Homelessness Lack of Shelter

Why is Homelessness more than just the lack of shelter? Illustrate your answer with specific examples from referenced material.

The lack of shelter is not just the meaning of homelessness there is much more. A person who does not have access to a safe housing is normally the known reason of Homelessness. Homelessness causes include physical, emotion or sexual abuse, family breakdown, domestic violence, financial problems, unemployment, mental illness, disability, drug or alcohol abuse or gambling. These causes’s of homelessness puts children, teenagers, women and older people in danger and damages to these people.

Forms of shelter include usual accommodation such as living on the streets. The children, adults and older people who live on the street have the lack of shelter which live leads them to more domestic violence, drug and alcohol abuse. There is also accommodation provided by youth programs, commonwealth programs, accommodation assistance program (SAAP), the commonwealth state housing agreement (CSHA), crisis accommodation program (CAP), rent assistance (RA) and the emergency relief program (ERP). These programs provide assistance to the homeless. They all provide a certain role for the homeless children and adults. The commonwealth programs provide funds to youth programs from the government, funds who are suffering or in danger. They also provide benefits for the allowance for youth, disability and the unemployment. The supported accommodation assistance program directs a host of programs who is joint with the commonwealth program who supply funding to over of 1200 agencies. The rent assistance provides low income houses and assistance in the form of a non taxable income addition. And last the emergency relief program provides funding to the community and welfare organisations who can assist families and individuals in crisis (http://www.homelessresourcenetwork.org/causes.html). With the help of these shelters provides lend in hand for the homeless to get back on there feet from the cause’s that brought them to a need of shelter from emotional, mental and physical abuse. Homelessness has an impact in Australia with the number different affect of groups to manage homelessness.

The number of homeless Australians impacts economic cost to individual and families that are homeless. Homelessness in Australia damages their health, threatens their safety, no job or house of their own and the economic support to by food and supplies. The economic cost of being homeless on the street is working for food and shelter. The homeless who do have shelter still have to buy food even when the programs offer you income to get you back on your feet. After their regular income rent and other costs they have to buy food for there self and their families. With the rest of the money they have to buy food, ways to save on food they buy no brand foods or food on sale or cheap foods such as cheap noodles. Homeless in Australia has many aspects such safety, security, number of people who is homeless and what is homelessness.

The safety and security of homelessness is one of the major aspects. Safety for homelessness people includes the programs that provide accommodation, food and income. Without safety from the programs given to homeless people to recover their life it threatens their safety and the community. Safety for homelessness also comes with being safe they need to be secure to have access to accommodation and income. Security with homelessness includes no legal rights to have no occupation or a home. Security can also involved the programs protecting the homeless in youth programs by staying off drugs, domestic violence and breakdowns. The number of people who is homeless in Australia concludes to “Each day nearly 1 in every 200 Australians is homeless, without safe, secure or affordable housing. Last year, 105,000 Australians experienced homelessness. One in every 154 Australians sought help from a homeless assistance service and one in every 39 children aged under 4 slept in a homeless service. 23% of Australia’s homeless are children – almost one in four homeless people is under 18. Of every 42 Australian children under four, one has experienced homelessness. Every day, half the people who request immediate accommodation from the homeless service system are turned away. Two in every 3 children who need support are also turned away, as are almost 80% percent of families” (http://www.homelessnessaustralia.org.au/UserFiles/File/Homelessness%20in%20Australia%202010%20lr(1).pdf). Homelessness is about a safe home to sleep or to live in. Each night 100,000 Australians don’t have a place to call home and almost half the group are under the age of 25. The four main of what is homelessness are is about sleeping rough, stop gap housing, boarding house resident and marginally housed. These four main levels of homelessness contribute to the factors of homelessness.

Factors contributing to homelessness include = Automobile - related broken down car, no insurance and tickets =Decline in Public Assistance – TANF benefits and food stamps = Divorce – divorce often leaves one of the couple homeless = Domestic Violence – violence = Drug and Alcohol related problems – drug and alcohol abuse = Illness – disability = Job loss – no income to pay rent = Lack of affordable housing – affordable house = Lack of Child Support – families where child support is ordered but not paid = Low Wages – declining wages have put housing out of reach for many workers = Mental Illness – approx 20-25% single adults suffer from some form metal Illness = Natural Disaster/Fire – Situations where due to chance of a fire = Physical Disabilities – disabled individuals may be unable to work or find appropriate employment = Poverty – being poor or living on the streets = Roommates – When one of the roommates falls through = Severe Depression – Can make it impossible for an individual to maintain a stable life and = Tragedy – With people just quitting because their families died
(http://www.homelessresourcenetwork.org/causes.html).

To conclude homelessness is not just lack of shelter. There is people living on the streets trying to get through every day and there are the programs that help out for homeless people who are also homeless. There are all ages included to be called homeless. There are many factors that can contribute to being homeless not just being kicked out of the house or leaving as a teen. Homelessness is just not a lack of shelter it is your mental sociology thinking.