Running head: SOCIAL ISSUE INTERVENTION 1 SOCIAL ISSUE INTERVENTION 6 Social Issue Intervention: Homelessness Christopher Malone HHS 497 Instructor Michelle Wilson January 23, 2017 Social Issue Intervention Identify a social issue that health and/or human service organizations address in some capacity and discuss its current impact on group(s) affected by it. The society is affected by many issues, which directly influence the lives of its members. The country’s human service organizations make significant efforts to make the society a better place and thus they utilize certain means with an aim of improving the society by eliminating its negative issues. Among the many issues that this department combat is the issue of homelessness. Homelessness refers to an individual’s state where a person lacks a permanent dwelling like a house or an apartment, where he or she lives in. The individuals who are considered homeless are mostly the ones who lack the ability to acquire and maintain regular, secure and safe housing. Homelessness therefore mainly affect the poor individuals in the society, who do not have funds to acquire or maintain their own houses. In the year 2015, about 565,000 individuals were homeless in the united states, which implies that they were either sleeping outside, in emergency shelters or were members of a transnational housing program. This issue is a major problem in the society. To begin with, a homeless individual cannot be in peace. He or she spends the day worrying about where he will spend the night. This is because like for the case of all other individuals, sleeping outside is not a good embrace aspect. A homeless individual is also exposed to the risk of insecurity. Although ill-intended individuals like robbers or other individuals who simply like to cause harm to others have the capability of breaking into people’s houses and committing crimes. The house is a security shelter that has helped people on many occasions to survive such attacks. When an individual is, however, homeless, it implies that he can easily be acquired by the ill-intentioned people while other individuals are sleeping in their houses and thus they may not manage to offer their assistance. This clearly shows that homelessness is a major problem in the United States that requires being addressed (Augusto, 2008). Describe the historical underpinnings of this issue. Factors to consider include where and how it originated, pertinent events and their dates, and its current status. Homelessness is among the issues that have been in existence within the society for a long time. It was however declared and started being viewed as a national issue in the 1870s. During these times, many individuals lived in the urban cities that were currently emerging like New York. As the time approached and the United States began experiencing the great depression, a significant devastating epidemic of hunger and poverty emerged in the country. This session m ...

1. Running head: SOCIAL ISSUE INTERVENTION
1
SOCIAL ISSUE INTERVENTION
6
Social Issue Intervention: Homelessness
Christopher Malone
HHS 497
Instructor Michelle Wilson
January 23, 2017
Social Issue Intervention
Identify a social issue that health and/or human service
organizations address in some capacity and discuss its current
impact on group(s) affected by it.
The society is affected by many issues, which directly influence
the lives of its members. The country’s human service
organizations make significant efforts to make the society a
better place and thus they utilize certain means with an aim of
improving the society by eliminating its negative issues. Among
the many issues that this department combat is the issue of
homelessness. Homelessness refers to an individual’s state
where a person lacks a permanent dwelling like a house or an
apartment, where he or she lives in. The individuals who are
considered homeless are mostly the ones who lack the ability to
acquire and maintain regular, secure and safe housing.
Homelessness therefore mainly affect the poor individuals in
the society, who do not have funds to acquire or maintain their
own houses.
In the year 2015, about 565,000 individuals were homeless in

