Homelessness can happen to anyone. A job layoff, a death in the family, or a medical issue followed by the draining of financial resources and foreclosure or eviction can put any family in a difficult position. If the family was already living at the poverty level, then homelessness becomes even more probable.
Over 40% of the homeless population is made up of families; more than half of these individuals are children. This is a dramatic increase from 2007, when the number of homeless families was 23%. These statistics are in large part due to the economic recession and the housing crisis. The large number of foreclosures in the U.S, due to the economic recession, has dramatically increased the number of homeless families. Since 2007, an estimated six million homes have been foreclosed on, and another four million homes are at some stage in the foreclosure process. Current estimates indicate that foreclosures are continuing at a rate of two million per year. However, these recent foreclosures have little to do with the subprime mortgage crisis. Instead, they are the result of unemployed workers unable to make their mortgage payments. According to leading broker dealer Amherst Securities, some 9.5 million homes are still at risk of default. These statistics do not include the one in four American homeowners who are “under water” or who owe more than their homes are worth. The current economic crisis, which started in 2007, has wiped out some $7 trillion in U.S. household wealth.
Another cause of family homelessness is a lack of affordable housing. Many poor families compete with those who have been foreclosed on for rental space. Current rental properties are in short supply due to demand and therefore prices have remained high. One solution is section 8 housing vouchers. Section 8 of the United States Housing Act provides vouchers to needy families to use federal funds to pay a portion of their rent. The tenant typically finds a qualifying unit and pays 30% of their adjusted gross income towards rent. The remaining balance is paid by the public housing authority (PHA) to the landlord using section 8 funds. However, poor families waiting for Section 8 housing vouchers have a very long delay. The U.S. Conference of Mayors estimates that the wait time for housing vouchers is 35 months. This is because housing vouchers are oversubscribed, creating waiting lists that can take years to cycle through. Often public housing authorities are forced to stop taking applications because the waiting list is too long.
Many homeless families are mothers with children escaping domestic abuse. When this occurs the family has nowhere to turn but shelters. However, many homeless shelters cannot accommodate families with children and must deny them access. If parents cannot find shelter, their children are often entered into the foster care system. Another problem is that once children turn 18 they cannot always stay with their families and have to seek shelter elsewhere. This potentially causes children to be separated from their parents.
In most cases of family homelessness, the fundamental solution is getting parents back to work and in a home. However, this presents the chicken and egg dilemma. A job requires a permanent address. Therefore, providing rapid re-housing solutions first to stabilize the family’s situation is necessary. Rapidly re-housing a family also limits their stay in shelters. The Federal Government Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) enacted under the HEARTH Act provides resources that attempts to rapidly re-house homeless families in local communities. The ESG funds are provided to state governments, metropolitan cities, urban counties, and non-profit organizations. These funds are then used for five program components: street outreach, emergency shelters, homelessness prevention, rapid re-housing, and data collection through the homeless management information system (HMIS). Recipient organizations also receive administrative funds with a 7.5% cap. When using the ESG program for rapid re-housing, funds can be allocated to pay for application fees, security deposits, or short term and medium term rental assistance.
Another proactive solution to resolving family homelessness is to use data on households accessing emergency assistance to provide prevention strategies. For example, if a household has accessed Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), recently filed for unemployment, filed for foreclosure, or other key indicators – these individuals are potentially at risk for homelessness. If such data is tracked by a community it can improve their ability to assist and possibly prevent homelessness in the first place. Often individuals need to know what their options are and what services are available to them.
During the prevention process individuals need work support and additional services to stabilize their economic condition and help them find meaningful employment. Most of these individuals are not interested in spending years going back to school for a college degree. Instead they need quick access to marketable job skills. This is particularly true for those already living at the poverty level, for whom a lack of education and critical job skills prevents meaningful employment. Providing training to these individuals to give them adequate job skills, career preparation training, the opportunity to finish a high school diploma, and the chance to gain additional workforce development skills can go a long way towards preventing homeless.
In some states, individuals receiving Section 8 funds are offered access to a Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) Program. This program helps families find jobs, provides employment training, financial workshops, and case management. The funding for FSS programs can include life skills training and other homeless prevention education. While this training is not mandatory, many in the public housing agencies would agree that such training can go a long way to getting families stabilized, employed, and out of the need for housing assistance.
Homelessness is a critical problem in the United States. It particularly hits families with children the hardest. Preventative programs that focus on education and awareness of services can make all the difference. To learn more about Smart Horizons Transitional Life Skills Program please contact us at 855-777-8032 or by email at tls.info@smarthorizons.org. You can also access information on our website www.mytrainingnow.com
