Homelessness As Positively Affected by the McKinney Act

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This paper will attempt to explain the plight faced by one of the largest, most vulnerable populations in America today: the homeless, and how the McKinney Act has affected it. This out-group faces many hardships and many different policies have been put into place both helping and harming their overall wellbeing.
Policies Implemented For Homeless
Many social welfare policies have been put into place throughout the course of history to attempt to deal with the ever present problem of homelessness. Starting at the first widespread attempt by the government with the implementation of the Elizabethan Poor Law, which placed the plight of the poor into the realm of responsibilities of the community; and serves as the very basis for our notion today of what welfare should be. It set apart the worthy and those deemed the unworthy poor, it established indoor relief for those who were seen to have caused their own misfortunes via almshouses or outdoor relief for the widows and children who had done nothing themselves to bring about their hardships that kept them in their own homes. (Jansson, 2013)

The advent of the first Charity Organizations brought about a new way of thinking about how to deal with the issue of homelessness; it advocated helping the poor gain life skills and knowledge rather than a temporary solution of only throwing money towards the problem. Many settlement houses were established, and here people were housed and trained in job skills and community ties were built (Jansson, 2013).

After the Great Depression left the United States with numbers of poor and homeless previously unseen, President Roosevelt enacted The New Deal which was to become the beginning of the welfare state as we know it today (Jansson, 2013). ...

... middle of paper ...

...e a nation where no man, woman, or child has to face living even one night without a shelter over their heads.

Bibliography
Center for Public Interest Research, I. (nd). National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness. Retrieved from http://www.studentsagainsthunger.org/page/hhp/overview-homelessness-america
Hope, P. (2013). Project HOPE. Retrieved from The College of William & Mary: http://education.wm.edu/centers/hope/resources/mckinneyact/index.php
HUD. (2013). McKinney-Vento Act. Retrieved from HUD: http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/comm_planning/homeless/lawsandregs/mckv
Jansson. (2013). Brooks/Cole Empowerment Series: The Reluctant Welfare State. Wadsworth Publishing. Kindle Edition.
NCH. (2006, June). McKinney-Vento Act. Retrieved from NCH: http://www.nationalhomeless.org/publications/facts/McKinney.pdf

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