My Perspecitve: Homelessness in America

Homelessness, generally considered an urban problem, seems to be creeping into smaller cities and towns. New research from the Office of Housing and Urban Development says it’s also impacting more families. The Office of Housing and Urban Development released its annual study on homelessness to Congress. Although the size of the homeless population didn’t increase significantly between 2007 and 2008, hovering at about 1.6 million, HUD discovered a worrying 9 percent increase in the number of homeless families. The report also noted that homelessness had spread outside of urban boundaries. “Residents of suburban and rural communities made up about a third of those in need of housing, up from about 24 percent the year before,” reported The Associated Press.

Because national surveys are time intensive, HUD has started to implement quarterly regional surveys as part of the Homeless Pulse Project. The first surveys were drawn from both major cities and small towns in 9 regions. Of these, five witnessed a drop in the number of homeless people in shelters, and four saw an increase. Using the quarterly surveys, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan told the AP, “[W]e will be able to better understand the impact of the current economic crisis on homelessness across the country.” In March, a study from the National Center on Family Homelessness reported that 1.5 million, or 1 in 50, children in America are homeless each year, according to CNN. The official report, titled “America’s Youngest Outcasts,” summarizes the problems homeless children must cope with, from a lack of comfort and privacy, to more serious concerns like poor health care and disrupted schooling. The study issued a report card and a call to action for each state, grading them on four elements: “child homelessness, child well-being, structural risk factors, and state-by-state policy and planning efforts.”

Texas, Georgia, Arkansas, New Mexico and Louisiana received the worst reports, while Connecticut, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, North Dakota and Hawaii excelled, reported CNN. According to the report, between 2005 and 2006, three-quarters of the U.S.’s homeless children (those that could be identified as homeless) lived in 11 states. Even if a child isn’t made homeless by the recession he may still feel its impact. Jean Lovelace the principal at Whitney Elementary in Boise, Idaho, cites the example of a student with ADHD whose family lost their home after his mother was fired from her job. Lovelace said his bad behavior started just after the foreclosure. Now he is moving to another state where homes are cheaper. As school counselor Ana Leon, explained to the AP, “Mobility is one of the main things that hinders student achievement.” Lovelace noted, “Honestly I think he’s going to go to the next school and just be out of control.”

Now in a video advertisement for Family Services, a woman named Melissa—her last name isn’t given—describes how after graduating from nursing school she got addicted to drugs and became homeless in less than a year. She recalls, “I remember that feeling of becoming more and more disassociated from normal society, and becoming one of ‘them.’ … You feel worthless.” According to HUD’s Annual Assessment Report, 68 percent of homeless people live in the country’s largest cities, while 32 percent live in rural areas; 62 percent of homeless people are minorities; 64 percent of “sheltered homeless adults” are male and 12 percent are veterans. Results of The National Center on Family Homelessness study published in March 2009, using data from 2005-2006, found that homeless children in America are more likely to be African American or Native American, reported CNN. It also noted that 42 percent of homeless children are below the age of 6, and predicted that 1.16 million of children currently homeless will not graduate high school. According to a report from the National Alliance to End Homelessness, 42 percent of homeless people in America live on the streets, in their cars, in tents or in vacant buildings. With more than 5,000 homeless people in 50 street blocks, the area of Los Angeles known as “Skid Row” is considered the most striking example of homelessness in the country, Reuters reported.

Now to put homelessness and the emergence of tent cities today and yesterday in historical text it is important to look at the past to understand the present problem. In 1932, during the Great Depression, the rate of unemployment was nearly 25 percent, reported the Smithsonian. The nation’s homeless began establishing communities for themselves in temporary shacks called “Hoovervilles.” One such community in Washington, D.C., belonged to the “Bonus Army,” angry veterans who came to the capital to claim payments promised eight years prior, after WWI had ended. Novelist John Dos Pasos described the scene: “The men are sleeping in lean-tos built out of old newspapers, cardboard boxes, packing crates, bits of tin or tarpaper roofing, every kind of cockeyed makeshift shelter from the rain, scraped out of the city dump.”

