Children and Homelessness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Children and Homelessness - Essay Example For those infants that get born to a family in a state of homelessness, they may be affected by low birth weights, and this increase chance of premature death. Such a child may also fail to be immunized due to reduced healthcare access. According to Reynalds (2009), there are about 50 million children in the United States who may be said to be homeless. The author further asserts that in a majority of the states, plans that seek to cater for the plight of these homeless children appears to be quite inadequate. Homelessness has been said to come about due to a multitude of other issues that entails the abuse of drugs by a parent, alcohol, domestic violence, or even mental illness. As Raynald (2009) has noted, chances of a homeless child experiencing hunger are twice those of a child who is not faced with a similar situation. Compared to children from stable homes, their homeless counterparts have been shown to have a twelve fold likelihood of getting enrolled to foster care. Homelessness has been defined as "the condition and social category of people who lack housing, because they cannot afford (pay for), or are otherwise unable (Or uninterested) to maintain, regular, safe, and adequate shelter" (Levinson 2004). In addition, the term could also take into account individuals who often reside at a shelter for the homeless. Moreover, individual that have been housed in a given residence pending institutionalization may also be categorized as being homeless. The definition also takes into account individual that are living in a private or public place, and which has not been recognized as being "a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings" (Polakow & Cindy 2001). The Urban Development and Housing Department of the United States (HUD), has issued a definition for persons that may be considered as being "chronically homeless". According to the definition by HUD, an individual who is chronically homeless is one who may be afflicted with a condition that is disabling, has had the status of being homeless for over a period of one year, or one who has experienced that status of a homeless individual in at least four incidents for the last three years (Rollinson & Pardeck 2006). What happens when young people become homeless Young homeless children are more likely to be living apart from their parents. In an instance whereby a young child gets detached from its parents, and especially the mother the ensuing negative effects that they experience may be quite long-term this is especially critical, if the separation takes place at the formative stage of childhood development ( that is between one and five years). For the pre-school children, the status of being homeless may very well result in the developmental delays those children demonstrates. As Allen (2004) has noted, close to 75 percent of the homeless children who are below the age of five years exhibits at the very list a significant deviant developmental-wise, especially with regard to speech or impulsivity. Furthermore, homeless children have a higher likelihood of being afflicted with emotional problems. By and large, children who are homeless have a tendency to not only cry at the slightest provocation, they also papers to overreact should they