States are left without a home because of high dependence on an addictive substance or because they have been diagnosed with a mental health disorder (Heinze & Jozefowicz-Simbeni, 2009). Services that could provide shelter for the youth are often underused. Research in homeless youth
I have heard stories from my friends that are horrible, especially considering they were all under 18 during these events within their lives. Therefore, I believe the homeless youth in our community need more attention due to their age and lack of confidence. For example, my boyfriend Alex was homeless when we started dating. All of his siblings were taken away separately from child services due to abuse, addiction and neglect within his family. He lived in a shelter where teens were using drugs, stealing and some were even into prostitution. I do understand that not all shelters are this way, but in his experience, he has lived in three different ones and all of them had some of these factors within them. I used to believe there were many options for the homeless, especially teenagers, but from my own second-hand experiences there are really not that many alternatives. “Sometimes it is safer to sleep on the street than some homeless shelters we came across”, suggests Alex Black, a former homeless youth. These shelters can be horrifying to the point that many teens, including Alex, run away. Society looks down on the homeless, creating a barrier surrounding our social structure, placing them at the bottom. Many people in our community believe it is not their place to help, some just are selfish or look the other way and keep on walking.“Whoever closes
Every year, homeless population is increasing. 3.5 million People experience homelessness in a year (“Hunger and Homelessness” 1). Most of the homeless are family and children (“Top Causes of Homelessness in America” 1).In the homeless population, 35% of populations are children and children homelessness is increasing the most. One fourth of the children are under 18.
1 in every 30 children are homeless, that is nearly 2.5 million. These children should have an opportunity to go to college and be able to help situations back at home and finish their college to get their degree. This idea of many being homeless expands to be something bigger but being to start off with something as little as giving free college tuition can make a difference . A driver of homelessness is poverty. There is a high poverty rate for single parents struggling with education and unemployment. These children should not be seen for who they are in the temporary living situations but who they will be in the future. With help, the number of homeless children will go down and the number attending college will
Homelessness….. Many assume those who are homeless took part in some type of drug or alcohol abuse which lead them to become homeless. It is an ongoing situation that has not been fully resolved in order to lower the risk of individuals of the youth population becoming homeless. The age group for homeless individuals who qualify as youth is nineteen years of age and under. In the United States, dysfunctional families are occurring more frequent, which is a vital reason adolescents are running away from their homes. This alone puts many of our youth at risk of becoming homeless. When adolescents leave their homes, it decreases their chances of having a smooth transition into adulthood. Some adolescents may leave their home because
Children should not have to go through any of that. It is quite unbelievable but “HIV rates for homeless people are three to nine times higher than report rates for competitive samples in the US. A study across four cities found a prevalence of two point three percent for homeless youth under twenty five” (“eleven facts about homeless”). “Two million and two hundred thousand children die each year due to the fact they do not become immunized. Fifteen million children orphaned due to HIV/AIDS” according to Snah. The HIV rates for homeless children are not good. The rate needs to go down. Out of all the runaway youths, over forty percent have been abandoned by their parents. Also, over forty percent have been beaten by their parents (“eleven facts about homeless”). It is proven children with homeless mothers are more likely to stay with them than if their father had been homeless (“Homeless”). Almost half of runaways happen when they have been abandoned or
This great nation of awesome power and abundant resources is losing the battle against homelessness. The casualties can be seen on the street corners of every city in American holding an ?I will work for food? sign. Homeless shelters and rescue missions are at full capacity. There is no room at the inn for the nation?s indigent. Anyone who has studied this issue understands that homelessness is a complex problem. Communities continue to struggle with this socio-economic problem while attempting to understand its causes and implement solutions. The public and private sectors of this country are making a difference in the lives of the homeless by addressing the issues of housing, poverty and education.
Federal law defines homeless children as children who lack “a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence.” Michigan ranks 29th in the nation in child homelessness and has been rated the 4th worst when it comes to student homelessness. According to the Department of Education, there were 43,418 homeless students in Michigan during the 2011-2012 school year. That was approximately 42% more than what was reported for 2010 – 2011 school year and 96% from 2009 – 2010. (National Center for Homeless Education, 2013) This is a huge problem and it affects teaching staff, students, parents and the economy.
