Preview

Homeless Veterans Research Paper

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
663 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Homeless Veterans Research Paper
Homelessness
“Homelessness is the condition of people without a permanent dwelling, such as a house or apartment.” In the United States over 500,000 people, almost a quarter of them children, were homeless this year. That’s over half a million-people living on streets, cars and or homeless shelters. 49,933 people, veterans to be specific, were identified across the United States as homeless, 51% of these homeless veterans have disabilities, 50% have serious mental issues, 70% have a substance abuse problem. Nearly one-quarter, 23% of the homeless are children under the age of 18. 10% are between the ages of 18 and 24, and 66% are over the age of 25.

In Texas alone recent reports have identified 19,177 homeless people. 1,499 homeless people
…show more content…
A veteran is a former member of the armed forces. Someone who at one point identified themselves as a soldier. Someone who signed a will and all their rights away for their country. 9% of the homeless are veterans. 51% of homeless veterans have some type of disability, 51% have a serious mental illness, 70% have a substance abuse problem.
Why are Americans homeless? One of the reasons people are homeless is because they have some type of addiction. In many situations individuals turn to drugs and alcohol to cope with tough times and or situations. When one falls into a substance attempt to attain temporary relief from their problems, they start to depend on it to take their minds off the problem.
Domestic violence is common with single adults and families, domestic violence is an immediate cause for homelessness. A huge percentage of women because homeless due to some sort of domestic violence, they rather live on the streets then continue to live in abuse and violence. Domestic violence survivors mostly turn to homeless service programs to seek help and temporary place to stay. Recent studies show that just over 12% of homeless individuals have experienced some type of domestic
…show more content…
Children usually age out, which means they turn 18. 18 is the age of emancipation in most states, in foster care systems and or homes. Even though you are technically allowed to stay in foster care until you are 21, at the age of 18 you have the option to leave. Once a child turns 18 they are considered an adult, their entire world changes. They are now responsible for themselves, this includes and is limited to: having the responsibility of finding a home to live, getting a job or maybe attending college, having money to buy food and clothing. Among other things. This may become overwhelming for some and they fail and have nowhere to go so they may end up in a shelter, or a street. Many eventually end up homeless. Every year almost 300,000 kids age out of the foster system.

Panhandling is defined as begging. There have been many cases where people have committed panhandling scams. Which is when a person dresses and portrays to be a homeless person in order to get empathy from people in order to obtain money. Depending on the location of where the person is panhandling some folks can make up to $40-$100 per hour in earnings. 3% of panhandlers

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The threat of homelessness amongst veterans has become an increasingly growing issue. Through my extensive research I have found multiple reasons as to why this threat has occurred. Some examples of these are things such as the transition from military to civilian life, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and poverty. I am going to apply the functionalist and conflict perspectives in explaining the problems of homelessness amongst veterans.…

    • 653 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I have not notice any stigmatization or off targeted benefits. These benefits are here for these homeless veterans if they want them. In my opinion the homeless veterans can get the help that they need faster than…

    • 616 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    References: Department of Veteran Affairs. (2012, July 22). Retrieved from Department of Veteran Affairs: http://www.va.gov/HOMELESS…

    • 1134 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Homeless War Veterans

    • 714 Words
    • 3 Pages

    INTRODUCTION: How many people have a Veteran in their family or know one? If yes do you help them or is it someone else’s problem. Well many people think it’s someone else problem, but the truth is it’s our problem.…

    • 714 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    This article presents evidence that the likelihood of veteran homelessness appears to be related both to youth and to era of service. However, the immediate post-Vietnam era cohort continues to be at greatest risk for homelessness. As the authors of the earlier report suggested, this probably reflects the influence of the All Volunteer Force and the reduction of veterans’ benefits for non-wartime service. If this cohort effect continues, then by 2006 the over-representation of veterans among the homeless should be highest in the age group…

    • 2186 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Homeless families are mostly single parent families with women as head of household. The age range is 20-35 years old. Members of the family are often from minority groups. The primary causes of homelessness are the inability to pay rent, overcrowding and family conflict. Homeless families experience extreme poverty which put the family at risk for numerous health conditions (US Bureau of Statistics, 2012). The more serious acute and chronic illnesses as well as mental illness and children are vulnerable for a wide range of disease processes.…

