U.S.A.

I . Outline of the problem

• Numbers:

  • Every year, more than 1.35 million children are homeless.

  • Every day, 800,000 people are homeless, of whom 200,000 are children.

  • The age of almost 42% of the children living with homeless is under 6 years.

  • A number of 7 million families were living in poverty in 2002, in comparison to 6.1 million in 2001. 12.2 million children were living in extreme poverty in the same period.

• Chief factors:

  • The lack of health insurance can lead families to poverty, taking in account that the treatment of a serious illness or injury could have a cost beyond many families’ financial possibilities; 41 million people have no health insurance at the moment

  • Domestic violence causes many mothers with children to have to leave their homes; 18% of homeless parents reported they left their residences due to domestic violence, while 38% of homeless mothers reported their recent or previous partner was abusing

  • The constantly increasing cost of housing (including rent and utilities) is becoming unaffordable for the poorest of Americans: one in four households reported spending more then 30% of their incomes on housing; besides that, the number of rental units available to families with low earnings declined by more than 370,000 units between 1991 and 1997.

  • 17% of children under 18 years are living below the poverty level. 10% of all families and 18% of families with single female householders have incomes under the poverty level.

• Education:

• Almost 87% of homeless children are enrolled in schools; only 77% actually attend classes regularly. Difficulties these children face when enrolling in a school come from the fact that many schools do not permit the registration of children without school and medical records. In addition, some will not allow children who do not have a home address to attend, and very often, no transportation is provided for children to get to their schools.

• Homeless children are 25% more probable to have developmental delays.

• They are twice as likely to suffer from learning disabilities.

• They are prone to repeat a grade, consequence of frequent absences and changes of school (28% of the homeless children move to a different school 2 or 3 times a year).

• Homeless children are suspended twice as often as the others are.

• Victimization and crime:

  • 67% of the impoverished families’ children and homeless children (8 to 17 years old) have been exposed to violence. A much higher percent of those over 12 have been exposed to violence, that being over 87% of them.

  • 8% have been physically abused (twice the rate of other children), 8% have been sexually abused (three times the rate of other children), 35% have been the subject of a child protection investigation, 24% have witnessed acts of violence within their family, 15% have seen their father hit their mother, 11% have seen their mother abused by a male partner (according to NCFH – The National Center on Family Homelessness).

  • 3% have heard gunshots, 17% have seen someone get shot, 17% have seen a dead body outside, 14% have seen someone stabbed (according to NCFH).

• Health problems:

  • Homeless children aged 6 to 17 encounter mental health problems. 47% of the homeless children suffer from anxiety, depression or withdrawal, while only 18% of the normal children have these problems.

  • Homeless children have to face stressful and traumatic events, as worrying for not having where to sleep, where to live or that something bad would happen to their family, therefore the rate of emotional problems is high. However, only one third of homeless children are receiving mental health treatment.

  • Homeless children are ill twice as many times as other children; they are hungry twice as often as normal children are and have reported eating less after becoming homeless.

  • 20% of homeless children do not benefit from a regular source of medical care, while 15% rely only on emergency rooms.

II. Solutions

• The National Center on Family Homelessness (NCFH)

www.familyhomelessness.org/index.php

NCFH deals with the homelessness problem by developing knowledge about family homelessness, in order to create effective strategies for addressing family poverty. The site comprises a list of researches carried out by them and a list of projects in which they are involved.

• U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

http://www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/homeless/programs/

HUD is a governmental organization, whose objectives include increasing home ownership, supporting community development and increasing access to affordable housing free from discrimination. Consequently, it includes a list of housing and/or care programs and the addresses of all local centers that can provide facilities for the homeless. The local homeless assistance agencies listed comprise a range of services, from food and shelter to counseling and job skills programs.