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HOMELESSNESS 11

STRATEGIES AND MEASURES TO ELIMANATE HOMELESSNESS

Introduction

Homelessness features people who have no access to or accesses limited, reasonably secure, safe, and priced housing. One of the very common traits of homeless individuals is financial struggle, which is faced by these individuals. These individuals do not have private or personal life since they do not have privacy. Homelessness can also be defined as absence of connectedness with a community. Always, individuals who are homeless lack the chance to enter or link with the community activities and life and may encounter reflective disengagement and isolation (Harvey, B. 1999). They feel as not being part of the society’s normal life and lack the chance to mingle or interact with other people.

Homeless individuals live in different places due to their financial power. There are individuals who live on buildings that are abandoned, in parks, in streets, cars, and in railway carriages. Some of these homeless people live partially with relatives and sometimes from one to another relative. Some reside in refugee campsites periodically while looking for an alternative place where they can get shelter. Another advanced category of homeless people is those who have living areas yet they lack access personal basic needs or facilities like living space and sanitary houses. A good example of advanced homeless individuals includes those that are living in shanties and slums. The deteriorating and worse conditions where the homeless persons live are alarming and call for action that will help get rid of the challenge. A number of governments across the world have established programs or developed strategies that will assist them handle this issue.

Literature Review

There is a lot of evidence concerning people without homes in Europe but the amount of knowledge remains very uneven due to a lack of understanding on some elements of homelessness (Allen, 2009). Of keen importance is the lack of enough research concerning the member states of Europe to the South, Central, and Eastern parts? Currently, the homelessness can be defined with regards to two wide subdivisions: structural and individualistic (Anderson, 2007). When it comes to explaining why people are homeless, the explanations have revolved around these two categories. The differences in emphasis come in when one moves from one country to another and also the different times in which the explanation is being made (Dorsett et al., 2007). However, new research indicates that homelessness results from a dynamic interaction of the characteristics of an individual and structural change.

Homelessness begun to gain a new understanding as a process that has different routes and exits, depending on the sub-populations in question (Jones & Pleace, 2010). By focusing on how people got into homelessness, recent research diverged into focusing on how people could come out of poverty considering a research that showed the temporality of the problem (Doherty, 2001). Those termed as homeless come from a diverse group that aids in the structuring of the group by demographic factors such as age, gender, ethnicity, and geography.

When it comes to defining and measuring homelessness, ETHOS presents a framework that allows certain definitions to be used for the purpose of policy creation and reflection of national situations (Van Laere et al., 2009b). For the acquisition of data, there needs to be the use of a variety of and the use of different indicators that still uphold the relevancy of the various policies and purposes (Tainio & Fredrickson, 2009). In the states covered by the EU there is no uniformity in the provision of welfare, resulting in the identification of welfare clusters (Harvey, 1999). Areas that have generous welfare regimes cushion their citizens from sinking into some forms of homelessness (FEANTSA, 2007a). Additionally, such welfare programs have likelihood of staying away from the justice system, especially incarceration, as a way of handling households that are economically marginalized.

When it comes to service delivery for the homeless people in the EU, both Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO’s) and the local authorities act as providers of service but the authorities act as the main drivers of services with NGO’s being mainly providers (Randall & Brown, 1996). The services in existence aimed at the homeless people are still concentrated at providing the most crucial and basic needs that the homeless may have (Anderson, 2007). However, strategies that are coming up target the reduction of temporal accommodation so as to be able to minimize wastage of efforts used in trying to prevent homelessness and to give homes to homeless individuals as soon as possible (Eurostat, 2010). Amongst the homeless people, there is a growth in the agreement that for those who need specialized support and are experiencing health difficulties, their difficulties can best be handled through the provision of flexible support in regular housing (Van Laere et al., 2009b). However, such a system is based on the availability of affordable housing, and adequate crisis intervention.

Homelessness and homeless people come in many forms. This implies that there is no single way to providing a way out of homelessness that is sustainable. Homeless people have the need for adequate, sustainable and affordable housing (Doherty, 2001). What changes is the amount of need that every individual has because it varies to a great extent (Dorsett et al., 2007). At the core of handling homelessness is the need for access to adequate housing and making the housing affordable for the clients (Anderson, 2007). However, resources in the EU are constrained extensively, making it hard for maximization of efficiency in the use of existing pocket friendly houses. A number of states in the EU have huge percentages of their populations living in deplorable conditions (Murie & Jeffers, 1987). There is evidence supporting that the documented care and support that the homeless individuals require could have been exaggerated by the methods used in researching in the different member states (Padgett, 2007). The new realization from ongoing research is that intensive “staircase” or “ladder” models that are used to provide services have high chances of limited effectiveness. Alternatively, the use of low intensity and low cost ‘housing first’ models that utilize floating support services may be suitable for providing a sustainable route to get out of homelessness. This is majorly because of the emphasis on service user choice.