In September 2008, finding Dulcinea reported on the sudden development of “tent cities” in Santa Barbara, Seattle, and Athens, Ga. In Reno, Nev., the government allowed 150 homeless people to set up makeshift tents in a parking lot, where plans for an official shelter were still in process. In Ontario, Calif., an area known as “Tent City” grew from 200 to 400 people in three months, causing government officials to intervene. Anyone choosing to pitch a tent there was required to prove they had been at one point Ontario residents. While some of Tent City’s settler’s had lost their homes to foreclosure, others said their rent had been raised, and they simply couldn’t afford to pay it. Maria Romero, 52, a homeless woman living in Sacramento, told Reuters she would rather live out of her car than move to a tent city. She added, “It wouldn’t be safe, especially for a single female.”

Still as the U.S. economy worsened, it showed a hidden homeless population that emerged because many Americans were living below the poverty line than originally thought by HUD and other studies. As early as March of this year, Emergency shelters brimming with homeless people in California's capital started turning away more than 200 women and children a night in a sign of the deteriorating U.S. economy. The displaced individuals on waiting lists at St. John's Shelter and other facilities often turn instead to relatives or friends for temporary living quarters, perhaps moving into a spare room, garage or trailer. The less fortunate might sleep in their cars or a vacant storage unit. They are the hidden homeless. And their ranks appear to be growing as rising joblessness and mortgage foreclosures take their toll in Sacramento and other U.S. cities, experts say.

U.S. President Barack Obama recognized the trend in his televised news conference this week, saying, "the homeless problem was bad even when the economy was good," and he vowed to bring greater government resources to bear to deal with it. "It is not acceptable for children and families to be without a roof over their heads in a country as wealthy as ours," he said. A "tent city" of up to 200 homeless in Sacramento was thrust into the media spotlight in February as a symbol of the battered U.S. economy. California authorities said they would shut down the illegal settlement and find other shelter for its residents, most of them chronically homeless. Homeless advocates say they expect such encampments, which already exist around the country, to spread as the housing crisis worsens and shelters fill up. "I think there's a slight trickle of people who've been at risk of homelessness who are winding up in tent cities or knocking on shelter doors," said Michael Stoops, director of the National Coalition for the Homeless in Washington. "I expect a tremendous increase in homelessness over the next couple of years." Stoops, who has worked with the homeless for 35 years, said the newly dispossessed often retain some income and seek initially to downsize or find cheaper accommodations.

"Their worst nightmare would be winding up on the streets, in a tent city or a shelter," he said. "That's the last stage. They will do everything they can before that happens to them." Maria Romero, 52, who held a series of low-paying jobs over the years before steady work became hard to find, said she lived out of her automobile for a year before reluctantly moving to St. John's Shelter in January. "I'd rather be by myself. My car was my own space," she said, adding she would never consider living in a tent city. "It wouldn't be safe, especially for a single female," said Romero, a high school dropout forced by circumstance to live in a car or shelter more than once in her life. Her experience illustrates the complexity of homelessness in America, where the most economically vulnerable are often the first to fall through the cracks during hard times.

The latest national figures, in a January report by the National Alliance to End Homelessness, actually showed a 10 percent decline in the homeless population two years ago -- from about 744,000 per night in January 2005 to nearly 672,000 per night in January 2007. But 36 of the 50 states reported increases and homeless advocates worry that the national trend will be reversed because of the deepening recession and housing crisis. As of 2007, the report said, 42 percent of homeless people in the United States, and 70 percent of those in California, slept on the streets, in cars, tents or abandoned buildings. The "Skid Row" area of Los Angeles is thought to have the nation's highest concentration of homeless, with more than 5,000 counted in that 50-block area in 2007. Experts say it typically takes six to eight months to go from losing one's home to turning up at a shelter doorstep. Some already have noticed more than a trickle.

