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Homeless Youth In America

1024 Words5 Pages

According to the 2014 Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) statistics, 34% of the total homeless population of America is under 24 years old (HUD 2014). Although HUD recognizes that this is an alarming number, current housing laws offer little protection for homeless college students. Young people in America face homelessness due to financial issues, lack of family support or insufficient housing. Reforming these laws will improve the lives of students struggling with inadequate housing and allow them to focus on their academic performance instead of worrying about their safety or where they will spend the night. Ronald Hallett, a Research Associate in the Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis at the University of Southern …show more content…

HUD’s lack of provisions for this homeless youth population poses unfair barriers to students who need stability and security at a crucial time in their lives. In January of 2015, Senator Diane Feinstein proposed the Homeless Children and Youth Act in the Senate to amend HUD laws and make aid more accessible to homeless youth. Since then there has been no action and it is unlikely that this bill will be enacted in the near future. Based on the bill tracking website GovTrack.us the chance of its success is 2% (GovTrack.us, 2015). This shows a dismal lack of concern by the government for our most vulnerable young people. Senator Feinstein for her part has been vocal in pointing out the lack of protections in the current laws and clearly states this on her website. She reiterates the trauma that homelessness has on educational and emotional development and stresses the importance of permanent housing as a basic human need, that will benefit not just the homeless but the nation as a whole (Feinstein, …show more content…

Without this support system, it is easy to fall behind in tuition payments and academic performance. Even if employed full time, many students cannot afford the rising tuition costs and frequently drop out of college due to lack of funding. Many colleges are unwilling to approve financial aid packages unless a student can show that they are independent of parental support, and require documentation proving this. Some educators and others have outspokenly protested financial aid being offered to students that are struggling with academics. One such educator is Jackson Toby, Professor of Sociology Emeritus at Rutgers University. Mr. Toby in his book, The Lowering of Higher Education in America: Why Financial Aid Should Be Based on Student Performance, is of the opinion that universal financial aid places an enormous burden on taxpayers and only students with better than average academic performance should be offered aid, thus weeding out the lower achievers and in his view raising the bar for education (Toby, 2009). This is a narrow minded view

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In “Homeless on Campus” author, Kingsborough Community College English Department Instructor, Eleanor Bader explains the increasing amount of homeless students and ways the public can help get them into various necessary living situations. Bader has two main audiences whom she is addressing. The first audience is homeless students. This report helps homeless students feel as if their voice is being heard and that they are not the only ones going through this. The second audience is teachers and college faculty members.

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The Department of Housing and Urban Development estimates the homeless population to be at, “a low of 250,000 to 350,000 nationwide” (Fogel 386). The Community for Creative Non-Violence however claims it’s at, “a high of 2 to 3 million” (Fogel 386). Even if the homeless population is around 250,000, that is a lot of people who need somewhere to stay. The lack of attention from the government on this problem is disappointing. With such a large homeless population the government can't just keep ignoring this problem.

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Recognizing whether or a person is in need of some assistance is an admirable characteristic to carry. In the article “Homeless on Campus” by Eleanor J. Bader states the issues amongst college students without a home yet attaining a degree. The story illustrates one young girl named Aesha, who is currently trying to obtain her Associates Degree but has yet to find a college that helps her become successful with her home situations. Many colleges did not have programs to help students with financial needs and difficult home lives find ways to accomplish college in the best way they can. Our youth is our future so this nation needs to provide them with the highest education while being comfortable.

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In recent years, the Long Beach homeless population has unfortunately increased. This includes an increase of children living in tents, cars and homeless encampments. By working together, the city, state, and federal governments can enact policies and programs that will more effectively serve homeless people. Although current policies are already in place, the laws and regulations can be re-defined to include more affordable housing and services. Everyone has to keep in mind the homeless people don’t always choose homelessness it is often a forced situation.

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(Koegel, Melamid, Burnam, 1995) For example, family homelessness has been increasing in the United states in Recent years. Now, more schools and communities are challenged to serve students whose lives are touched by the uncertainty and instability that homelessness brings. (Miller, 2015) People are forced to live destitute without daily necessities like healthy or sanitary food, housing or substantial clothing.

