Perspectives Of Homelessness And The Policy Responses Social Work Essay Essays

Perspectives Of Homelessness And The Policy Responses Social Work Essay Essays Perspectives Of Homelessness And The Policy Responses Social Work Essay Essay Perspectives Of Homelessness And The Policy Responses Social Work Essay Essay Essay Topic: Claim of Policy In this essay, the societal jobs I have chosen to compose approximately is Homelessness. I will besides be researching different position of Homelessness and the policy responses and the impact it have on the society. The groups I will concentrate my treatment on are immature people and unsmooth slumberers as the grounds indicates that immature stateless people experience unsmooth sleeping before procuring impermanent adjustment. There are broad scopes of definition Homelessness and it varies from state to state or among different establishments in the same state. Harmonizing to |Liddiard, M ( 2001:119 ) the immediate sense of the term as regularly employed by the mass media and politicians, simplistically equates homelessness with rooflessness or literally kiping rough on the street. This is can be a straightforward and easy to understand definition but this does non reflect the true range of the job so a broader definition of homeless peoples include those deficient lasting abode and life in a scope of unsatisfactory lodging conditions. They can include those populating in impermanent inns, bed and breakfast, dark shelters and homesteaders. However, the legal definition of person homeless is if they do non hold a legal right to busy adjustment or if their adjustment is unsuitable to populate in. They besides include households and peoples who do non kip rough and some are accommodated by friends and househo ld on impermanent footing. So from the above definition the societal building of homelessness are non the little sums of single that sleep on the street, looking dirty and odors of intoxicant and drugs but comprises of all person who do non hold a lasting nice topographic point of adjustment or without a regular home and are on a waiting list or takes lodging benefit and in impermanent adjustments. ( Giddens 2007 ) The cause of homelessness varies as many are of the position that homelessness is a consequence of personal weaknesss and see if the economic system is traveling on good, there is no alibi to be stateless. Shelter ( 2007 ) is of the position that homelessness is cause by a complex interplay between a individual A ; acirc ; ˆâ„ ¢s single fortunes and inauspicious structural factors outside their direct control. Among the single factors include societal exclusion, therefore when a individual deficiency of making because they did non hold entree to good instruction and nice occupation. Ones abuse of drugs and intoxicant which consequence in deficiency of personal control, deficiency of societal support and debts particularly mortgage or rent arrears. Having mental wellness jobs and acquiring involved in offense at an early age besides contribute to homelessness. Family dislocation and unsolved differences are a major factor of homelessness as a consequence of divorce and separat ion and a greater figure of work forces and adult females are affected. Peoples from institutional background like holding been in attention, the armed forces are likely to be affected. Ex-offenders who come out of prison and lose their friend and households can go stateless and the bulk from cultural minority or ex-asylum searchers who have the right to remain but have no adjustment. Structural causes of homelessness are largely societal and economical in nature frequently outside the control of single or household concerned. These may include poorness, deficiency of low-cost lodging, unemployment and the construction and disposal of lodging benefit. Harmonizing to the shelter ( 2007 ) the figure of families found to be homeless by local governments increased 31percent between 1997/98 and 2003/2004. Historically, homelessness had low promotion until the 1966 when the BBC screened Ken Loach A ; acirc ; ˆâ„ ¢s movie about homelessness Cathy Come Home. This was watch by 12million people and the movie alerted the populace, the media and the authorities to the graduated table of the lodging crises and so Shelter was formed. Another policy response was the 1977 Housing ( Homeless Persons ) Acts was the first step to topographic point duties on local governments to rehouse stateless households and persons for good. ( Liddiard, M.2001 ) The 1977 statute law had Priority Need which included adult females with kids or pregnant, vulnerable due to age, mental unwellness, disablement, and loss of place by natural catastrophes. This did non provide for everyone who was homeless and the standards by which local governments accepted pers on as homeless was complex and restricted. Hence the 1996 subdivision 177 amended to include domestic force as a precedence demand but rigorous eligibility remains ( Hill, M: 2000 ) . Young people were non covered under the bing statute law and the figure of immature homeless increased. Existing informations on young person homelessness has important restriction ; in peculiar it is merely possible to number immature people who are in contact with services. Harmonizing to ONS ( 2007 ) it can be estimated that at least 75,000 immature people experienced homelessness in the UK in 2006-07. This included 43,075 aged 16-24 of which 8,337 were 16 -17 twelvemonth old who were accepted as statutorily homeless in the UK and at least 31,000 non-statutorily homeless immature people utilizing back uping people services during 2006-2007. The Homelessness Act ( 2002 ) changes significantly the manner in which homeless in England and Wales is tackled. The precedence demand classs was extended to includes 16/17 old ages instead those who societal services are responsible for suiting, care- departers under the age of 21 who were looked after by societal services when they were 16/1 7 and ex- captives, former soldiers and immature people go forthing attention. This act besides introduces greater flexibleness with respects to societal lodging allotment giving more people the right to be considered for a council or lodging place. The local governments had a statutory responsibility to care for all the stateless people but no excess resources were added. This had a great impact on the figure of stateless people who were able to relocate for good at a given clip and particularly those under precedence demand. Young people sing break or injury during childhood who may be from socio-economic background are at increased hazard of homelessness. The chief trigger for young