Homeless people come from many different backgrounds. Gender is the first demographic to consider. According to many different studies, most of single homeless adults are men who “make up slightly more than 51 percent of the total homeless population, while single women comprised about 17 percent” (McNamara 1027). However, in homeless families, single female parents make up approximately 90% (Markos and Lima). Second demographic to consider is age. Everyone including children can become homeless because of different cases. From the National Coalition for the Homeless, “children under the age of 18 accounted for 39% of the homeless population, 25% of homeless were ages 25 to 34; the same study found percentages of homeless persons aged 55 to 64 at 6%” (qtd. National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, 2004). By a study in 2002 from t...
With the worsening state of the economy there has been a steady rise in the rates of homelessness for all ages. The causes amongst youth homelessness include financial instability, abusive guardians, conflict between the youth and their guardians in dealings with sexual activity or pregnancy. This leads to a greater need for government assistance, welfare, charity. It includes those same youths growing up to experience higher rates of divorce and mental illness. They will have a greater chance of ending up in prison, in poverty, or even plagued by addiction.
Homelessness is a major issue in our world today. There is an abundant amount of people who live on the street and barely have anything they can call their own. These people probably lived great lives at some point, they probably never thought of the concept of becoming homeless until it happened. Luckily there is help being brought to them from different kinds of sources in order to help get them back on the road to a happy and fulfilled life. Certain people in society have a desire to get homeless people off the streets, to get them food, clothing, and most importantly love. These people are volunteers who enjoy spending their free time helping the ones in need because they love to give back to their community . There is major volunteer groups out there like StandUp For Kids, this organization helps to improve lives of the homeless and street kids. Volunteers have a desire to get people off the streets because they know that no should feel as if they are worth nothing in this world. Besides the goodness of helping others, aiding to help the homeless people get back up in life, it can help make the economy better. Usually there is money
The National Coalition for the Homeless (2006) is the most effective strategy as it seeks to address the problem of homelessness through various means, including volunteer work, advocacy efforts, and contributions. Firstly, the strategy requires people to volunteer their time to work directly with the victims of homelessness in the city to help them meet their immediate needs. People can volunteer their time to work with children in various programs, share hobbies, and help build houses and shelters among others (Miller, Hess, & Orthmann, 2011). This is extremely important and can help victims of homelessness to acquire some of the basic needs they lack.
With the number of homeless students on the rise, schools encounter new educational challenges that include: establishing and maintaining enrollment procedures that would not discourage school attendance; lack of teacher-training/awareness in the special needs of homeless children; the non-existence of a school transfer system for homeless children that would be least destructive to a child's education, while all the time not overlooking the basic needs of food, clothing, shelter, security and medical care that homeless families with children require immediately.
I have become deeply concerned about the number of homeless people in our community, but especially children in the Lawton Public School System. In a review of the 2010-2015 City of Lawton Consolidated Plan, the subject of homelessness is addressed, however, this particular age level is not addressed in this plan. With the current state budget cuts in education, the programs in the Lawton Public Schools that service these children are very likely to receive drastic cuts as well. A result of these cuts would be a total breakdown of educational services that these children are entitled to. A few priorities for this town as stated by you, Mr. Fitch, in the State of the City document are to create a safer city, protect and serve our natural water resources, and monitor fiscal health of the general budget fund. Although these are seemingly important things, I think that the unprovided shelter for the homeless is something that should be taken into consideration as high priority for the city of Lawton. The most recent count, the beginning to the end of 2015, of children living in homeless conditions in the Lawton Public School System was 704. These are kindergarten to 12th grade children who are unaccompanied, are in no legal custody, awaiting foster care, or basically just sleeping on someone's couch because their family cannot afford housing. These
Homelessness is everywhere, it is not a new trend and is a growing problem. Many people ask themselves should I help the homeless or not; it is easier to just ignore the problem than to give a helping hand. Every person needs help at one point or another in their life and homeless people should be no different. Assisting the homeless with healthcare, housing, and childcare are ways people are able to and should help the homeless.