Homelessness in America - Essay Outline
Homelesssness in America

I. Introduction

a. Definition of Homelessness

i. Homelessness is the lack of a stable, safe and permanent housing due to lack of income, poor housing policies, and neighborhood gentrification (Dreyer, 2018).

ii. A comprehensive, broad-based definition that can be used consistently for homelessness initiatives does not exist (Yousey & Samudra, 2018).

b. Overview of Homelessness

i. Homelessness is an egregious problem that has existed in the United States since 1980s and attributable to various factors and causes (Dreyer, 2018).

ii. Multifaceted and multisectoral approaches are the most suitable interventions to address the growing problem of homelessness.

II. Statistics on Homelessness

a. Lifetime and 1-year Prevalence of Homelessness

i. Lifetime prevalence of homelessness in the United States population is approximately 4.2% (Tsai, 2018).

ii. 1-year prevalence of homelessness in the U.S. population is estimated at 1.5% (Tsai, 2018).

b. Youth Homelessness

i. Explicit youth homelessness is likely to occur in 3% of households with 13- to-17 year olds (Morton et al., 2017).

ii. Incidence rates of youth homelessness are approximately 50% as high as prevalence rates (Morton et al., 2017).

III. Causes/Contributing Factors to Homelessness

· Social conditions and maladaptive behaviors contribute to the problem of homelessness (Mabhala, Yohannes & Griffith, 2017).

· Income inequality, poor housing policies, and neighborhood gentrification exacerbate the problem of homelessness (Dreyer, 2018).

· Racial stereotyping creates significant psychological distress that in turn contribute to homelessness (Weisz & Quinn, 2017; Morton et al., 2017).

IV. Effects/Outcomes of Homelessness

· Homelessness significantly interrupt critical areas of life like education, psychosocial functioning, and health (Oppenheimer, Nurius & Green, 2018).

· Homelessness causes major social and public health issues/problems (Tsai, O’Toole & Kearney, 2017).

V. Interventions for Homelessness

· As human service programs, Housing First programs is an effective intervention that lessens the costs of shelter and emergency department through effective resource allocation (Ly & Latimer, 2015).

· Housing policies seem ineffective in addressing homelessness because of the growing increase in the number of Americans experiencing unstable housing i.e. couch surfing, doubling-up and intermittent homelessness...…the demand and need for primary healthcare services. The authors concluded that a multifaceted approach is needed to deal with homelessness because of the special and complex issues surrounding it.

Tsai, J. (2018), Lifetime and 1-year Prevalence of Homelessness in the U.S. Population: Results from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions-111, Journal of Public Health 40(1), 65-78, https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdx034

The research indicate that homelessness have become a public health problem Though there a few recent epidemiological studies. The researchers utilize data from structured interviews with national representative samples to examine lifetime and 1 year prevalence of the issue. The study found that the lifetime prevalence of homelessness is 4.2% while the 1 year rate is 1.5%. The prevalence of this problem is linked to various behavioral health and economic factors.

Yousey, A. & Samundra, R. (2018) Defining Homelessness in the Rural United States,

Online Journal of Rural Research & Policy, 13(4),

http://doi.org/10.4148/1936-0487.1094

The research study explores the homelessness in the United States, especially rural homelessness, which is understudied. The review of literature found that…