U.S Government is mainly responsible for the rise in homelessness in New York City; due to their previous negligence in providing an immediate solution and the aggravation of the issue due to certain policies that they placed. (Thesis)
According to U.S Public Health Service Act, a homeless individual is someone who lacks housing; this includes those who reside in supervised public or private facilities such as shelters. It is seen that the number of homeless people staying in New York City shelters has reached the highest levels since the Great Depression of the 1930s, according to the 2013 Coalition for the Homeless Report. Furthermore the report has shown that the number of homeless people in New York City has increased by a staggering 13% from January 2012 to January 2013.
One of the primary causes of homelessness in New York City is the economic recession, which has resulted in long-term joblessness among many New York citizens. Secondly, the rising cost of rent in New York City has made it unaffordable for poor citizens to secure a permanent roof over their head. (Gambino, New York homeless shelters housing record-high 53,000 people per night)
It is the role of the U.S government to ensure the wellbeing of its citizens; this includes aiding its citizens in acquiring and maintaining regular and adequate housing. Therefore, the government should take on the main responsibility of dealing with the homelessness crisis in New York, even though the society and social service providers also play a role in reducing the homeless levels in New York City. However, instead of solving the homelessness issue in New York, they have caused a rise in the homelessness level.
Firstly, the government is responsible for the increase in home...
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...y plans that they wished to implement. Therefore, the issue of New York’s homelessness will not be solved, unless more governmental authorities start to step in and work together with De Blasio to solve the homeless issue in New York.
In conclusion, the government has played a main role in causing the rise of level of homelessness in New York, through the negligence of the situation by not taking immediate action and by further aggravating the situation through previous policies set in placed. Despite some governmental authorities taking effort to solve the homelessness issue in New York, the homelessness issue in New York has not transformed for the better. This is due to the lack of support and cooperation from other governmental authorities regarding policies made to solve homelessness, as they do not see it as such as major issue as compared to economic issues.
B. When I brought this up with “Red” he told me that Bloomberg’s concern is not for the number of homeless people who refuse to be regulated to the city’s overburdened overcrowded and under funded shelter system, instead for the beautification of the city.
According to Streetwise of Street News Services (2010), the first reported instances of homelessness dates as far back as 1640, in some of the larger cities in the original 13 colonies. At this time, there were wars being fought between settlers and Native Americans, and people were left with no shelter in both sides (Street News Service, 2010). Later, the industrial revolution caused more homelessness, industrial accidents left many former hard-working families with a dead provider, or with severe disabilities, and then the economy entered a recession in the same time period (Street News Service, 2010). Wars always left a large number of veterans homeless. Later, in 1927, there was an astronomical flood along the Mississippi River, across multiple state, leaving about 1.3 million people without a home (Street News Service, 2010). Natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco, the Asian tsunami in 2004, and the earthquake early this year in Japan are still a major cause of homelessness.
“We have come dangerously close to accepting the homeless situation as a problem that we just can't solve.” - Linda Lingle. According to Linda Lingle homelessness is becoming an issue that has been a problem that is at this point unobtainable. The main causes of homelessness among Americans is the result of unemployment, low wages and unaffordable housing; the reality is that people are forced to survive in harsh environments and many are subject to alcohol and substance abuse.
Homelessness in the United States has been an important subject that the government needs to turn its attention to. There has been announced in the news that the number of the homeless people in many major cities in the United States has been increasing enormously. According to United States Interagency Council on Homelessness reported that there was an estimation of 83,170 individuals have experienced chronic homelessness on the streets of the United States’ streets and shelters on only a single night of January 2015, which is a small decrease of only 1% from the previous year (People Experiencing Chronic Homelessness, n.d.). The United States must consider this subject that most of the people underestimate it and not pay attention
There are many components that contribute to the homelessness in America. Neoliberalism and capitalism are very important contributors to discuss. Under these practices lies multiple factors that not only perpetuate, but also maintain homelessness. In a neoliberal era, there’s a shift of deregulating and privatizing public spheres/programs and move it under the authority of private and individual entities. This includes the lack of support and funding in access to affordable housing, employment, income, public health, and other public assistance. Neoliberalism, poverty, and capitalism has play a key role in sustaining the unequal distribution of wealth and resources among people, which has resulted folks in losing their sense of self.
Homelessness is not a disease. It is not a virus, not a condition, nor bacteria. Homelessness is a state where a person does not have a permanent residential. This includes people who live in shelters, motels and on the streets. They do not have homes because of the rising prices of housing. In New York City alone, 61,931 people are homeless as of September 2016. This is an epidemic in New York, not because of the sheer number of homeless people, but because of the lack of support from the local government. Homeless people are ignored by citizens, attacked by youth and abused by police officers. The New York Police Department even instituted Move Along Policy where homeless people who are idle for too long are forced to move their locations. This could be sitting on a bench for too long or falling asleep in a train station. So displaced citizens are not only homeless, but they are not allowed to reside in familiar locations without fear of being harassed by policemen. The youth of New York City find entertainment in harming homeless people. They would attack them, throwing bottles at them, hitting them, in hopes of knocking them unconcious. And these homeless people who do not have jobs often ask for money in the streets. And people just walk past them without even bothering with them. Because
Romeo, Jim. "Homelessness in America Is a Growing Problem." Poverty and Homelessness. Ed. Noël Merino. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2009. Current Controversies. Rpt. from "A Roof of One's Own: Homelessness Is Growing, but Solutions Are Out There." Planning 71.11 (Dec. 2005): 12-16. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 11 Dec. 2013.
