Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Policy
Running Head: HOMELESSNESS
Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Policy Vanessa Wright
Barry University
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 Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Policy Vanessa Wright
Barry University
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
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