HOMELESSNESS

Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Policy



Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Policy

Introduction

Homelessness is a prime concern of some major policies. Broad range of definitions has been used to classify the people in homeless category under relative categorization of poverty. Change in classification criteria has increased the number of people who are viewed as homeless. This requires reassessment of criteria to define the people who need to be viewed in homelessness category. Homeless people are classified based on the access to proper housing, low-cost housing construction policies, and the quantity of funds given to them (Borchard, Kurt, 2005). To classify people under these factorial dimensions is a divisive task. All sociologists agree that homelessness is a social problem in need of a remedy. Assessment on the basis of these dimensions does not define clear path of resources allocation, funding, and services to be given to control problem (Borchard, Kurt, 2005).

Homelessness has existed in various forms for centuries, as have general tensions between homeless people and the rest of society. In the late 1800s formerly transient workers from the railroad and lumber industries settled into U.S. cities as those labor sectors shrank. This trend caused reaction from local residents and city governments in the form of “ugly laws” meant to manage the problem of vagrancy. Still, the number of homeless people, particularly those living on the street, remained relatively low through the 1960s (Borchard, Kurt, 2005). In the mid-1970s homelessness began to increase as inflation raised, real-dollar wages began to decline, and manufacturing jobs disappeared at an alarming rate. In the 1980s federal funding cuts for low-income housing caused a decline in single-room occupancies and exacerbated the growing problem of homelessness. While in earlier periods homelessness was often connected to migratory employment, economic shifts, particularly in the 1970s, signaled the rise of homelessness connected to static unemployment (Borchard, Kurt, 2005).

Homelessness is a serious problem in US that requires considerable attention at state and at national level. Considerable measures have been taken by government in past few decades to control the homelessness as dramatic increase has been observed in the homelessness condition (Borchard, Kurt, 2005). This paper examines the homelessness in perspective of self-reliance and resilience approach that is shown by people to manage themselves in difficult situations instead of relying on external forces. This paper addresses the homelessness in context of 'universalistic' welfare system. The aim is to demonstrate the inherent dimensions of the personal reliance and how it is influenced by the policies and practices of homeless people. Specifically, focus is placed on the role of the self-reliance and resilience in homelessness context (Borchard, Kurt, 2005).

Homelessness, gentrification, and the displacement of the urban poor have become major issues in public policy debates over the last decade. Homelessness is a crucial social problem skeptical to the role of state and their concern towards public welfare. It is often viewed as result of interwoven systemic and personal problems (Borchard, Kurt, 2005). Government bodies suggest that the main cause of increasing homelessness among its citizen ...