Introduction
The majority of the world population interprets homelessness as an individual or a group of people living on the streets lacking basic needs to sustain their survivability. It may be the case, but the reality is that homeless takes many forms and fall under four critical categories: chronic, episodic, transitional, and hidden of which are all eminent in the United States (Jaggi, 2019). The government and private organizations have put in strategies to address homelessness in United States. At some point, the government becomes the primary huddle to ensuring that individuals experiencing homelessness are offered institutional help. During President Donald Trump’s administration era, the government tried to address homelessness by criminalizing the problem, thus relocating the homeless in California, Los Angeles, and others into federal facilities (NCH, 2019). Such a move is an ineffective appropriation of the national government resources, which is obligated to protect and promote all Americans’ welfare without discrimination. Homelessness is a menace to the United States, necessitating the need for advocacy to intrigue a systematic approach to solve the problem by engaging the government, nonprofit organizations, and the society to help the victim.
Types of Homelessness in the United States
As mentioned in the introduction, there are four categories of homelessness in the United States: chronic, episodic, transitional, and hidden. An article by JOIN org., a non-governmental organization dedicated to helping the different groups experiencing homelessness in the United States, identified the different types of the problem with background information. According to Jaggi (2019), the federal definition of chronic homeless entails an individual experiencing homelessness and at the same time suffer from a disabling condition “who has been continuously homeless for a year or more, or has had a minimum of four episodes of homelessness in the past three years. In recent years, roughly 86 962 chronically homeless people have been identified in the United States, forming 24% of the total homeless population (Jaggi, 2019). Homeless people defined under the chronic category are mostly the elderly with an adverse health condition living in streets, cars, parks, or any other public avenue. For episodic homelessness, it refers to individuals who are currently homeless and have experienced at least three episodes of homelessness in the previous year (Jaggi, 2019). It comprises the youth population battling disabling conditions related to mental illness, substance use, or any co-occurring medical condition.
Transitional homelessness forms the common type eminent in the streets within the cities in the United States. It refers to homelessness, where the affected population shift from one shelter or temporary housing for a short period from time to time (Jaggi, 2019). The identifiable population comprises the young and middle-aged people who may be forced by circumstances to relocate frequently. Lastly, hidden homelessness refers to temporarily living with others without guaranteeing that they will stay long-term and without prospects for acquiring permanent housing (Jaggi, 2019). The victims of hidden kind of homelessness go undocumented because they do not obtain the needed support and services from the government or non-governmental organization despite needing them. They stay with friends and relatives who provide for their basic needs for some time, barring them to need the vital support and services for the homeless.
Advocating for Change to Support the Homeless
As identified by the different categories, some homeless individuals experience more than a single problem affecting their wellbeing. Some struggle with old age and long-term chronic illness on top of experiencing homelessness. Others have a mental illness, substance abuse, and domestic-related issues emanating from staying with relatives and parents. Therefore, helping the homeless through advocacy requires a comprehensive strategy that will integrate all stakeholders’ efforts with their resources and involve the community in ensuring that the community is involved (Lee, 2018). Advocacy involves three critical tenets: making influential individuals or organizations make significant long-term changes to address an issue, working with the public eye, and advocating standing up to their position until the needed change is achieved (CTB, 2020). Therefore, the policy reforms or actions should involve the three identified tenets of advocacy.
The primary issue to address when it comes to homelessness in United States in solving the economic challenges that expose individuals to suffering to the extent of lacking basic needs like housing. There is a link between an economic downturn and an increase in the homeless population. From 2007 to 2008, the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) reported a decrease in homelessness population due to a slight increase in economic status. However, the sector was still in crisis (Loftus-Farren, 2011). The trend always reflects the current relationship between improvement and decline in economic development concerning the increase or decrease in the homeless population. The poverty rate in a rural community with a combined city and county population of 130 000 was 33.5% compared with the state average of 11.3% with a 15% minority (Kiser, 2018). With the predictive trend, there is a need to improve the country’s economic status as the primary way of addressing homelessness in the states. All the institutions legally mandated to care for the homeless population’s welfare should liaise with economic factions in the United States, such industries, and employers to secure employment for non-disabled and qualified individuals documented under them as lost.
Healthcare remains another area of concern that needs a solution to help the identified homeless population in the United States cope with health problems. “Health disparities exist among the lost population members with multiple chronic health conditions including persistent and severe mental illness, substance abuse, and depression (Kiser, 2018). Many hospitals have in-house-policy relative to those of the government that deny individuals without health insurance or identity documentation services to be treated in various medical facilities. The economic difficulties experienced by the homeless population to the extent of failing to afford standard housing may be challenging to pay for insurance. The homeless form the most susceptible people to communicable diseases, which can quickly spread and cause an outbreak resulting in serious public health issues (Kiser, 2018). Therefore, denying the homeless access to quality health care due to their incapacity to afford treatment insurance exposes the community to infectious diseases, among other public health crises.
The individual suffering from homelessness experiences social isolation from other people, which exposes them to psychosocial torture. Besides suffering from health-related issues, poverty, and unconventional lifestyle, the homeless population is exposed to a unique street culture telling them to be violent and crime-like traits that isolate them from the rest of the community (Davies, 2017). The majority of them, mostly the young, grow up without acquiring the universal behavioral attributes such as a show of empathy and compassion to others, which affect their integration back into the society from the streets. Such behavior develops due to the public rejection of other community members directly toward the street families, making them isolated and becoming antisocial. The mistrust the homeless population grows on the public put them in danger of experiencing socioeconomic challenges, emotional deficits, and other health problems since they cannot interact with others searching for the needed help (Davies, 2017). Therefore, there is a need to educate the public to show compassionate treatment towards the homeless population, offering economic and social support to transform them into productive and conventional society members.
Recommended Actions and Policies
The current policies address homelessness as a general societal issue, while different categories require a customized institutionalized solution. There is a need for policy reforms that incorporate the understanding of various tenets of homelessness to address the housing, unemployment, psychological, and social needs, among other challenges affecting the victimized population (Minnery, 2007).
The government should enact policies that allow access to quality health care by all individuals identified as homeless in all medical institutions within the United States.
There is a need to engage the economy’s economic infrastructure to eradicate poverty in the United States by creating employment and supporting entrepreneurs. This practice will reduce the rate of homelessness in the cities.
Bills that propose affordable housing throughout the United States should be enacted to ensure that most Americans, even those living in poverty, can at least afford accommodation.
There is a need to enroll in public education and sensitization program to create a serene environment where the public provides the homeless population with psychosocial and resource support.
Conclusion
Homelessness is still a serious social problem affecting our country. The universe is undergoing an economic downturn affecting the United States, making it challenging to address the homeless population’s rising rate. Criminalizing the problem will only overpopulate our federal institutions; instead, there is a need for systematic change by adopting the long-term solutions to address the issue in terms of policy and actions, like those suggested above, to eradicate homelessness in the cities in United States.