The homeless population is so diverse that it contributes immensely to the challenges that face estimation of homelessness prevalence. One of the challenges in the measurement is the lack of a clear definition on what entails homelessness. According to Anderson (2007), there has been a huge volume of research on homelessness in nations such as the United Kingdom and the United States of America, yet quantifying the level of homelessness is still beyond reach (Tainio and Fredriksson, 2009). On one hand, there is the perception of homelessness to be those who live in the streets and cannot afford to have a roof over their heads. Rough sleepers and new immigrants are also accommodated in this definition if homelessness (Randall and Brown, 1996). On the other extreme end of the definition homeless people are defined as those who have inadequate accommodation and also those who are potentially at risk of becoming homeless, or having inadequate accommodation (Jones and Pleace, 2010). As a way of accommodating the continuous definition of homelessness, a conceptual definition involving lack of a roof on one’s head, lack of a house, and any form of accommodation that is both insecure and inadequate was developed (Eurostat, 2010). Going back to homelessness being best understood as a process that is extremely differentiated and has different points of entry and exits, it is important to emphasize that it applies to different sub-populations (Murie and Jeffers, 1987).

Research questions

The paper asks three questions:

What is homelessness and how profound is it in United States?

What are the causes of homeless in United States and other parts of the world?

How can different authorities and other groups help solve the issue of homelessness?

The empirical analysis of the study focuses on homeless people in United States. In U.S., homelessness has become a major issue mostly among the minority groups, people with low income, and among people living in regions inhabited by the rich. There are many measures that have been put forward to help solve the issue.

Research design

The research will involve collecting all available material from the school library, online sources or any other relevant material that will help me gather enough and concrete data to support my hypothesis and answer my research questions. Drawing from relevant materials, the paper will identify variables that show and predict the nature of homelessness in United States and other parts of the world, including interventions that can be put into place to help solve the situation. It will employ an account of homelessness in United States over the past five years, and gather data concerned or related to topic under study. This enables the researcher to identify qualitative measure changes with time, and at the same time be aware of the results, hence being able to identify nature of homelessness as a problem in the society (Batterham, D. 2019). Having that type of an analysis, in conjunction with primary inspection of the topic, and original individual’s observation of the issue under investigation, and interviews, helps to analyze the issue under study.

The research methodology commonly used to look into matters concerning homelessness is cross sectional. The method mainly involves face to face interviews which are able to provide enough information on characteristics such as demographics and disabilities that homeless people face (Padgett, 2007). However, the research method can tamper with how people understand homelessness due to the failure of not capturing how dynamic homelessness can be (Doherty, 2001). Distortions come from limitations of the research methodology, wrong use of psychiatric evaluation tools, and lack of a contextualizing framework.

Research methodology

This study is a comprehensive study of United States in a period of 5 years that analyzes the way government s and other philanthropists can develop strategies that will help solve the issue of homelessness. Governments and other interested agencies can join hands and develop effective ways and strategies that can eliminate the issue completely (Dorsett, R., Hudson, M. and McKinnon, K. 2007). The aim of the research is to come up with a logical structure that explains how the United States government and other governments across the world can handle the issue of homelessness. My main argument is that homelessness has become a major concern in most nations and it must be addressed effectively and quickly. It also addresses some of the main causes of homelessness such as poverty, and the rift between the rich and the poor. The paper attempts to understand the way different stakeholders such as the government, the community and other bodies can come together against the issue of homelessness.

Data collection

Collection of data will be done through the schools virtual library system, interviews, and administration of questionnaires. Interviews will involve peoples’ views about the nature and state of homelessness in United States and the possible interventions that can be put into place to control the situation. Questionnaires will be administered randomly to people between the ages of 25-50 years.