"I've never seen it like this before, and I have 30 years of experience working with the homeless," said Darlene Newsom, head of the UMOM Day Centers emergency housing project in Phoenix, Arizona, where the number of homeless families seeking services has doubled in the past three months. Loaves & Fishes, a Sacramento charity that supports the homeless, now provides a free lunch to about 650 people a day, up about 10 percent from a year ago, but private donations to the organization have been flat. "We are struggling to keep our doors open," director Joan Burke said. Nearby St. John's Shelter, which caters to women and children, has been running at or near capacity for months -- filling roughly 100 beds a night -- with a waiting list well over twice that long, case manager Kellie Dockendorf said. This is up from the daily average of 80 women and children turned away in 2008. And getting in can take up to 45 days.

The mix of clientele is changing too, she said. "We're getting a lot more working people. We're getting more people with education. We're getting a lot more people who are working part-time or not getting enough hours to pay their bills," she said. Keysia Bell, 38, had made a living as a caregiver for the elderly until full-time work became harder to find. After a period of paying to stay with friends or relatives for weeks or months at a time, then renting a house she could no longer afford, she ended up at St. John's two months ago with her 17-year-old and 10-month-old daughters. "I'm out of a job. I'm out of a place to stay. I have a baby daughter, and it all just became overwhelming," she said.

It is unacceptable for one child in the United States to be homeless for even one day. The year 2008 will long be remembered by Americans as a time when grossly overpaid bankers, captains of industry, and carmakers hobbled to Washington, hats in hand, begging for bailouts and infusions of billions of dollars. Ignored by members of Congress and the media were scores of children – many still infants and toddlers – who were homeless in the midst of this economic turmoil. Without a voice, more than 1.5 million of our nation’s children go to sleep without a home each year. Homeless, these children also endure a lack of safety, comfort, privacy, reassuring routines, adequate health care, uninterrupted schooling, sustaining relationships, and a sense of community. These factors combine to create a life-altering experience that inflicts profound and lasting scars.

The National Center on Family Homelessness (NCFH) has created America’s Youngest Outcasts: State Report Card on Child Homelessness to provide a comprehensive snapshot of child homelessness in America today. Updating a study NCFH released in 1999, this report shows that the problem of child homelessness is worsening. The Report Card describes the status of homeless children in four areas: extent of child homelessness, child well-being, structural risk factors, and state-by-state policy and planning efforts. Who are these children? Where do they live? What are the policies, circumstances, and failings that make it possible for one in every 50 American children to experience homelessness? What does it say about our country that we are willing to bail out banks, but not our smallest, most vulnerable citizens? The effects of our nation’s economic downturn – including increasing numbers of foreclosures, job layoffs, rising food and fuel prices, and inadequate supplies of low-cost housing – will surely add to the legions of children who are homeless.

This report shows that the majority of homeless children reside in very few states. During 2005-2006, 75% of America’s identified homeless children lived in 11 states. Children without homes are twice as likely to experience hunger as other children. Two-thirds worry they won’t have enough to eat. More than one-third of homeless children report being forced to skip meals. Homelessness makes children sick. Children who experience homelessness are more than twice as likely as middle class children to have moderate to severe acute and chronic health problems. Homeless children are twice as likely as other children to repeat a grade in school, to be expelled or suspended, or to drop out of high school. At the end of high school, few homeless students are proficient in reading and math – and their estimated graduation rate is below 25%. We must not allow grim forecasts about the nation’s economy to delay aggressive action.

