Homelessness Policy Analysis Essays - , Term Papers

Homelessness Policy Analysis Stephen F. Austin University Abstract Individuals that are a part of the homeless population in rural areas could be homeless for a various amount of reasons. These reasons may vary from not having enough income, drug addiction, mental health problems, divorce or separation, and even natural disasters. The McKinney-Vento Act was created in the 1980s to help the homeless community. The McKinney-Vento Act offered several programs to assist the homeless with housing, health, and education. Sadly, rural communities only can offer some of the programs included in the act due to limited resources. The reasons for homelessness is the same in rural and urban areas. Low visibility and the lack of adequate representation, ensures that the problem of rural homelessness will continue to be ignored by programs designed to help the urban homeless. The Problem The homeless population in rural areas have been on the rise since the 1980s. Rural areas have limited resources to help those who are in desperate need. Rural homelessness is a growing problem for both adults and children who are forced to live on the streets. Homeless rural community individuals are homeless for any number of reasons, although the primary reason is believed to be economic issues. Surprisingly, not all homeless individuals are without jobs. Homeless individuals who still have jobs are suffering, because minimum wage is just not enough for them to get by each month. The cost of living is raised almost every year, but the minimum wage amount doesn't. Therefore, it's harder on those individuals with actual jobs to find affordable housing. Mental issues, natural disaster, drug addiction, domestic abuse, lack of employment opportunities, and unexpected eviction notices are just a few other reasons as to why families maybe become homeless. 25% of the homeless suffer from some form of mental illness (Center for Public Interest Research, nd). There are also women and children that are homeless due to fleeing domestic violence relationships and there not being adequate shelters or programs to provide assistance in rural areas (Center for Public Interest Research, nd). Very few rural areas have some form of homeless shelter. Rural families that are homeless end up on the streets, living in their car (if owned), or living with other family members. The biggest problem with homeless in rural communities is the lack of shelter options for those in need. Several rural areas don't have a place for those who are homeless to live. Women who are homeless due to domestic abuse don't have the abilities to have shelter at a safe hav en for women just like them. Homeless individuals in rural areas would have to travel just to seek a form of shelter. 40% of the homeless in America consist of families. Leaving more than 1.3 million children without a home each year. There are least 800,000 Americans, including about 200,000 children are without a home in America (Bassuk Friedman, 2005). Unfortunately, rural homelessness can be a very difficult to track. Rural homeless individuals remain homeless because they are scared to ask for help, in addition to the shame that they feel for being homeless. Homelessness levels are impossible to track, especially on a grand scale with accuracy therefore, some of those that are homeless remain homeless due to not wanting to be classified as homeless. In addition, there's no way to know exactly where homeless people seeks shelter. Social welfare policies have been put into place throughout the course of history to attempt to deal with the present problem of homelessness. Homelessness reports go back as far as the 1600s when we only had 13 colonies. One of the governments first attempts to help the homeless was the Elizabethan Poor Laws, which placed the difficulty of the poor to responsibilities of the community. The federal government finally stepped in to help deal with homelessness during the Great Depression with the Federal Transient Service, which funded work training programs, shelters, health centers, housing, and work camps from 1933 to 1936. (Street News Service, 2010). Then Social Security Services came about during Roosevelt's presidential term, resulting in the end of funding for this program. The policy that had the most impact on the homeless population was the McKinney-Vento Act.

How to Remember Dates for a Test - Memorization

How to Remember Dates for a Test - Memorization Dates are often difficult to remember because they seem so random and obscure unless we can relate them to something specific. For instance, the  American Civil War  started in 1861, but unless you have a strong interest in the specific timeline of the war, there is nothing special about the starting date that separates that date from any other. What makes 1861 stand apart from 1863 or 1851? Sometimes it can be as simple as leaving off the first two digits. If you are studying a particular time period, you already know what century in which the events take place. Even though it might not seem like it, breaking it down to just two numbers can make memorization much easier. You can associate those numbers with something like the number of a favorite athlete. If that doesn’t work, there are a few other tricks. When trying to memorize a date, students can really benefit from a  mnemonic system  (memory technique) to help them recall the right numbers in the right order. For memorizing dates it might be helpful to borrow a practice from the London Cockneys. A Cockney is an inhabitant of the East End of London, England. Cockneys have an old tradition of using  rhyming slang  as a secret language, of sorts. The tradition originated centuries ago, and it was used by Londons thieves, traders, entertainers, and other members from the lower strata of society. In Cockney slang, Can you believe it?  becomes  Can you Adam and Eve it? More examples: Whistle and flute suitWhite mice iceTom Hanks thanksTrouble and strife wife Remembering Dates We can use the same method to remember dates. Simply think of a term that rhymes with your date. Make sure your rhyme is a little silly and that it paints a strong picture in your head. You can leave off the century, so that 1861, the starting date for the Civil War, becomes 61. Example: 61 Sticky gun Imagine a Civil War soldier struggling with a gun that has been covered with honey. It may sound silly, but it works! More Examples: 1773 was the date of the Boston Tea Party. To remember this, you could think: 73 Heavenly tea You can just picture protesters sipping lovely cups of tea right before tossing them in the water. 1783 marks the end of the Revolutionary War. 83 Ladies bee For this image, think of several women sitting on a quilt and celebrating by stitching a red, white and blue quilt. The most important element of this method is to come up with a great, amusing image. The funnier it is, the more memorable it will be. If possible, come up with a little story to connect all your mental images. If you have trouble coming up with a rhyme or have a lot of connected information to remember, you could set the information to a song. If you are musically inclined, you could make up your own song. More often it is easier to replace the words to a song you already know well.