A Kick in the Butt? Responding to Homeless Individuals in American Society

With outside temperatures in the Baltimore area approaching record lows in the past week, I have been spending a lot more time inside lately, which means more time spent on Facebook, the popular social networking site. Last night high winds made it feel like it was negative ten degrees outside, so I was shocked when I read one of my friend's status updates. He said that "most homeless people just need a kick in the butt," and suggested that if we shut down homeless shelters and made people spend a few cold nights outside, it might be just the shock they "needed" to become motivated enough to find a place to live.

Unfortunately, I think this attitude represents how a large portion of American society views homeless individuals. Many people think that homeless individuals are just lazy, and figure, "If I can manage to maintain a place to live, why can't they?". I have to admit that up until a few years ago, before I really explored the problem of homelessness in America, this is how I felt too. But then, I became involved in the activist community in and began spending much more time in the inner city of Baltimore, Maryland.

For those who haven't spent any time in Baltimore, there's "good parts" of the city, but then there are neighborhoods that aren't as safe that have a history of violent crime (usually related to drug trafficking). I started to spend a lot of time in these "bad parts" of the city, and started to find out that they weren't so much "bad" as they were poor. It was there I also started to encounter a lot of homeless individuals, and got the chance to have meaningful conversations with a few of them.

Why are People Homeless?

I started to find out that there is a myriad of reasons that people become homeless, and usually it has absolutely nothing to do with them being too lazy to get a job and a home. I decided to do some research on homelessness, and I was shocked by what I found. According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, it is estimated that as many as half of all homeless people have serious mental illnesses that are not currently being treated. The same report also says that many of these individuals had prior contact with the mental health system, either as involuntary or inadequate mental healthcare.

Sadly, the Department of Health and Human Services also reports that 23 percent of homeless people in America are children under the age of 18, with almost half of those being children under the age of 5. Obviously, young children are homeless through no fault of their own, and neither are most homeless teenagers. According to a National Gay & Lesbian Task Force report, many teens that are homeless have been kicked out of their home for coming out as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender, and have no choice but to turn to living on the streets, at least temporarily.

The Real Solution to Homelessness in America

When you look at these statistics, it begins to paint a very different picture than the one most people see. It is true that many people who are homeless also have drug or alcohol problems, but studies also show that a significant percentage of addicted homeless people got hooked after they became homeless, and when they are put into permanent housing, their drug & alcohol problems quickly go away. When you look into all the circumstances and problems that can go into making someone homeless, I think it's clear to most people that the answer to homelessness is more support services, not less.

Making sure all people, regardless of income, have access to medical care (including comprehensive mental health care), affordable housing, quality employment, adequate nutrition, and temporary safe-spaces to stay are all ways we can compassionately tackle the problem of homelessness in America. "Kicking them in the butt" and removing what little services exist for homeless people, as my Facebook friend suggested, just won't work. For more information about the causes of, and possible solutions to, the problem of homelessness in America, check out the websites I've selected in the resources section of this article.