    • 1039 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The definition of a homeless veteran is combining being homeless and having the status of being a veteran. In 2009 President Obama and Secretary Shinseki made a commitment to end homelessness amongst veterans in 5 years. This was in collaboration with the Veterans Administration (VA). Homeless within the ranks of our veterans has been around for decades. There are many explanations why some veterans are homeless. It could be due to not receiving benefits after leaving military service, mental illness, drug and or alcohol abuse, no family or just not having a job. As you can see there are multiple reasons a veteran can become homeless. There has been study finding that homeless veterans who have experienced…

    • 382 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Has anyone ever stopped to wonder why the population of homeless people is rising? Studies have shown different reasons to explain why this is a never ending problem. Not having much attention to help the issue of homelessness is one way this problem is increasing. Not having many homeless shelters that these homeless people can go to as well as different programs that can help to stabilize the situation is a contributing factor as well. Not many programs that can help an individual before living situations get to the point of homelessness are what the U.S. is lacking. Some reasons of homelessness is an abuse of substance or alcoholism one might be suffering from also there might be one trying to get out of an abusive relationship. Another reason some people go homeless is due to lack of affordable housing in big cities where the rent or mortgage is too much for a particular individual to afford. However, this is a widespread problem all over the U.S.…

    • 1714 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Homeless Veterans Essay

    • 714 Words
    • 3 Pages

    There are many different reasons that a veteran becomes homeless. The main cause is lack of affordable housing. Also, many do not have a reliable source of income upon returning…

    • 714 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Homeless Veterans

    • 888 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Our Veterans, the ones who serve in the United States Military, have fought for our country and others. They have served us well by leaving their families behind and venturing off into unknown lands like Iraq and Afghanistan to make us proud of them. We call them Heroes until they return home. Our Heroes return safely home from death and destruction only to be made aware that they are no different from anyone else. Well if our Veterans are treated as anyone else than homelessness will not discriminate.…

    • 888 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Homelessness and Veterans

    • 1171 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Homelessness is usually defined as “a person who lacks a fixed regular and adequate night time residence ”(Facts and figures: The homelessness). Homelessness in the United States is very common. If you are walking on the streets of New York or any city in United States it is almost certain that you will see a person or several persons that are sleeping on the street corner or in the subway station. This has always been a major concern for the government. The US government is trying its best to keep people off the street and there are over 3000 homeless shelters in America. (Homelessness in the United States)…

    • 1171 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Homeless Veterans

    • 2364 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts are now showing up in the nation’s homeless shelters. While the numbers are still small, they’re steadily rising and raising alarms in both the homeless and veterans communities. The concern is that these returning veterans - some of whom can’t find jobs after leaving the military, others of whom are still struggling psychologically with the war – may be just the beginning of an influx of the veterans in need. Currently, there are 150,000 troops in Iraq and 16,000 in Afghanistan. More than 130,000 have already served and returned home writes Alexandra Marks (Marks).…

    • 2364 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Homelessness in America

    • 4718 Words
    • 19 Pages

    Each country in the world is faced with various social issues that attract the interest of numerous stakeholders. And when society is faced with such social issues the general citizenly come together and try to resolve whatever issue is at hand. In certain social issue society generally feel like it is their responsibility to assist certain population of the citizens that has been determined as needy however they has been some social problems that have been existence in America that have not been fully or never completely resolved. The number of people that are being pushed on the streets for various reasons has been steadily increasing. Homelessness has been a long time America’s social problem. The word homelessness has been in use in America for about 150 years. Nevertheless there has been no clear cut generally accepted definition for homelessness. There have been many different definitions with characteristically criteria used by the various interest groups in trying to serve or screen and decide who to provide support for. Arnold points out that “The literature about homelessness can be summed up under the two broad categories: of conservative or progressive interpretations” (116).…

    • 4718 Words
    • 19 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Helping the Homelessness

    • 1322 Words
    • 6 Pages

    First, I’m going to start with some facts and figures on homelessness. For families the most common causes for homelessness are: lack of affordable housing, unemployment, and poverty. For singles they are: substance abuse, lack of affordable housing and mental illness. Veterans are more likely to become homeless, 40% of homeless men are veterans. There are more African-Americans homeless then any other ethnic group. The first and only major federal legislative response to homelessness is The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act signed in 1987 by President Ronald Reagan.…

    • 1322 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Homeless Veterans

    • 1286 Words
    • 4 Pages

    A. The Broadcast Interview Source of February 10, 2004 explains that there are currently "460,000 veterans that are forced to sleep on the nation's streets" every night. According to the previously cited National Coalition for Homeless Veterans website, estimated that number of veterans who experience homelessness during an average…

    • 1286 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays