HOMELESS PEOPLE

Homeless People

Homeless People

Introduction

Homelessness denotes an extreme and particular form of poverty characterized by a lack of secure housing. Homelessness is commonly divided into two groups: absolute and relative. Absolute homelessness refers to people who have no shelter at all and are forced to either sleep rough (outside, in stairwells, etc.) or stay in a temporary shelter. Relative homelessness includes many people who are able to attain some form of accommodation but for a variety of reasons are precariously or insufficiently housed. This includes those who are doubling up/couch surfing, those who are staying in a rooming house or residential hotel, and/or those who are under constant threat of losing their housing due to eviction.

Discussion

The definition of homelessness is politicized, as different definitions produce wildly varying estimates of the number of homeless as well as different courses of remedial action. The definition of homelessness is often either broadened or restricted, depending on the context and ideological disposition of the analyst, to include panhandlers, itinerant laborers, “squeegee kids” (who approach drivers with offers to clean their windshields), the disaster afflicted, refugees, and others. From a geographical perspective, where homeless people live and what they do there are particularly important to the definition of who is homeless.

Statistics

Regrettably, there are many homeless people in Clackamas County. According to the statistics, a total of 2,556 homeless persons in Clackamas County were counted by volunteers for the Clackamas County Coordinating Council for Homeless Programs (Homeless Council) in January 2010. These contain 489 families including 1,011 children (40%). Families with children accounted for 78% of the total persons counted (2,001 people). This count symbolizes only a portion of the overall approximated numbers of homeless persons in the Clackamas County. Statistical modeling indicates a reliable estimate of 7,841 actual homeless people. This number includes:

1,140 families with children, totaling 5,235 persons, 2,516 of which are children

2,606 homeless persons in adult-only households

Clackamas County 's homeless population plunged by greater than a quarter in the last 2 years, the city accounted Monday, a spectacular transform is a credit to the strategy of cutting cash assistance to street people and aggressively moving them into housing with counseling services. It is a 28 percent decline compared to 8,640 in October 2002, the last time such a count was conducted.

There are many reasons why people become homeless. Often homeless people carry the baggage of abuse, poor education and lack of motivation. Those who make up the majority of homeless people, and who are the most vulnerable, are teenagers coming out of care, people who have left the armed forces, ex-prisoners, people with mental health problems, those from broken marriages and relationships, physically abused women or abused young people leaving home and lone parents with their children on low income or on benefits. Single men are numerically at the top of the list, but they are at the bottom when it comes to priority for housing. They make up the majority of street sleepers (Del Casino, ...