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Addressing Homelessness: Policy Analysis and Recommendations

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Addressing Homelessness: Policy Analysis and Recommendations

1. Contemporary Social Problem Overview: Homelessness remains as a major current

social problem requiring immediate action and multiple approaches. The consequences of

homelessness go further than just the absence of a stable roof over one’s head. This is

more of a lot grueling thing that deprives not only individuals but their whole

communities in the core. This depravity takes the form of inadequate availableness of

these necessities including healthcare, education, and job prospects a which are basic

requirements for people to actually enjoy the quality of life and be successful. Likewise,

homelessness impinges complex aspects of society by a wide spectrum of population

categories, illustrating the large scale of the issue and variety of challenges encountered

by the home-less. Beyond the military veterans who risk their lives to serve their country,

to the youth who are dealing with all the hardships of having unstable families, or to the

economically disadvantaged families and the battle with mental health or substance

abuse, the homeless population is a heterogeneous tapestry of the world who have unique

needs and words. This dialect between the factors involved in this predicament imply that

it will not only be tough, but also keep on acting as a platform for which the

marginalization and exclusion of homeless population continues as well as as to highlight

the importance of appropriate intervention and system change (Burt, 2001).

Social Policy Overview: The basis of federal policy on homelessness in the United States

is the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, a landmark legislative initiative

enacted in 1987. The Homeless Assistance Act, enacted at the forefront of the ever-

growing crisis of homelessness, has now undergone several reauthorizations and

amendments to boost its effectiveness and applicability to the rapidly evolving needs of

the homeless individuals and families. Under the provisions of the McKinney-Vento Act,

funding will be mobilized federally for a multi-faceted program targeting different

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aspects of homelessness, which could be including emergency shelters, transitional

housing and supportive services (United States Interagency Council on Homelessness,

2020).

The main provisions of the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Conditional

Empowerment (HEARTH) Act, a bill passed in 2009 to combat homelessness and reduce

disparities in housing, include the provision Emergency Shelter Grants (ESG), which can

be utilized to help individuals who are homeless immediately, providing them with a

shelter. Grants represent a means for local communities to develop their community

emergency shelters and care service facilities that can be helpful to homeless

people. Moreover, the Act includes additional Continuum of Care (CoC) programs, which

are targeted to prolonged solutions to the problem through such programs as transitional

housing and permanent supportive housing initiatives. Panhandling collaboration

programs create common channels among organizations for the purpose of coordinated

approach to homelessness problem and to provide the people with the services needed to

return them to stable housing (United States Interagency Council on Homelessness,

2020).

Supportive Housing Program (SHP) from the Homeless Emergency Assistance and

Rapid Transition to Housing Act, the core elements of this law represents a holistic

approach to solving the problem of chronic homelessness and related issues. SHP brings

housing benefits together with the required support services, that is, case management,

counseling on mental health, and assistance with substance abuse, to strike at the various

needs of people suffering from prolonged homelessness. SHP will provide housing with

wraparound services to create a steady condition where individuals can escape

homelessness and revel in long term self-sufficiency and stability (USICH, 2020).

The model of McKinney-violence program needs collaboration between these federal,

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state, and local governments and the nonprofit organizations and the representatives of

the community. The collaborative work ensure the coordinated effort to address the

homelessness and the stretching of the resources and interventions to the maximum

possible out. Nevertheless, after years of implementation McKinney-Vento programs

have done many things in the field of homelessness, and they managed to overcome

challenges, completely changing the situation and improved the outcomes for at-risk

population. Through supplying vital resources and support services, the programs have

aided in helping many millions of people and families to obtain stable housing. They

facilitate the return to independency and, in the process, these individuals are able to

reconstruct their lives (United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, 2020).

2. Description of the Policy

Allocation

McKinney-Vento programs eligibility is determined by homelessness status according to

the HUD (the Department of Housing and Urban Development). This definition includes

not only homeless individuals and families, but also persons who must reside in

emergency shelters or transitional housing. This selective strategy makes it possible for

Mckinney-Vento program to be used to the fullest by investing and targeting individuals

and families that are going through homelessness at the moment. This way the program

offers housing assistance and supportive services to those that need it most.