2. the united states, which implies that they were either sleeping
outside, in emergency shelters or were members of a
transnational housing program. This issue is a major problem in
the society. To begin with, a homeless individual cannot be in
peace. He or she spends the day worrying about where he will
spend the night. This is because like for the case of all other
individuals, sleeping outside is not a good embrace aspect. A
homeless individual is also exposed to the risk of insecurity.
Although ill-intended individuals like robbers or other
individuals who simply like to cause harm to others have the
capability of breaking into people’s houses and committing
crimes. The house is a security shelter that has helped people on
many occasions to survive such attacks. When an individual is,
however, homeless, it implies that he can easily be acquired by
the ill-intentioned people while other individuals are sleeping in
their houses and thus they may not manage to offer their
assistance. This clearly shows that homelessness is a major
problem in the United States that requires being addressed
(Augusto, 2008).
Describe the historical underpinnings of this issue. Factors to
consider include where and how it originated, pertinent events
and their dates, and its current status.
Homelessness is among the issues that have been in existence
within the society for a long time. It was however declared and
started being viewed as a national issue in the 1870s. During
these times, many individuals lived in the urban cities that were
currently emerging like New York. As the time approached and
the United States began experiencing the great depression, a
significant devastating epidemic of hunger and poverty emerged
in the country. This session made a significant increase in the
number of people within the country that can be considered
poor. The increase in the numbers of the poor people also
caused a significant increase in the number of the homeless
individuals. About two million homeless individuals were then

3. known to be migrating towards the United States. In the 1980s,
the number of homeless individuals increased, mainly due to the
increase of housing and social service cuts. The year 1987 is
when a significant progress was made with regard to the
problems of homelessness when President Reagan signed the
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. Over time, the
numbers of the homeless individuals in the United States have
been decreasing significantly. Currently, the United States has
about 564, 708 individuals who are considered homeless.
Among these individuals, 15 percent are considered the
chronically homeless individuals. These are people that have
been homeless for about a year or more, and also have a form of
disability (Singer, 2003).
Discuss specific factors contributing to the social issue.
Consider environmental, social, political, and economic reasons
that have attempted to explain why this issue persists.
Many aspects bring about the issue of homelessness. Among
these factors is the main factor of financial and economic
aspects of individuals. A homeless individual is a person who
lacks the ability to acquire and maintain a house to live in. This
ability is simply defined by the financial state of an individual.
People who have good financial grounds cannot remain
homeless. Unless they are willing to stay without a specific
place where they can reside, for their other personal reasons
apart from financial issues. The main cause of homelessness,
therefore, is poverty in the society. Other aspects that influence
this issue is the political aspects. Currently, the McKinney-
Vento Homeless Assistance Act is the main law that highly
addresses the issues of homelessness in the United States. The
government also makes many other significant efforts aimed at
helping individuals manage to manage to improve their financial
status. The success or fail of these efforts significantly
contributes towards the individual’s ability to attain homes and
cease to become homeless.

4. Evaluate the impact of this social issue on the delivery of health
and human service efforts. What impact has this had on how
health and/or human service organizations provide support in
terms of direct practice with clients and within communities?
The health and human service initiate significant efforts with an
aim of attempting to solve and eliminate this issue. To begin
with, the department of the United States health and human
service has established numerous programs aimed to help the
homeless individuals attain both temporary and permanent
housing. These programs help these individuals attain a shelter
where they can reside during the night, an aspect that helps
them cease to be regarded as homeless individuals. The
department has also established programs that help in the
delivery of treatment and other services to the individuals that
are homeless. This is a significantly important aspect because in
most cases, the homeless individuals are also not able to afford
healthcare service provisions. This implies that inclusive of the
need to be provided with a home in which they can reside, they
would also need medical assistance. The department of health
and human services make significant efforts to provide this
assistance. The health and human services department of the
United States, therefore, make significant efforts with an aim of
eradicating homelessness in the United States (HHS, 2007).
References
Augusto, V. (2008). The institutional dynamics of
homelessness: The United States of America and Japan
compared, Bingley: The International Journal of Sociology and
Social Policy. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.pc.maricopa.edu/docview/20
3708750?pq-origsite=summon
HHS, (2007). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services:
Strategic Action Plan on Homelessness: U.S.Department of
Health and Human Services. Retrieved from

5. https://www.hhs.gov/programs/social-
services/homelessness/research/strategic-action-plan-on-
homelessness/index.html?language=es
Singer, J. (2003). Taking It to the Streets: Homelessness,
Health, and Health Care in the United States. Journal of General
Internal Medicine, 18(11), 964–965.
http://doi.org/10.1046/j.1525-1497.2003.30903.x