Chronic Homelessness: Problems with Affordable Housing
Abstract
When people stay in the cycle of chronic homelessness their health and livelihood deteriorate. Therefore, the question of why people stay homeless is an important subject to look at. In Texas alone, over 25,000 individuals are experiencing homelessness on any given day. The purpose of this research is to study the constants that keep an individual in chronic homelessness. The research will be looking at variables of barriers to housing such as affordable housing, income, and mental health. This research will be conducted in the metropolitan city of San Antonio, Texas. Participants of single adults over the age of 18 experiencing chronic homelessness will be selected for the research. Chronic homelessness being defined as an individual who has experienced homelessness over a continuous year or repeatedly within the past three years. All participants will be asked in-depth interviews of open-ended questions to allow for the elaboration of personal experiences. This study is important to study to understand what services are needed or should be expanded on for the chronically homeless to be housed.
Introduction
What keeps individuals in chronic homelessness in urbanized populations? According to United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, there are currently 3,511 total people experiencing chronic homelessness in 2019 in Texas alone. In order to provide better services to the chronically homeless, it is important to understand why person(s) are staying in the cycle of homelessness. Two questions should be asked to better understand the problems of chronic homelessness. The first question being what keeps an individual chronically homeless, and the second, what variables are hindering them to get out of homelessness?
For this study, I have identified affordable housing as my focal independent variable and chronic homelessness as my dependent variable. There will be two criteria for participants to meet. First criteria participants will be chosen based on the Housing and Urban Development's definition of chronic homelessness as “ a person who has been homeless for 1 year consistently or on at least four separate occasions in the last 3 years.” The second criterion all participants must be single adults over the age of 18. To identify the independent variable of housing this research will be looking at the barriers to attaining housing (1) limited affordable housing ( 2) income/employment (3) health care of said person(s).
Since participants will be asked open-ended questions and asked to elaborate on personal experiences in their own language Constructive Grounded Theory (CGT) will be applied to the research. This theory allows the methodology method of in-depth interviewing to be flexible and open. This study is to better understand what types of services are needed or should be expanded on for the chronically homeless to be housed.
Literature Review
Housing the homeless is a difficult task. A system needs to be set in place to create structure in housing such persons and a scale that creates a scorecard that allows for the person(s) with major issues to be on top of the list. Metropolitan cities have higher amounts of homeless population than rural areas simply because of the larger numbers in population in larger cities. The Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) allows for data of many homeless individuals who are receiving services. Unfortunately, it does not provide enough information as to why individuals continue to stay in the repeated cycle of homelessness.
The homeless are underserved and overseen in many cities around the country including San Antonio, Texas. The homeless deal with multiple stressors while living on the streets, in shelters, or in their cars. In the past year alone more tent cities have popped up in metropolitan cities across Texas. Most who are homeless did not become homeless by choice. There are different forms of homelessness such as transitional, temporary, and chronic in which a person cycles in and out of homelessness. This paper will be focusing on the chronically homeless and the barriers faced to being housed. Barriers that will be explored are as followed (1) limited affordable housing (2) income/employment and (3) health care of the said person(s). This will allow for a better understanding on why individuals stay in the cycle of homelessness and what can be done to attain better services for the chronically homeless.
Affordable Housing
Affordable housing is a major issue in urban cities with so much growth over the decades. With growth comes “density increases, and with those increases come higher housing prices and rents as urban land is in limited supply.” Currently, we see a rise in the housing market, and such as the housing market climbs so does affordable housing. Individuals living in highly populated cities have a hard time keeping up with the economic growth as the cost of living becomes more and more expensive. Between 2008-2010 we saw many lose their homes and homelessness became a topic of discussion once again “ although popular attention to homelessness has waned since the early 1990s, the current economic downturn and housing crises are once bringing the issue to the fore.” While currently there is a rise in economic growth it is growing at such a rapid pace that we may see another crisis in our near future. Today many households have dual-earners, and they still have a hard time getting by. The rapid growth is making it harder for individuals with no income using vouchers or limited incomes to find housing. The homeless will have twice as hard of a time finding affordable housing.
Income and Employment
Today you see many individuals who once had a career and a full life before becoming homeless. The homeless population finds it hard to maintain income or employment. They are continuously fighting for their life on the street. Homelessness is a barrier for employment “limited access to showers and washing machines makes it difficult to meet personal hygiene requirements and dress codes.” When a person does not have any income to take care of themselves, they resort to what they deem to be a necessary action to take care of themselves. Even when a homeless person gets Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) or Social Security Income (SSI) they do not make enough to take care of their needs. In 2019, 86% “ of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients received payments because of disability or blindness, and the cost-of-living adjustment for 2020 was only 1.60%. Many who receive SSDI or SSI are not making enough to take care of their needs nor is the cost of living adjustment provide the ability to properly take care of necessities. This is also why many who were not homeless before became homeless over time and have stayed homeless.