person homelessness is relationship breakdown normally parents or step-parent. Among the impact of homeless on immature people is hapless wellness as they can non take attention of their wellness being. They lack basic nutrient and shelter to assist them turn to go healthy grownups and they may endure from depression. Homelessness can take to increased degrees of non- engagement in formal instruction, preparation or employment. At times go forthing school early without a making and a nice occupation may take some immature people into the abuse of drugs and some have mental wellness jobs. Another homeless group of concern is the unsmooth slumberers who were in impermanent adjustment but some choose to roll the streets, kiping unsmooth free from the restraints of belongings and ownerships. But a big bulk has no such want at all but they have been pushed over the border into homelessness by factors beyond their control. Once they find themselves without a lasting home, their lives sometimes deteriorate into a spiral of adversity and want. ( Giddens 2009:503 ) The Homelessness Act 2002 extended the definition of the precedence need to include new groups of vulnerable people, and demand that all stateless people receive advice and aid. In add-on, Local Authorities are requires to sporadically develop homeless schemes, including an appraisal of degrees of homelessness and behavior an audit of those kiping unsmooth. In 1998 there were about 1,850 people kiping rough on the street of England on any one dark. This follows on from the authorities thrust to cut down rough sleeping by two-thirds in 2002. The Rough Sleeper Unit was set up in April 1999 to take the lead on presenting this disputing new mark and assist 1000s of people to get away fro good from the humiliation and wretchedness of life under a cover in a store room access. One of the cardinal principal of the scheme was to understand the cause of unsmooth sleeping, why people end up on the street and what could be done to halt this from happing in the hereafter. The scheme besides plac e the accent on promoting unsmooth slumberers to go active members of the community, to construct self esteem and convey on endowment every bit good as assisting the person to go prepared for the life off from the street. Positive consequence shortly follows as decreases in unsmooth sleeping were achieves around the state in December 2001 the mark set by the authorities was met in front of clip. The mark was met amid the contention about how unsmooth slumberers were counted and concern about the accent on street homelessness, which candidates claimed was merely tip of the homelessness iceberg. Harmonizing to BBC New Magazine, lodging curate Grant Shapps believes that the authorities figures on the count of unsmooth slumberer is low and the system of numeration is flawed. He argues that, under old authorities A ; acirc ; ˆâ„ ¢s system, councils with fewer than 10 unsmooth slumberers were non obliged to number them, and that drifters sitting up in kiping bags were non counted as homeless. After Mr. Shapps insisted that councils provide estimations, the England broad figure rose to 1,247, this comprised 440 from 70 governments that count and 807 from 256 governments that provided estimations. Despite authorities investing in inns to suit unsmooth slumberers many are on waiting list as resources and funding is limited. Overcrowding, deficiency of bed infinite and sharing suites or limited installations with others are besides identified as a job particularly if you have a spouse or a Canis familiaris, your picks narrow well. Although the quality of inns has improved well, inns are frequently considered insecure. Over 57 per centum of those who stayed in inns mentioned jobs with other occupants, including drug and intoxicant usage, force, larceny, bulling, noise and statements. And some are of the position that it is non a topographic point to travel if you want to remain clean of drugs. Peoples are under the same statute law and the local governments are unable to for good house all in precedence demand. In add-on to the above, there are certain groups who are excluded from inns, such as people from the EU and refuge searchers from non-EU states who are stateless and destitute in the street of the UK. Their entitlement to benefits is restricted until they have lived and worked and paid into the UK system through national Insurance and revenue enhancement for one twelvemonth continuously. Such Torahs bring about societal exclusion as street homeless people have reduced entree to wellness attention and dental services. They face favoritism and general rejection from other people and may hold increased hazard to enduring from force and maltreatment. The impact of unsmooth sleeping is limited entree to instruction, non being seen as suited for employment and loss of usual relationship with the mainstream. Most of all, populating on the streets is unsafe as unsmooth slumberers die immature with the mean life anticipation at 42. Inequalities among the population still remain one factor of homelessness. Denationalization and residualisation of the council lodging meant that fewer houses are available for council renter. This imposes greater long term hazards on the former council renters while besides bring forthing considerable costs for the taxpayer. The procedure besides excludes the many renters who either reject transportation or are non given the pick and hence exacerbates inequalities. There are 1.4 million unfit place in England as the bulk of householders are in the private sector. The addition of lodging association rents and additions in house monetary values means most people can non afford a nice adjustment. Low income households are the most affected as 4 million people having lodging benefit. ( Quilgars D. et al 2008 ) In decision, the job of homelessness has been tackled by the authoritiess over the old ages through policies and statute law. However, the job require long term policy solutions such as alterations in the benefit system, the edifice of more low-cost places and guaranting that a wider cross- subdivision of society benefits from the fruits of economic growing. For many people, there is no individual event that consequences in sudden homelessness ; alternatively homelessness is due to a figure of unsolved jobs outlined above edifice up over clip. The accomplishment of one authorities policy on unsmooth slumberers indicates much could be done to cut down the impact of homelessness as the figure still rises. Curates are now concentrating on the bar of unsmooth slumberer and young person homelessness through a new authorities homelessness scheme.