It is possible to end child homelessness within a decade with dedicated funds from local, state, and federal governments that are combined with reallocated dollars. All states must specifically address child homelessness in their plans to end homelessness. In almost half of the states’ current plans, children and families are not even mentioned. Making homeless children a priority must come from the top. This is a perfect opportunity for President Obama to ensure that the Interagency Council on Homelessness expands its focus to include children and families and to coordinate their efforts with similar Congressional activities. Ending child homelessness is within our reach, despite current economic circumstances. This report shows that several states have created the infrastructure and programs needed to turn the tide. A t least six states have created extensive plans to combat child homelessness, and a dozen additional states have done significant planning. By looking at innovative programs described in this report, all states can draw on these successful ideas to develop their own plans and strategies for ending child homelessness. Ending homelessness for all children in the U.S. is possible if a concerted effort is made by national, state, and local political leaders, funders, the White House, service providers, advocates, and philanthropic foundations. If we fail to act, the consequences will play out for years to come as a generation of lost children grow to adulthood. It is virtually impossible to reclaim the life of a child who has spent his childhood without a home.

Short-term federal activities should include the following: Capitalize the National Housing Trust Fund at $10 billion for two years to rehabilitate or build 100,000 rental homes for the lowest income households. Fund 400,000 new Housing Vouchers at $3.6 billion for two years. Fund the homelessness prevention component of the Emergency Shelter Grant at $2 billion for two years. Set aside one-third of housing program resources (e.g., vouchers, National Housing Trust Fund, etc.) for families who are homeless and at risk of homelessness. Protect renters by assuring continuity of voucher assistance for rental properties in foreclosure. Keep homeowners stably housed by requiring banks and other mortgage holders to approve affordable loan modifications. Fully fund Subtitle B of title VII of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act at $210 million.

Ensure that 30% of the proposed $2 billion to the Emergency Shelter Grant is dedicated to trauma-informed services for children and families. Invest $3 billion into child care vouchers for children experiencing homelessness. Allocate funds within all federally funded programs for workforce development. Expand the TANF contingency fund so that states are able to provide cash assistance to the increasing number of very poor families. Provide a temporary increase in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits (food stamps). Fully fund the Violence Prevention and Services Act at $175 million and increase the Victims of Crime Act Cap to $717 million annually. Require the federal Interagency Council on Homelessness (ICH) to make child and family homelessness a high priority. Coordinate Congressional committee activities on homelessness with the federal ICH.

Short-term local and state activities should include the following: Place families directly into permanent housing rather than into motels. In addition to being safer and more stable, it is less expensive to pay a family’s rent than to pay for their stay in a motel. Prevent children’s placement into foster care due solely to homelessness or unstable housing by providing families with intensive wrap-around services (e.g., income supports, job training, health care, trauma-specific services, supports for parenting, programs for children). Enroll families into federal entitlement programs such as Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (food stamps), and WIC rather than paying for costly emergency services (e.g., emergency room visits). Pay for stabilization services for families exiting the shelter system, helping them remain housed. Make family homelessness a priority of the state interagency councils on homelessness and other planning efforts related to homelessness and poverty.

America’s Youngest Outcasts: State Report Card on Child Homelessness paints a picture of a nation with the greatest number of children enduring or on the brink of homelessness since the Dust Bowl Era of the Great Depression. If you choose to read it, I urge you to agree that it is unacceptable for one child in the United States to be homeless for even one day. Each of us must take the actions necessary to end this national disgrace of poverty and homeless in this nation. It is time for populist campaign issues such as poverty and homelessness to go on unnoticed any longer. It is time to finally deal with this properly and fairly. Disgraced Democratic Presidential Candidate John Edwards fought to eliminate poverty and now it is time that his efforts as well as the efforts of Dr. King’s to fight poverty and homelessness don’t go unnoticed any longer. Homelessness in America is a tragic issue and we as a society and as a nation must really put a dent in this matter once and for all.

Sources:
Times’ Record (AP): Homeless numbers include more families
Reuters: Hidden Homeless Emerge as U.S. Economy Worsens
America’s Youngest Outcasts: Executive Summary
Yahoo (AP): Recession wrenches lives out of shape, uprooting families, leaving kids stressed
YouTube (Family Services): One Mother’s Story of Living in A Van
Smithsonian: Marching on History
findingDulcinea: Tent Cities on Rise as Unemployment Rate Sinks
The History Place: Dorothea Lange
Library of Congress: Great Depression and World War II, 1929-1945