America’s homeless situation is bad and the government is not stepping up.

Why is this evil?

As the wealthiest country in the world, we should have some form of safety net programming to support families facing their last housing option – living on the street. And the federal government’s lack of any significant response to this critical social issue is a moral travesty. 

With a national budget of 4 trillion dollars, there should be a lot more safety net programming available to help people in need get back on their feet. Whether you are a veteran , a mentally challenged person, or a family that has run into hard economic times, there is no reason why people and/or families should be living on the streets in the United States of America.

Editor’s Viewpoint:

As of January 2018, an estimated 129,972 individuals experience homelessness on any given day in California. 

In California alone, chronic homelessness impacted 6,702 families, 10,836 veterans, 12,396 unaccompanied young adults, and 34,332 individuals.

In the state of New York, we find a similar trend, with 91,897 individuals experiencing homelessness on any given day. Homelessness in New York City itself has reached the highest levels since the Great Depression of the 1930s. 

As of July 2019 in New York City, there were 61,054 homeless individuals and 14,621 homeless families with 21,419 homeless children.

Over the course of NYC’s fiscal year 2018, 133,284 different homeless men, women, and children slept in the New York City municipal shelter system. This includes over 45,600 different homeless New York City children.

According to the Coalition For The Homeless, the number of homeless New Yorkers sleeping each night in municipal shelters is now 64 percent higher than it was ten years ago. The number of homeless single adults is 143 percent higher than it was ten years ago. 

Research shows that the primary cause of homelessness, particularly among families, is the lack of affordable housing. 

Surveys of homeless families have identified the following major immediate, triggering causes of homelessness: eviction; doubled-up or severely overcrowded housing; domestic violence; job loss; and hazardous housing conditions. 

Research also shows that compared to homeless families, homeless single adults have much higher rates of serious mental illness, addiction disorders, and other severe health problems.

These numbers make absolutely no sense if, today, we are, in fact, experiencing the greatest economy in U.S. history with a 3.7 unemployment rate. 

There is something rotten in America.

And the continuing rise of homelessness in states across America is just another sign that we need to do something different besides consistently bemoaning this American tragedy.