|
|
Fade to black – Is government leveraging homeless agencies out of business? Thursday, March, 4, 2010
Is politics the problem or the solution to homelessness? Monday, March, 1, 2010
Why do you hate in the name of God? Monday, February, 22, 2010
Cardboard is for shipping, not for housing Thursday, February, 18, 2010
Throw the bums out—RPG game re homeless should be sent back Monday, February, 15, 2010
Down-sizing affordable housing could increase the reduction of homelessness Thursday, February, 11, 2010
Down and exploited in Beverly Hills - Is TMZ.com exploiters? Monday, February, 8, 2010
Is marriage the solution to poverty or is it the cause of poverty? Saturday, February, 6, 2010
Book on homeless man and Los Angeles journalist is highlighted by Long Beach Book Week Thursday, February, 4, 2010
Why homelessness is decreasing while hunger and poverty is increasing
Thursday, February, 4, 2010
Why homelessness is decreasing while hunger and poverty is increasing
The numbers just don’t jive. Cities across the country, including those here in Los Angeles County, are proudly announcing that homelessness is reducing.
Los Angeles recently released numbers showing that homelessness in this county of 88 cities was reduced by 38%. They reportedly document that a staggering 25,000 people are no longer homeless.
Another city in the county known for being home to a large homeless population will announce soon that their homeless population has been reduced by 50% in a span of one year.
What’s going on? Our country is experiencing the worst recession in a generation. One to two people out of ten do not have jobs. In Los Angeles County, one of every ten people are getting their food at food banks rather than markets. One of every five people in the county is on some type of public assistance.
How can there be less people on the streets?
A half a decade ago, the federal government made a dramatic shift in its approach to funding programs that address homelessness. They directed their $1.5 billion per year toward helping people who are chronically homeless (on the streets for a long time) and toward funding permanent housing.
Around the country, 10% of the homeless population is considered chronic, and here in Los Angeles it is about one third. Statistically, to target only a portion of the total homeless population, increases the odds of reduction.
For example, if the total homeless population is 100 people, and you help one person get off the streets, you reduced the population by 1%. But if there are 10 people who are chronically homeless (and you define the homeless population as only those who are chronic), then getting one chronic homeless person off the streets means you reduced the population by 10%.
So has homelessness been reduced? Yes. If you define it as chronic homelessness. Millions of dollars are aimed at helping chronic homeless people get off the streets. And that campaign is working.
But with a recession that is devastating the state of housing for more and more people that traditionally would never think of being homelessness, the risk of an increase of a whole new generation of homeless people is real.
Because more and more people are unemployed, hungry, and can barely pay their rents.
Posted 2010-02-04 18:58:23
We assemble and distribute CarePacks to persons who are homeless and to shelters for distribution. I have been trying to figure out how all the reports I have been reading have been applauding a huge decrease in homeless men, women and children here in Los Angeles -- While at the same time, everywhere I go, and the people I talk to who work with the homeless population, and indeed, the people who are living on the streets -- are all finding the opposite to be true.
As you say in your article, I guess it all comes down to changing definitions and redefining who is counted.
Posted 2010-02-04 14:58:25
Taxing Our Way Out of Homelessness? Friday, November 21, 2008
A Third Wave Of Addressing Homelesness Monday, November 13, 2006
705 Missing Homeless People: Where Did They Go? Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Civil Overestimation Friday, January 30, 2009
Unemployment Numbers: I'm Worried...
Linda Rosenberg, MSW Juan was a delivery driver, but his health problems were putting him at risk of losing his job. His diabetes was poorly controlled and had caused foot ulcers that made it difficult for him to walk. He also had bipolar disorder, which was not being controlled. When he joined the Working Well program in Harris County, Texas, Juan worked with a case manager to get orthopedic shoes, to receive support in developing a diabetic diet and exercise plan, and to make an appointment with a psychiatrist to bring his mental health condition under control. As a result, Juan was able to continue working full time as a delivery driver and received a raise for exceptional performance (Bohman, Stoner, & Chimera, 2009). Working Well is part of the....
Homelessness Resource Center "I believe that people who are trained in Motivational Interviewing have a different perspective on building relationships. Many people are trained to view clients in a paternalistic manner, like they are children. This attitude says that providers always know what is best for a client. This attitude makes us think that we must convince clients that we know what is best for them. In this view, success is measured by the provider’s actions, not the client’s." In the spirit of Motivational Interviewing, Alan Pickett, a Mental Health Outreach Nurse at the Project Outreach Team (PORT) for Washtenaw County Community Mental Health in Ann Arbor, Michigan, does not define success this way. He believes his first task to is to make himse
David J. Jefferson “The prevalent fear of poverty among the educated classes is the worst moral disease from which our civilization suffers.” When William James, ostensible father of American Psychology, penned this line over a century ago, he had embedded the idea in a discussion on religious experience, in which he also extolled the virtues of voluntary poverty. Today, in a totally distinct context, James’ words are imbued with new meaning. Due to economic recession and what many economists have deemed a jobless recovery in contemporary America, people who never before feared poverty—the educated, or middle class—must now confront harsh new realities. The current conditions are like nothing we’ve ever seen. Conspiring myriad circumstances....
Jamie Van Leeuwen When Denver’s Road Home began over four years ago, we never could have anticipated a year like we just had. Who could ever imagine that our economy would shift into a global recession unlike anything the country has experienced since the Great Depression? And yet, in the midst of unparalleled economic shifts, there comes great opportunity. We believe there has never been a more important time for Denver to have a plan to end homelessness. During the past year, our homeless plan has been tested and we expect the coming year will continue to pose new challenges for us. Housing foreclosures, unemployment and funding cutbacks will continue to place new demands on our ten-year plan to end homelessness. As a result, we updated our plan so....
Linda Valverde & General Dogon The authors have lived and worked in Central City East—commonly known as Skid Row—for a combined thirty years. During all of our decades of living in Los Angeles, neither of us had ever heard of gentrification until about five years ago, when we became members of the Los Angeles Community Action Network (LA CAN). Now it seems that gentrification has become a common household word in cities throughout the United States, and nowhere more than downtown Los Angeles. When redevelopment really took off in downtown L.A. in 2002, LA CAN and our allies created five principles for fair redevelopment. We wanted to see our neighborhood revitalized, not gentrified. The principles were....
Inforum RSS Feed