Essay - Florida's Homeless Introduction and Demographics Causes Resources -Federal, State, Local...

Florida's Homeless

Introduction and Demographics

Causes

Resources -Federal, State, Local

Needs

Closing

Florida's *****

The state of Florida is faced with a serious crisis in which there is no easy solution. The ***** ***** currently failing to provide adequate shelter and affordable housing for its rapidly increasing homeless population.

***** to the Department of Children and Families' most recent Florida Annual Report on Homeless Conditions in *****, approximately 67,600 people are homeless on the streets ***** Florida on any given night. The same report reveals that there are 228 ********** throughout Florida ***** have a total of 8,561 available beds ***** homeless people, ***** an additi*****al 11,122 ***** ***** *****d by transitional hous*****g facilities. This means that the state of ***** is currently able to serve less than 30 percent ***** its ***** on a temporary bas*****. Permanent housing opportunities are even harder to come by.

Florida's homeless population includes parents, children, elderly people, veterans and people who suffer from drug, alcohol and mental health problems.

According to a recent article in the Christian Science Moni*****r, at the economic boom at ***** end of the 1990's made many politicians and organizations hopeful that the end of homelessness in America was near. But with ***** rapid change ***** the economy for ***** worse, national leaders are instead predicting a dr*****matic rise in homelessness, ***** may be similar to the crisis seen at the end of the 1980's.

Things may be ***** worse now than in the 1980's, as statistics show that a larger ***** ***** the homeless are families with *****. While the state of Florida continues to add homeless programs and additional funding, ***** demand ***** shelter and homeless-prevention services continues to increase.

The National Coalition for the ***** cites two major trends that are responsible for ***** rapid ***** in ***** over the past 15-20 years: a growing shortage ***** ***** rental housing ***** a simultaneous increase in poverty. In ***** United States, a serious lack of afford***** housing and the inadequacy of ***** assistance programs ***** made a m*****jor contribution to the current housing crisis and ***** homelessness problem.

In addition, Housing and Welfare Reform authors ***** ***** that in today's economy, "Families receiv*****g TANF ***** or working at low-wage jobs are unlikely to be able to rent housing on their own without paying a significant porti***** of their incomes."

The U.S. Department of ***** and Urban Development (HUD) operates three major federally-funded programs that provide housing assistance to low-income families: public housing, Section 8 certificates ***** vouchers, and Section 8 project-based programs. Some states also run small programs providing housing *****.

Since housing assistance is not an entitlement, there are many more eligible families than families *****d assistance, and waiting lists for ***** assistance are very long in ***** *****as. Census data indicate that ***** are 5.3 million unassisted families with "worst case housing needs"; these are families that live in substandard housing or pay over half their income in *****.

Data from the 1995 American Housing