Homelessness

What is the most effective program to help children and families get out of homelessness?

Introduction and Background

Homelessness has emerged as a big issue in the United States and many other countries. The most important thing for the federal institutions to design some effective programs to help families and children get out of homelessness. Homelessness is the situation or circumstance when people (families and children) do not have a permanent house. They are not in a position to find secure, safe and adequate shelter. Now, the main challenge is to make a pertinent policy of the program to let these people get out of this problem. The target population or population of interest is homeless people and the federal government. The federal government can play its role and streamline some key programs to eliminate this issue and contribute to a secure, safe and adequate society (Jamison, et al., 2013).

Prevalence of the Problem in the Target and General Population

According to 2009 reports, it has been revealed that 1 out of 50 children in the United States of America are getting homeless. There are almost 1.5 million children, and it seems a big worry for the government and human activists.  It is a fact that 57,849 veterans with the families are homeless in the United States of America. 12% of homeless people are adults in the country. 8% homeless people are females also, 60% homeless adults are males (Leatham & Buck, 2014).

The biggest thing to worry about is the increasing number of these people. Also, they contained zero-contribution to the country. The extreme poverty and human right experts believe that these people are criminalized in the different cities of the United States.  Thus, at the federal level, there is a need to make an effective program to support these homeless people and enable a better living standard for them.

Practicing Problems Need Attention

Aligning Early Childhood Programs to Serve Children Experiencing Homelessness is an effective policy, which streamlines the Preschool, Head Start, and Child Care Policies.  Practicing the problem needs attention due to different destructive elements. For Instance, homeless children are struggling with term of parental and early health care. Furthermore, it has been revealed that children are suffering from poor nutrition, poor living standards, and poor living arrangements. Therefore, effective program implementation is needed immediately to get rid of this issue.  Interestingly, this program can help people exploit all those opportunities that a normal citizen of the country exploits. Attention is needed to create better living opportunities for the long run (Knott & McCarthy, 2007).

It has been observed that people or families living in different societies are not aware of the possibility of homelessness. For Instance, in many societies, families have to live with other people temporarily due to inadequate housing. Another barrier is high mobility. People are moving consistently to get better job opportunities. There is a negative impact on the children, as they usually move with families, even without taking benefits of the homeless childcare programs.

Due to these emerging issues in society, Preschool: Subtitle VII-B of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act is to be implemented. Also, the head start act and Child Care and Development Block Grant Act are also to be applied to the local educational agencies. Homelessness is quite visible at different locations and supporting and regulating the local educational agencies is a good approach to eliminate this issue effectively. It is an effective program that can provide opportunities to homeless people, including families and children, to emerge as better contributors (Gee, 2017).

Methods

The qualitative research method has been used in this research process. I have navigated several scholarly articles, websites, blogs and much other written literature to derive several insights regarding the issue and an effective program to eliminate the issue. Google and Bing are two prominent search engines.

Search Terms

The research process is triggered by the keyword “Homelessness in the US.”   It is the main search term on both search engines. Remarkably, I have derived many insights regarding the issue and some effective program lists. Based on this research term, I moved further in the research study.

Names of the Search Engines/Databases

Along with Google and Bin, I have navigated many databases. For Instance, I have used Google scholar and Pro-Quest as key databases to find the information and collect the data.

Selection Old Scholarly Articles

Selecting some old scholarly articles is pertinent to this research study. For Instance, by navigating these articles, I can derive a historical background of the issue, especially in the United States. I can obtain numbers and shift in numbers with the time to effectively elaborate issues with some authentic facts.

Using Recent Literature and Research Studies

Using recent literature and research studies is helpful to obtain some current facts regarding homelessness. Using recent literature has helped me to assess some effective programs, initiated by the federal government. In the above section, some recent numbers regarding homelessness are illustrated, and it is possible through navigating the recent literature and research studies. Interestingly, it is better to know the current causes of the homelessness, as different effective programs are to be designed by the federal government accordingly.

References

Gee, A. (2017, December 6). America’s homeless population rises for the first time since the Great Recession. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/dec/05/america-homeless-population-2017-official-count-crisis

Jamison, F., Ellen, M., Thomas, B., Montgomery, Elizabeth, A., & Dennis, C. (2013). Community-Level Characteristics AssociatedWith Variation in Rates of Homelessness Among Families and Single Adults. American Journal of Public Health, 103(2), 340-347.

Knott, J. H., & McCarthy, D. (2007). Policy Venture Capital: Foundations, Government Partnerships, and Child Care Programs. Administration & Society; Beverly Hills, 39(3), 319-324,326-328,330,332-353. Retrieved from Administration & Society; Beverly Hills.

Leatham, E., & Buck, V. (2014, January 15). The Great American Tragedy: Homelessness Among Our Veterans. Retrieved from https://www.blogs.va.gov/VAntage/12036/the-great-american-tragedy-homelessness-among-our-veterans/