Limitations of the study

Though the study involved collection and analysis of data about causes of homelessness and the possible interventions that can be into place, some of the literature materials reviewed did not provide the required information since they did not give a full account of homelessness as a major issue in United States. Other materials are outdated and do not reflect the state of homelessness in U.S. currently. The research was mostly concerned with proper strategies and mitigation measures that can be into place to ease the condition, however a number of people interviewed did not have information or knowledge about the condition of homelessness in U.S. which made some not to respond or return their questionnaires.

In conclusion we can deduce that homelessness is an problem that has is still experienced by many people. The main cause of homelessness is poverty due to financial struggles that force people to seek shelter where they lack basic shelter needs. There is need for the government to establish interventions that will help solve and eliminate this challenge for ever and ensure every single person has access to good housing.

On limitations of cross sectional studies, there is a tendency of overestimating the disabilities that homeless people face. At most points of the research, individuals who are homeless for a long time will be significantly overrepresented. There is little capturing of people who go in and out of being homeless over the long period of time (Anderson, 2007). The only way that the dynamic nature of homelessness can be captures is through longitudinal research. According to Dorsett (2007), despite the fact that longitudinal studies are difficult and very expensive, they are significant because they provide information on exits from homelessness, and the numerous episodes of homelessness that exist (Eurostat, 2010). Research in the US is mainly centered on the longitudinal approach which mainly focuses on quantifying homelessness as compared to the UK which focuses on qualitative analysis. On misuse of instruments related to psychiatric evaluation, homelessness is mainly viewed as directly related to mental health problems and the abuse of drugs which is not the case (VanLaere et al., 2009). A lot of precaution needs to be taken the assessment of mental disorders among people who are homeless.

References

Allen, M. (2009) The Political Organisation of People Who Are Homeless: Reflections of a Sympathetic Sceptic, European Journal of Homelessness 3, pp.289–99.

Anderson, I. (2007) Sustainable Solutions to Homelessness: The Scottish Case, European Journal of Homelessness 1, pp.163–84.

Batterham, D. (2019). Defining “at-risk of homelessness”: re-connecting causes, mechanisms and risk. Housing, Theory and Society, 36(1), 1-24.

Doherty, J. (2001) Gendering Homelessness, in: B. Edgar and J. Doherty (eds.) Women and Homelessness in Europe: Pathways, Services and Experiences (Bristol: Policy Press).

Dorsett, R., Hudson, M. and McKinnon, K. (2007) Progress2work and Progress2work-LinkUP: An Exploratory Study to Assess Evaluation Possibilities (London: DWP).

Dorsett, R., Hudson, M. and McKinnon, K. (2007) Progress2work and Progress2work-LinkUP: An Exploratory Study to Assess Evaluation Possibilities (London: DWP).

Eurostat (2010) Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion: A Statistical Portrait of the European Union 2010. (Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union)

FEANTSA (2007a) Criminalisation of People Who Are Homeless, Homeless in Europe. The Magazine of Feantsa summer

Hanson, D. M., & Toro, P. A. (2020). Contributions of community psychologists to research, theory, intervention, and policy on homelessness since 1980. Journal of Urban Affairs, 42(5), 750-764.

Harvey, B. (1999) The Problem of Homelessness: A European Perspective, in: S. Hutson and D. Clapham (eds.) Homelessness: Public Policies and Private Troubles (London and New York: Cassell).

Jones, A. and Pleace, N. (2010) A Review of Single Homelessness in the UK 2000–2010 (London: Crisis).

Larkin, H., Aykanian, A., & Streeter, C. L. (2019). Homelessness Prevention and Intervention in Social Work. Springer International Publishing.

Murie, A. and Jeffers, S. (1987) Living in Bed and Breakfast: The Experience of Homelessness in London (Bristol: University of Bristol, School for Advanced Urban Studies).

Padgett, D. (2007) There’s No Place Like (a) Home: Ontological Security among Persons with a Serious Mental Illness in the United States, Social Science and Medicine 64, pp.1925–36.

Randall, G. and Brown, S. (1996) From Street to Home. An Evaluation of Phase 2 of the Rough Sleepers Initiative (London: HMSO).

Tainio, H. and Fredriksson, P. (2009). The Finnish Homelessness Strategy: From a ‘Staircase’ Model to a ‘Housing First’ Approach to Tackling Long-Term Homelessness, European Journal of Homelessness 3, pp.181–200.

Van Laere, I., De Wit, M. A. and Klazinga, N. (2009b) Shelter Based Convalescence for Homeless Adults in Amsterdam, British Medical Council Health Services Research 9, p.208.