Economic problems such as being laid off work, or the rise in the cost of housing had lead people to live on the streets. Many of the homeless are women that have become divorced or have left home because of physical abuse. These women have no education because they have not been given the chance to go and get the education that it takes nowadays to get the job, so they are forced to live on the streets. They have no family to help them and they are left with no other choice. People with mental illnesses also become homeless quite often. These people are incapable of handling the stress of living on their own. These people get kicked out of their homes and are to ashamed to go to their families because of their illness, so we see them on the streets struggling to stay warm. Teenage mothers are also forced to live on the streets because their families will not help them. The fathers are not there and that forces them to live on the streets. So they must resort to prostitution to pay for the food that their young ones need to stay alive. There are many other people that become homeless for many different reasons. Some of these people can not help becoming homeless. Some of these people are the illegal immigrants that come here from other places to get a better life but end up not having enough money to make it in this hard world that we live in.
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.
...those who live in poverty, those who have insufficient economic resources, those who lack affordable housing, who have health issues, and those who face unjust racial bias (criminal justice system). We also looked at the domestic circumstances among the homeless and how minorities are doing when it comes to education. Unless these racial disparities and inequalities are addressed in every level, including employment, housing, health, criminal justice, mental health, domestic violence, and as well as other disparities that exist in this society are addressed there would continuously be a higher number of minorities that are homeless in New York City. There are many more other factors that lead to homelessness besides those that are mentioned above, but for this research, two factors will be examined; insufficient economic resources and lack of affordable housing.
Homelessness is a problem that happens in many different countries around the world. Definitions of homelessness are defined in different meanings by different people. However, the Stewart B. McKinney Act defines a homeless person as “ one who lacks a fixed permanent nighttime residence or whose nighttime residence is a temporary shelter, welfare hotel, or any public or private place not designed as sleeping accommodations for human beings” (McNamara 1025). It is impossible to find out exactly the number of homeless; however, the researchers can do a study to estimate that number. Based on different statistics from different researchers, the homeless population in America has been increasing as “an alarming rate” (Markos and Lima). Therefore, even though America is one of the most powerful countries in the world, homelessness, which has many common causes, has always been a big problem in society.
The economic component of the homelessness situation can be broken down into two interrelated parts: housing affordability and a low income rate. The economic recession that followed the financial crisis of 2007 left many individuals unemployed during a time that saw a spike in the price of housing. So not only did the cost of living increase, the rate of income also decreased accordingly. Unsurprisingly, during these same years homelessness rose from 24.2 percent in 2007 to 29.4 percent in 2009 (citation).
The biggest reason people are homeless is simply because of poverty. They just can't afford to have a place to live and food in their mouths. As of 2000, 11.3% of the US population lived in poverty.(1) The number of people in extreme poverty has been increasing since 1999, accounting for 39% of people in poverty, and making less than half the amount of income a person considered in poverty makes.(3) With this amount of people living in poverty, it's no wonder why there are so many homeless today. The reason people are in poverty is because of inflation since the 70's, and the loss of affordable housing projects.(4) This accounts for almost all homeless, but there are also other factors that can contribute as well. There are many people with addiction problems that make them homeless. It's not because they are addicted to drugs, because many people live quite well with an addiction problem, but they could be in a hard point financially, and could be driven to the streets because of money issues. The hard part for them is getting off the streets once they're on them. Since so much of their money goes to drugs, most drug addicts can't overcome being homeless once they have been for more than 6 months.(1) Mental illness is also a big issue causing homelessness. Approximately 22% of single white male homeless people are suffering from a severe mental illness.(1) The main reason is because Millions of mental patients were dis-institutionalized in the 50's and 60's, and affordable housing wasn't an issue until the 80's, when many of them were reaching 50 and couldn't work and afford housing. L...
Homelessness is a vast predicament in America and around the world. It is severely overlooked as people don’t really think of homelessness as real world problem. However, there have been ways that people have tried to fix the problem. They have come up with homeless shelters, emergency shelters, food banks and soup kitchens. These solutions have limitations though, which will hopefully come to an end.
Many people find themselves in a predicament when they are living with a partner and the two decide to go their separate ways. Some people may not be able afford the cost of living on just their income alone, so when two people terminate a relationship where one depends on the other, both are often left homeless for a period of time. Unemployment is another major cause of people becoming homeless. When people lose their jobs and fail to find another within a reasonable amount of time, they will not be able to pay their rent or mortgage on time or even at all, causing them to look else where for shelter. Many people are not fortunate enough to have a family member that is willing, or capable, of taking them in and supporting them. The main cause of homelessness comes from people being evicted from their place of residence either by their parents, friends, or land lord. Parents will often kick their kids out of the house because they can not financially support them anymore, or they are just simply tired of their kids bumming off of them when they are perfectly capable of supporting themselves or at least contributing to the cost of living expenses. So many people are forced to live on the streets because of something as little as a relationship problem. All homeles...