Homelessness, a modern epidemic in our Country
- FELONS UNCHAINED INC
- Apr 6, 2023
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 6, 2023
What causes homelessness?
The causes of homelessness are diverse and related to many systemic and institutional structures within our country. In a city for example like Philadelphia lack of jobs at competitive living wages is one of the causes. It has 23% poverty rate. COVID-19 caused sudden and severe damage to Philadelphia’s economy. The city’s average unemployment rate was 12.2 percent in 2020.
Few homelessness causes are:
Disparity between housing costs and minimum wage, public supports, or earned benefits;
Lack of affordable housing and inadequate housing assistance;
Affordable health care;
Inadequate support for mental health and substance-use challenges;
Racial inequality;
National opioid crisis;
Domestic violence;
Systemic oppression;
Former inmates without support upon release.
Who is mostly affected?
Chronic Homelessness. Those who suffer from chronic homelessness are people who have been living without a home for 12 or more months. Oftentimes they suffer from disorders such as substance abuse, mental illness or physical and developmental disabilities.
Mental Health. The most common mental illnesses that people enduring homelessness experience are bipolar disorder, depression, schizophrenia, and anxiety. Researchers have found that mental stability as it correlates to homelessness is a cycle rather than an effect
Formerly incarcerated people. Formerly incarcerated people are almost 10 times more likely to be homeless than the general public. Barriers to employment, combined with explicit discrimination, have created a little-discussed housing crisis. The transition from prison to the community is rife with challenges. But before formerly incarcerated people can address health problems, find stable jobs, or learn new skills, they need a place to live.
Veterans face a set of unique challenges when transitioning back into civilian life. Like most who experience homelessness, there is not a single reason veterans may find themselves without a place to call home. The lack of affordable housing, unemployment and PTSD are all contributing factors, just to name a few.
Youth: Completing high school is a contributing factor in whether or not youth will suffer from homelessness at some point in their lives. Children and youth who do not earn a high school diploma are 346% more likely to experience homelessness than those with a diploma.
People who loose health care: Oftentimes, chronic health conditions lead to homelessness. Typically seen as a downward spiral from lack of insurance that leads to job loss, downsizing and eventually eviction. Conversely, homelessness can worsen overall health and decrease lifespan by 30 years, on average.
What are the possible solutions?
Housing First?
Almost every article written about homelessness bring as one of the magic solutions to the problem, more housing. Let us think for a moment. Those people were not born without a house. They had a house, they used to pay mortgage or rent but at a certain point in time they lost it. The possible solution is to find out why they lost their homes. In big cities like Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago, Boise, Portland, Los Angeles and many other suburbs there are countless abandoned houses and buildings. Empty in disrepair. Left them vacant they start to decay to the point where they need to be torn down. It almost seems that it is a propaganda to give construction companies Government incentives to build more. Ease regulations to build more will only benefits big construction corporations. Once these houses are built these people still would not afford rent or mortgage and they still will be living on the streets. Even giving away money occasionally to homeless can just give them relief for two or three days. After the money are gone in Motel, alcohol, drug and some food everyone goes back in the city parks, sidewalks or alleys.
Affordable housing
Houses needs to be more affordable. If somebody loose her job there must be a safety net to go to, to avoid being on the street. Building more shelters does not help either. It is just a patching temporary solution. What happens after a night spent in a shelter? They cannot stay. “Until or unless the federal government provides enough funds so that every homeless person can get a Housing Choice Voucher or the equivalent, we cannot eliminate homelessness”. A roof over their heads should not be momentary, a permanent resolution is much needed and more effective.
A functioning safety nets
People need enough money to afford a home, pay their bills and afford food. Without that, they can be forced into homelessness. Jobs are not paying enough in the face of rising inflation and bills due to the cost-of-living crisis. Houses are way to expensive compare to the average salary. Permanent supportive housing is an intervention that combines affordable housing assistance with voluntary support services to address the needs of chronically homeless people. Individuals need access to services like healthcare solutions, education and employment to gain independence and reenter society successfully.
Support services where people need them
Programs that provide computer classes, career training, job readiness workshops, life skills workshops, GED classes, adult basic literacy classes, and access to other resources to help local residents improve their lives, gain employment and pursue higher education.
Prevention
Homelessness prevention programs can help ensure that no one ends up in shelters or on the streets. This includes reinvesting in economically vulnerable neighborhoods, improving the school system, making sure people have access to health care, and providing jobs at a living wage, as well as shelter diversion programs.
Allow individuals to receive housing and services more quickly, and allows organizations to pool data in order to understand our population’s needs more accurately.
Prison Policy Initiative ( https://www.prisonpolicy.org/ )
The non-profit, non-partisan Prison Policy Initiative produces cutting edge research to expose the broader harm of mass criminalization, and then sparks advocacy campaigns to create a more just society.
They have few recommendations regarding homelessness: 1. States should create clear-cut systems to help recently-released individuals find homes. Even in states like New York, there is often “no central, coordinating force” set up to ensure that people leaving prison will land somewhere other than a shelter. Improved systems should help incarcerated people understand their housing options before release; find pathways to both short-term and permanent housing; and receive financial supports, such as housing vouchers, from the state.
2. Ban the box on housing applications. Cities and states should ensure that public housing authorities and landlords evaluate housing applicants as individuals, rather than explicitly excluding people with criminal records in housing advertisements or applications. A criminal record is not a good proxy for one’s suitability as a tenant.
3. End the criminalization of homelessness. Cities should end the aggressive enforcement of quality-of-life ordinances. Arresting, fining, and jailing homeless people for acts related to their survival is not only cruel; it also funnels formerly incarcerated people back through the “revolving door” of homelessness and punishment, which reduces their chances of successful reentry at great cost to public safety.
4. Expand social services for the homeless, focusing on “Housing First.” States like Utah have made permanent housing for the chronically homeless a budget priority. This successful approach acknowledges that stable homes are often necessary before people can address unemployment, illness, substance use disorder, and other problems. “Housing First” reforms, along with expanded social services, would help to disrupt the revolving door of release and reincarceration.
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