In the United States, homelessness is a critical social problem. As defined by the US's urban development department, homelessness is continuously residing in a residence that is not conducive for humans for three years. The US government is supporting the organizations that fund the homeless families. This year, the US government approximately contributed $2.777 billion to support these organizations. Despite the support, these organizations rely on donor support due to resource limitations. Therefore, the selected social problem is homelessness, which is a major social issue in the US. In every sample of 1,000 people in the US, approximately 17 are homeless ( Morton, Dworsky & Samuels, 2017 ). According to Schneider (2020), the number of homeless families is projected to increase due to the COVID-19 economic impact. The homelessness social problem has triggered the emergence of organizations meant to offer assistance to the homeless population. The activities of these organizations are hindered by limited financial capacity.
Policy Alternative Changes
In the United States, many organizations offer support to homeless families. However, these organizations receive limited finances. A policy to increase funding to organizations that directly offer support to homeless families should be adopted. The policy will ensure that homeless victims get access to housing and treatment. Also, the policy will reduce the number of homeless families that are projected to increase. The implementation of this policy involves several government agencies in various congress, local government and the states. Implementation of this policy is faced with resource utilization limitation. The policy will also ensure that the fund allocated to these organizations are effectively used to realize optimum results.
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Policy Alternative Congruence
This policy alternative is congruent with social work values. The policy will ensure that the environment is conserved. Typically, when the number of homeless families increases, improper practices of waste management increases. The alternative policy will ensure that homeless families acquire affordable and cheap housing and help the homeless individuals access mental health care. These alternative policy strengths are congruent to social work values; hence, the budget allocation towards the organizations supporting homeless families should be increased. As such, several government agencies such as state governments and local governments ought to expand their budget grants towards the organizations helping the homeless families. Increasing financing to these organizations will help homeless families cover their treatment and rehabilitation, considering that most homeless families consume drug substances.
Alternative Policy Feasibility and Policy Goals
The alternative policy will reduce the number of homeless individuals in the US and enhance the economy. Once the homeless individuals have undergone recovery programs offered by the organizations, they engage in economic activities that will enable them to generate some income ( Evans & Wilton, 2019 ). When homeless victims engage in economic activities, government taxes greatly increase, benefitting the entire United States economy. The policy alliterative meets some of its policy goals. The alternative policy meets the social work values of ensuring that the environment is conserved. However, some organizations helping homeless victims opposed the idea of permanent housing of homeless individuals. Temporary housing can lead homeless victims back to their initial problems.
Forces for the Policy and Policy Advocacy Skills
The force fostering this policy is the US government. The government is funding the organizations that directly offer support to homeless families. These organizations aim to reduce the number of homeless individuals by utilizing the government's funds to realize the optimum outcome. The advocacy skills required to support the policy alternative is budget advocacy skills. This skill is vital in influencing the state and local government budget policies in allocating funds to organizations that support the homeless.
Current Policy Effect on Clinical Social Work and Changes to Be Made
Current policy impacts social and clinical workers. Social workers play a significant role in sanctioning the less empowered and representing the disempowered populations. Social workers must connect resources and clients and, more so, guide the population during thought-provoking times ( Crutchfield et al., 2020 ). The current policy impacts the clinical social workers in that the policy ensures that the clinical social workers offer counseling treatments to homeless victims. The change to be made in the policy to support the client's need seeking clinical services is a social justice policy, which is vital in homelessness policies.
Update on Advocacy Activities
The alternative between temporary and permanent housing for the homeless has extended beyond the policy's choice in the US. The housing department of the US advocates for permanent housing for the homeless. According to the United States housing department, temporary housing for the homeless tends to develop a routinely homeless victim. High costs accompany permanent housing for the homeless. Hence, the state, the local, and congress governments have flexible budgets to increase the homeless' resource allocation for housing programs. In the country, the homelessness social problem is being solved by focusing on factors that enhance homelessness, such as substance use, mental health issues, and lack of employment opportunities.
References
Crutchfield, R. M., Maguire, J., Campbell, C. D., Lohay, D., Valverde Loscko, S., & Simon, R. (2020). “I’m supposed to Be Helping Others”: Exploring Food Insecurity and Homelessness for Social Work Students. Journal of Social Work Education , 1-13. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10437797.2020.1741478?casa_token=LdfCm0FrD40AAAAA:Oa6HduK5nc3PCHnKNC8raxS7ekzdMD_sZ0g8XHPIz6zG4zzk7wgoSX2J1fzBkzz057ejIyihqFPZLEYXaQ
Evans, J., & Wilton, R. (2019). Well enough to work? Social enterprise employment and the geographies of mental health recovery. Annals of the American Association of Geographers , 109 (1), 87-103. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/24694452.2018.1473753?casa_token=P61c1BpHKdYAAAAA:5VdiiBjDwbm5bXp1zq8z_YAO_fLOQyjHsugWsYEp5atazmTTYeOra7p3UIgU1UAVtLOHY3m7EyT05P4dyg
Morton, M. H., Dworsky, A., & Samuels, G. M. (2017). Missed Opportunities: Youth Homelessness in America. National Estimates. Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago . https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED603002
Schneider, B. (2020). Bloomberg . https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-07-06/why-is-homelessness-such-a-problem-in-u-s-cities