Provision

The McKinney-Vento programs are the unique assistance initiatives that address the fact

of homelessness in the most comprehensive manner by offering a range of benefits and

services to the individuals and the families facing the homelessness condition. These

services include emergency shelters, as well as short-term and long-term relief help, that

give a safe and comfortable place for people who do not have permanent places to
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live. Besides that, the transitional housing facilities provide an avenue for the permanent

housing, where they offer supportive surroundings to the individuals as they are

motivating themselves to moving on towards stability. Moreover, supportive services like

case management, mental health counseling, and substance abuse treatment help

homeless individuals to deal with their complicated needs targetingthe reasons that

caused the situation in the first placeand give them priority to improving their

life. Training programs giving people necessary work skills and a chance to gain

themselves through employment serve as a vehicle for economic independence and self-

sustenance. The last element of this approach is the support with getting permanent

housing arrangement as it enables moving from temporary residencies to more

sustainable housing options as a long term solution away from homelessness (National

Coalition for the Homeless, 2020).

Delivery

Deployment of benefits and services among different tiers of different government

structures include: state, federal, and local; alongside non-profit organizations and

community-based agencies (Culhane et al., 2007).

Finance

McKinney-Vento programs are financed by a multifaceted funding structure in order to

make sure that the implementation and longterm effect of the programs get maximum

response. Funding of the framework is dominated by the federal devoted allocations into

the program that make up the most part of the funding levels nationwide. These federal

dollars arrive to states and localities through a grant system that seeks to cater for the

myriad of programs and services designed to meet homelessness and relative

challenges. On the part of states governments and localities, they might use a federal

matching fund to subsidize federal fund. Even with the shortage of fund, M-V programs
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would still be able to reach more pupils. This collectively funded resource reflects those

administrations' commitment to persistently deal with homelessness in every government

tier as well as utilize resources to fully exploit their potential (National Coalition for the

Homeless, 2020).

Preferences and Stakeholders

The preferences about the policymaker focus on raising funding, expanding the eligibility

criterion, and better collaboration between service providers. Varying stakeholders in

homelessness, such as the municipal authorities, bodies with an advocacy role, such as

NGOs, providers of services and the homeless individuals themselves are considered

(O'Flaherty & Thomas, 2019).

Policy Deliberations

Stakeholders at different levels are engaged in policy analysis through advocacy, public

hearings and the bid for reauthorization (Buckley & Sweeney, 2019).

3. Critique

Challenges/Opportunities

Although McKinney-Vento programs face most difficulties, they still strive to be

effective in fighting for homeless people. One of the many challenges is the on-going

problem of insufficient funding that commonly prevents the corresponding projects from

becoming a reality because of lack of resources to meet the continuously growing housing

and other support services needs. But also, being that the presence of administrative

obstacles and the red-tape bureaucracy may prevent the provision of assistance efficiency,

the chances are that beneficiaries would have to wait for access to critical resources. In

addition, service gaps are the major challenges that most rural or underserved areas face

when it comes to providing support to all homeless persons. Many service gaps come
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about when the number of support programs for homeless individuals fall short of the

nation’s need (Kuhn & Culhane, 1998).

Unintended Consequences

The unintended consequences could be that the people lose trust in the government,

others get displaced by the citizens who already are in the area, and the government is not

able to stop the crime.

Costs and Benefits

There are three main disadvantages of this intervention. These are fewer financial

resources and higher administrative burden, and it is overall more complicated to

organize than other assistance programs. On the other hand, the impacts are high as

people with mental health issues will receive proper medical treatment, and they also

learn how to be independent after finishing the program (Foscarinis & Neubecker,2020).

Effectiveness Measures

This strategy can be measured in outcomes that include but are not limited to the number

of people who have housing, employment rates among the previously homeless persons,

and decrease in the chronic homeless (Shinn et al., 2007).

