This paper will attempt to explain the plight face Essays

This paper will attempt to explain the plight faced by one of the largest, most vulnerable populations in America today: the homeless, and how the McKinney Act has affected it. This out-group faces many hardships and many different policies have been put into place both helping and harming their overall wellbeing.Policies Implemented For HomelessMany social welfare policies have been put into place throughout the course of history to attempt to deal with the ever present problem of homelessness. Starting at the first widespread attempt by the government with the implementation of the Elizabethan Poor Law, which placed the plight of the poor into the realm of responsibilities of the community; and serves as the very basis for our notion today of what welfare should be. It set apart the worthy and those deemed the unworthy poor, it established indoor relief for those who were seen to have caused their own misfortunes via almshouses or outdoor relief for the widows and children who had done nothing themselves to bring about their hardships that kept them in their own homes. (Jansson, 2013)The advent of the first Charity Organizations brought about a new way of thinking about how to deal with the issue of homelessness; it advocated helping the poor gain life skills and knowledge rather than a temporary solution of only throwing money towards the problem. Many settlement houses were established, and here people were housed and trained in job skills and community ties were built (Jansson, 2013).After the Great Depression left the United States with numbers of poor and homeless previously unseen, President Roosevelt enacted The New Deal which was to become the beginning of the welfare state as we know it today (Jansson, 2013). Numerous programs were developed from Social Security which is still in existence today that provided the elderly an monthly income to help keep them from ending up homeless and on the streets, to the Civilian Conservation Corps, a work relief p rogram which built many of our grand parks where we still enjoy the structures they built today, and it provided housing and employment for many, many men.In the 1990's a step back was made when funding was cut and social welfare reforms were put into place like those with Temporary Assistance to Needy Families or TANF, that limited the time and amount of help one and their family could receive (Jansson, 2013). As a result the number of homeless has risen sharply since then. McKinney Act's ImpactOne policy in particular though, has had an enormous impact on the homeless population. This was the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act of 1987. This was the first, and to date still the only major federal legislative response to homelessness (NCH, 2006) . Homeless Population and ProblemsDuring the 1980's the United States saw a sharp increase in the number of people becoming homeless, many people were affected as the federal government withdrew funding for low income housing and so cial assistance programs for low income families and the mentally ill (Center for Public Interest Research, nd). The Regan administration did not feel that it was the federal governments place to intervene in the issue however (NCH, 2006).The outcry from advocates for the homeless population put great pressure on the government though, and in 1986 Title I of the Homeless Person's Survival Act was introduced into Congress. It was passed and signed into law by President Regan on July 22, 1987 but only after an intensive campaign by advocates for the homeless (HUD, 2013). After the death of the chief Republican sponsor Representative Stewart B. McKinney of Connecticut it was renamed the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act (Hope, 2013).People and families are homeless for any number of reasons, although the primary one is economic (Center for Public Interest Research, nd). Without adequate education many people are not able to make a living wage, as the cost of living has increa sed each year while pay has not. These people are not able to find affordable housing. The lack of affordable health care contributes as well to the problem of homelessness; an unexpected illness can turn finances upside down leaving families suddenly homeless (Center for Public Interest Research, nd). Political factors also play