1. Identification of the Problem

A homeless individual is one without a permanent place of residence or a home.

Homeless issues

Among the issues attributed to the homeless problem is that it prevents customers from accessing businesses in areas where the homeless are situated according to the owners, there are arguments that the homeless increase the risk of spreading communicable diseases and there is also the fear of confrontation with the homeless since most people assume that they have some form of mental disorders given the lifestyle that they have embraced. The debate regarding the homeless issues becomes extensive because there are people with the feeling that they have the right to exercise their liberty of leading the life of their choice.

Why the problem Exists

The homeless problem is triggered by aspects such as poverty. It becomes difficult for low-income earners to afford housing given the prevailing market prices. The higher the housing prices get, the higher the risk of more people becoming homeless. This is because the increase in these prices is not consistent with the increase in people’s earnings.

Another problem is that there is insufficient availability of mental health facilities to rehabilitate drug addicts as they are more prone to becoming homeless at some point in their lives. A survey conducted by the Los Angeles County on the homeless showed that 28% of the respondents identified themselves as struggling with mental health issues.

Focus on Funding

With regards to the homeless problem, funding comes in with respect to the establishment of favorable homeless shelters. These are shelters where the homeless will have access to basic needs as well as mental health rehabilitation. Involvement of local budget managers at this point would be important since they will help in assessing areas that need spending to enhance improvement of the homeless shelters or even build more shelters.

Focus on Collaboration

Collaboration with legislators and policymakers is important on this issue due to their capacity when it comes to establishment of laws. To some extent the law enforcement should be accorded the authority to remove homeless encampments in unsuitable areas.

1. Identification of Political Issues and Relevant Stakeholders

Political Issues

Relevant political issues revolve around the issues that the homeless present to other citizens such as health concerns and violence.  There are many citizens that view the homeless as disrupting their lives. Despite this, the homeless are also members of the society and have the right to enjoy the relevant liberties presented by the Constitution. As a result, politics play a huge role in deciding on the way forward on such issues.

Another political issue revolves around the health care law. Single payers are not allowed to acquire health insurance policy hence resulting in detrimental health issues for the homeless as they cannot access health care services. The Affordable Care Act presents a way of solving this issue by making it possible for the homeless to purchase individual health insurance plan.

Stakeholders

The homeless problem presents several stakeholders. Among them there is:

Citizens: They are affected by issues such as the risk of communicable diseases and violence that are prevalent with the homeless.

The homeless: Any policy that is devised to prevent them from being in the streets will likely affect their way of life.

Law enforcement: They are relevant stakeholders since they will be responsible for enforcing the implementation of any policies devised to deal with the homeless problem.

Local and federal government agencies: These agencies will be required to work in partnership to help come up with viable solutions to the homeless problem due to the effect that it has on the community.

Existing homeless shelters: This includes those ran by both the state and NGOs as they have to work in partnership with other entities while trying to find viable long-term solutions.

Local business: They are relevant stakeholders since they have complained in the past that the presence of the homeless around their premises affects the businesses negatively.

1. The study of the Problem and Data Collection

While studying the homeless problem, it will be of importance to assess the causes of the problem. These causes include:

Business Revenue

There is the need of studying the amount of revenue that businesses lose as a result of the homeless camping around the business premises.

Number of homeless people

Collecting data on the number of homeless individuals is important. While collecting such data, it would be important to ascertain the number of the homeless people affected by drug abuse, those with mental health issues, and areas where the homeless are concentrated among other things.

Community

The study here involves the assessment of the number of people that have been affected by the homeless with regards to issues like violence.

Types of diseases

A study on the different types of diseases that affect the homeless would be helpful too. Some of the communicable diseases prevalent with the homeless include gastroenteritis, strep throat, STDs and influenza.

Just like any other studies, the collection of data would be important to understand the issues at hand fully. Meta-survey would be particularly helpful in this case as the citizens are accorded the opportunity to voice their opinions regarding the facilitation of this process. Local public universities would be well suited in conducting such research.

The information derived from the research can then be shared with other relevant stakeholders to determine the way forward. On the area like health and mental issues, it will be essential to work with case managers, emergency service providers, clinicians, medical providers and attorneys.

1. Alternative approaches to the homeless problem and the costs and benefits involved
2. Ensuring that the homeless have access to social and health services would be a favorable alternative. Among the benefits involved is ease of access to health care by the general public, a decrease in the number of homeless individuals and increased stability in the life of the homeless.
3. If the encampment does not bring negative effects such as decreasing the property value, it should be retained. If the homeless are not soliciting in front of businesses, City X can retain the encampment. However, they must be allowed to panhandle in other designated areas for their survival. The advantage of this is that the homeless continue with their way of life without hindering others.
4. Recommendation

There is the need to continue with data collection and ensure that the data is studied sufficiently. The analysis of this data will help in assessing the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed alternatives. It will be important to keep on informing and advising the city council with regards to the progress being made both in the short-run and long-run strategies.

When it comes to the public health issue, there is the need of ensuring that the homeless have access to programs that would help them combat any prevalent drug addiction problems. The efficiency of these programs will depend on how the homeless will embrace them. Given that the homeless will accept the problem and get involved with the programs, there should be an initiative to ensure that the programs offer educational resources that would help them to lead better lives.

 
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