Strengths and Limitations

Some of the considerably avoidable strengths include immediate assistance and the

provision of crucial supportive services though their weakness is failing to address the

fundamental causes of homelessness and disproportionate accessibility to the services

(Culhane& Metraux, 2008).

Impact on Vulnerable Populations

On one side, the policy can pose less impact on vulnerable populations but also keep them

on the ground of existing structural discrimination and disruptions of the power balance

(Gaetz et al., 2013).

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4. Recommendations:

Revised Implementation Strategy: A specific strategy revising this implementation of

addressing homelessness requires the integration of a holistic approach by combining

various components. Here, homelessness is not just target made but at the same time

considering underlying reason of this homelessness is a key element. The strategy will

tackle the over-arching and intertwining challenges that maintain inadequate housing and

homelessness by implementing affordable housing projects and the provision of income

support measures, followed by specialised programs for the vulnerable. Such an approach

will be therefore based upon integrating all the components and sectors into the holistic

action plan to make the most of the resources and outcomes for homelessness prevention

and solution (Dreier et al., 2019).

New Policy Formulation: Promote the adoption of a Housing First strategy with the

provision of permanent housing as a basic human right together with the supportive

services (Padgett et al., 2006).

Policy Negotiation and Advocacy: Increase coalition-building, grassroots organizing, and

policy advocacy efforts to advance social and economic justice, give voice to

marginalized communities, and enact policies that give place to human dignity and well-

being.
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References

Buckley, C., & Sweeney, T. (2019). Homelessness and social policy: Understanding

homelessness in America. Routledge.

https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315207049-35/

homelessness-social-policy-gregg-olsen-lars-benjaminsen

Burt, M. R. (2001). What will it take to end homelessness? Urban Institute Press.

https://webarchive.urban.org/publications/310305.html

Culhane, D. P., & Metraux, S. (2008). Rearranging the deck chairs or reallocating the

lifeboats: Can housing first work in a homelessness crisis? In G. Levinson (Ed.),

Ethical issues in housing first (pp. 189-206). Springer.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01944360701821618

Culhane, D. P., Metraux, S., Park, J. M., Schretzman, M., Valente, J., & Christian, J. (2007).

Characteristics of individuals served by the US homeless assistance system: Findings

from the national homeless data archive. Housing Policy Debate, 18(4), 787-827.

DeVerteuil, G., May, J., & von Mahs, J. (2019). The moral and political economy of

homelessness: A survival strategy of last resort. Routledge.

Dreier, P., Mollenkopf, J. H., & Swanstrom, T. (2019). Place matters: Metropolitics for the

twenty-first century. University of Kansas Press.

https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/266/monograph/book/122572

Foscarinis, M., & Neubecker, R. (2020). Homelessness, human rights, and housing: Finding

common ground. Routledge.

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Gaetz, S., O’Grady, B., Kidd, S., & Schwan, K. (2013). The state of homelessness in Canada

2013. Canadian Homelessness Research Network Press.

https://yorkspace.library.yorku.ca/items/3c536a9a-3d83-4a04-a3f8-586e78ac0bb4

Goetz, E. G. (2019). Gentrification and displacement in US cities. Springer.

Kuhn, R., & Culhane, D. P. (1998). Applying cluster analysis to test a typology of

homelessness by pattern of shelter utilization: Results from the analysis of

administrative data. American Journal of Community Psychology, 26(2), 207-232.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1023/A:1022176402357

National Alliance to End Homelessness. (2020). McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.

https://endhomelessness.org/homelessness-in-america/homelessness-statistics/

mckinney-vento-homeless-assistance-act/

National Coalition for the Homeless. (2020). Federal homeless assistance programs.

https://nationalhomeless.org/issues/federal-homeless-assistance-programs/

O'Flaherty, B., & Thomas, D. (2019). Homelessness: What can be done to help? Oxford

University Press.

Padgett, D. K., Gulcur, L., & Tsemberis, S. (2006). Housing first services for people who are

homeless with co-occurring serious mental illness and substance abuse. Research on

social work practice, 16(1), 74-83.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1049731505282593