Homeless Families Research Paper

Homeless families are more vulnerable to physical and sexual assault, witnessing violence, or abrupt separation. The stress relate to these risks comes addition to the stress resulting from homelessness itself. This problem can also affect children and how they learn. The privation of employment opportunities plays a very important number in the increased number of shelter homeless families. Many factors have contributed to the increase of homeliness families in America, but these two major trends are largely responsible for the rise of homelessness witch a growing of a shortage of affordable rental housing, and increase in poverty. Along with foreclosures and poverty, other factors that contribute to homelessness are domestic violence,
mental illness, and addiction disorders. Poverty and homeliness are linked together when a person or a family with very low income or decline in wage is unable to pay for food, healthcare, day care or other basic expense. Hard choices must be made and when the mortgage absorbs most of the income portion, this has to be dropped, forcing families to double up with another family but when this is not an option families are forced to sleep in their cars or the street. There are three types of homeless Chronic Homeless, translational homeless, and episodic homeless. People then to believe homeliness is a problem that only pertains to single men and women but thousands of family’s experiences homeliness. Being Homeless is a devastating experience for families and it affects every aspect of family life. Homeless families compromise roughly 34 % of the total U.S homeless population. Approximately 1.6 million children will experience homelessness over the course of one year and researched estimates 200,000 children have no safe place to live. The majority of families experiencing homeliness are female-headed, single women with children- single mother late twenties with two children. Domestic violence is one of the principal causes of homeless single mother families. A majority of single-parent families are among the poorest in the nation which makes them extremely vulnerable to homelessness. African-Americans contribute to almost half of homeless families followed up by white, non-Hispanic with thirty-eight percentage, Hispanics with almost fifteen percentage and native Americans with a three percentage, making them the lowest percentage among homeless families.
Children experience a high rate of chronic conditions and health problems while being homeless which also has a profound effect on their development and ability to learn.
From 2010-2011 school year, more than 1 million children were homeless, according a report by The U. S Department of Education causing a devastating impact on children and youth’s educational opportunities. The problem with education is the not ability of the child to learned, but also other factors such as the lack of sleep and stress. Constants moves and readjustments breaks off any friendships the child have made. Youth tend to have a greater risk when they are homeless their lives are put on hold, due to lack of opportunities, making it harder to accomplish their goals and ensure their security. Not having a stable home address, guardianship, reliable transportation and lack of immunization records often prevents homeless children from enrolling in school. In 1987 the Congress established the McKinney Acts Education of Homeless Children and Youth. This program provides grants to state education agencies to ensure all homeless children are provided with equal access to free and appropriate education. Since 1987 the education of homeless children significantly
improved. Programs have been created around the county in order help end the epidemic of homeliness and homeless families. In Oregon, On January 7,2009 The Portland Housing Bureau was created. PHB oversees developing citywide Housing policy and delivering programs that increased the supply of affordable housing working on preventing and trying to solve the widespread of homeliness and promoting stable homeownership by creating an investment and strategic plan. Some programs are specific and limited in their services, but others like the Community Action focus more on helping people and change lives by offering not only home assistance, but energy assistance program, Emergency Rent Assistance, Energy Conservation and Head Start & Early Head Start.
In conclusion,