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A place to stay is not always guaranteed to those who apply. America needs to find a better solution to solving homelessness on college campuses and it needs to identify what the causes of homelessness are. Some college students are homeless because the jobs that are offered to them are unstable low income jobs. Rising tuition costs as well cause some college students to become homeless because they can’t afford to pay.

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Homelessness is an unsolved issue occurring day to day, worldwide. What the main focus of this essay will be are the homeless youth in Canada dealing with drug addiction and substance use. Homelessness is a rising problem here in Canada, there are 10,000 homeless youth on the street, a guaranteed 2000 on any given night. There are so many different aspects you have to deal with along being homeless, not only are they living life on the streets without a shelter, food or money, but the challenges they face daily just adds to it. They face physical abuse, verbal abuse, police brutality, weather changes, starvation, stress, addictions, mental illness, and other various problems.

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Colleges and Universities could “provide affordable housing and full access to health care” (1) to their students. There are many other things that can be done to help the homeless students. Even a tiny effort can make a huge

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Did you know that California is known to be a state that holds one of the highest rankings for homeless population? Well, I have recently researched and a lot of the rankings for states containing the most destitute people, and I had the impression that California would be at least with one of the top 5 states. And my judgment with this topic was proven correct with most of the sources I have used to congregate data from. As a result, of California possessing a pretty excessive populace of citizens not inhabiting a proper shelter, there was a big dispute in San Francisco, California regarding officials mandating the needy to commute to another location due to the constructing of city buildings and the expansion of the so called “Super Bowl

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Youth Homelessness in America Every year, millions of people are experiencing some form of homelessness in the United States alone. Of those people who are experiencing homelessness, a large proportion of them is under the age of 24. Data has found that there are over 550,000 youth have experienced homelessness for more than a week over the course of a year (“Youth and Young Adults,” 2018). In many cases, youth homelessness can be prevented, but the lack of resources and services available to youth is limited. As a result, the issue continues to grow and affect more and more youth have to experience homelessness.

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Elected officials tried and failed over and over again over that time to eradicate the homeless crisis in California. But the problem is not just as simple as people who are unsheltered and don't have a home. These people are sick and their actions of drug addiction or having a mental illness put them in the homeless situation that they are in and they need help. California took a “Housing First” approach for the solution on homelessness.

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1026 Words | 5 Pages

The current government is creating a situation where more families along with their children are experiencing homelessness. An individual may be considered homeless when they lack permanent housing and have to stay in shelters, abandoned buildings or vehicles, on the streets, or in other forms of unstable situations. Many homeless people start out with jobs and stable residences, but then social and economic factors intervene, causing a rapid change in their living situation causing them to leave, and live on the street. Even with the population of homeless keeps increasing, the government does not aid nor benefit the homeless because they only worsen the homeless problem by having laws that go against homelessness, not helping mentally ill homeless population, and having the lack of subsidized housing.

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“Overall, researchers were able to document a ‘poverty-related effect’ on children’s mental health and behavior” (Bassuk 499). In the state of Michigan there were more than 38,000 homeless children attending public schools in the year 2013 (Seidel A2). Homeless children are at increased risk of dropping out of school because their parents are not aware of the federal law that was passed in 1987 specifically to prevent homeless children from dropping out of school. The law is called the McKinney-Vento law. Prior to 1987 homeless children were unable to meet enrollment requirements in schools because they could not show proof of residency, and did not have school and health records.

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The issue of homelessness in America has been evident since the early 1600’s. Across the country men, women and children spend their nights on the streets not knowing when or if they will ever find a permanent home. States and federal officials or city councils have tried to alleviate or at least reduce the number of homeless over the last several decades at a city, state or national level but it continues to be an ongoing problem. There is a multitude of factors that account for the growing homeless population that affects each state in the country differently. Though there are many contributing factors that contribute to the amount of people living on the street at any given night in the U.S.

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