Homelessness in America. Human services workers can interact with
many homeless people, depending on their job. a They need help with
resources from our most basic needs of food and shelter, and mental
health support. This seems like an uphill battle. There are three types
of homelessness in the US. They are chronic, episodic and temporary.
In 2020, there were 580,466 sheltered and unsheltered homeless
people in the United States. Of this total, 30 percent were comprised
of families with children (Henry et al., 2021). a The cyclically homeless
tend to be those at a high risk for repeated homelessness due to
persistent problems such as violent family environments and the
combination of poverty and expenses related to dependent children
(Davidson, 2007).
Statistics show that the homeless population is largely male; that
women under thirty years old are a growing proportion of the
homeless population; and that while homelessness is a largely urban
problem, rural homelessness is rising (Christian, Howson 2021). a The
reasons for homelessness are different for every person. a But mental
health is a common denominator in the homelessness community. a
The usual track of action is the person stops taking their meds and
they stop taking care of housework and bill paying. Then they are
evicted, do not have family to support them and on the streets they
go. Human services workers can help regain these things if the client
is willing to/able to do what is needed to attain those things. a
Although it seems that this is an uphill battle, statistics show that
homelessness declined by 9.4 percent between 2010 and 2019
(Henry et al., 2021)
Resources:
Christian, J., Howson, A., Homelessness. Salem Press Encyclopedia,
2021. 8p.
Klassen, Jeff, Homelessness in America. Salem Press Encyclopedia,
2021. 14p.