Health Care
Health care is a major component to taking care of oneself. In America in recent years affordable care act had been written into law, this helped many with existing health problems to still attain health insurance. Health consists of a person’s emotional, mental, and physical well-being. When a person is homeless, they are unable to receive the care they may need to perform properly. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found “for people with such serious health needs, coverage interruptions can lead to increased use of emergency departments, admission to hospitals and mental health facilities, and higher health care costs, research shows.” Medicaid is a large component to many for their health needs as well and “ losing Medicaid coverage threatens crucial supports that can help avoid poor outcomes for people experiencing homelessness.” Many times, when the homeless are sick or in pain they will find ways to feel better which results in many homeless being alcoholic and drug addicts. The cycle then never ends because of the consistent battle of trying to get out of homelessness while also trying to become sober.
As you can see throughout the literature there are many barriers that affect the homeless to attain stability and self-sufficiency in their life. Therefore, it is important to study single adult participants who are chronically homeless to understand their experiences in why they have stayed homeless to better serve their population. By completing research on this homeless population an in-depth study can take place on what barriers they deal with daily and what effects keeps them in the cycle of homelessness and being unable to get in affordable housing.
Methods and Data
To answer the question “ What keeps individuals in chronic homelessness in urbanized populations”? This study will use the Constructive Grounded Theory (CGT) methodology, using open-ended questions through in-depth interviewing. CGT will allow for a smaller pool of dependent variable and operationalizes my independent variable. Open-ended questions will allow for participants to use their own language and experiences in barriers keeping them from being housed. To find subjects, I will be going out with an outreach team with the city that works with the homeless. I will be controlling for limited affordable housing, income/employment, and health care. There will be similarities and differences in data collection of participants' experiences. The population being studied will be single adults over the age of 18 experiencing chronic homelessness. Sampling will take place in one metropolitan city, San Antonio, Texas. The subjects will be asked about their demographics before participating in the research study to maintain clarity of meeting the criteria to participate. Results are expected to be representative of the single homeless population and will be generalizable.
This study is to find out what variables are contributing to a person(s) staying in the cycle of homelessness. The subjects to be identified within the proposal are limited affordable housing, income/employment, and health care and how all these barriers contribute to an individual of staying in the cycle of being chronically homeless. The dependent variable of chronic homelessness and independent variable of affordable housing will be controlled by participants being single and over the age of 18. Chronic homelessness will be operationalized by the definition of chronic homelessness as defined by HUD. Housing will be operationalized as individuals who do not have a dwelling to return to at night.
Sample questions that will be used in the research are “What do you believe is the number one reason for keeping you in the cycle of homelessness?“ Does the lack of affordable housing make it hard to get housing? Why or why not? What do you see as your biggest challenge to getting housed?” How has being homeless affected you in obtaining employment? What health care ( mental, emotional, or physical) resources are available to you for free or at an affordable cost to you? What other types of resources are available to you for free or at an affordable price? What resources are not available to you for free or at an affordable price? If you receive SSDI or SSI is it enough for you to live on? Why or why not? All these questions are needed to get an accurate understating of why individuals are staying in the cycle of chronic homelessness within in urbanized cities.
To limit bias throughout the research study a few steps will be taken to ensure biases are limited at the best possibility. First, as the researcher I will identify my own personal biases and speak to individuals in my field to help me understand them, by asking myself, why do I have them, what do they mean to me, where they come from and how do I overlook them to see the data collected openly without criticizing it. Secondly, to keep the interview questions gender-neutral questions have been selected that can be answered by any gender identity experiencing homelessness. This allows all individuals who have been selected to participate experiencing chronic homelessness to participate in the study and does not limit it to just males or females.
Expected Results
I expect the results will be of the sample group being interviewed identifying limited affordable housing, employment/ income, and health care as to why they continue to stay in the cycle of chronic homelessness. I believe that they will identify limited affordable housing as one of the biggest challenges in getting out of chronic homelessness. There has been a limited of stock in affordable housing for decades. 100,000 units of public housing nationwide were called for demolition by Hope VI, 1992 federal program. Not only did that limit housing but “Then, the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998 lowered the percentage of public housing units reserved for the poorest families and ended rules that required public housing authorities to build one unit of housing for everyone they demolished.” Gentrification is happening within San Antonio, Texas currently. The housing market is rising at an alarming rate. Because of this many are coming from out of state and buying up stock in lower-end neighborhoods and starting to push out the homeless. The more this happens the chronically homeless will have no were to go. This is another reason for so many tent cities within San Antonio, Texas alone. Hence why affordable housing should become a priority for the city.
Through the interviewing income and employment will be discussed and I believe will be a major obstacle for many chronically homeless individuals. As stated in The Yale Law Journal “ The Chronic Homelessness Employment Technical Assistance Center has reported that provider staff members are frequently challenged by pervasive negative stereotypes when approaching employers about hiring qualified homeless job seekers.” ( Golabek-Goldman) This shows that many prejudices are set against the chronically homeless which makes it even harder for them to get employment. Not only is there prejudice but when an individual is homeless it is hard for them to maintain proper hygiene. I believe that these will be identified as subsections of income and employment.
Lastly with health care including mental, emotional, and physical will spark conversation between the participants. They will present how limited resources to health care is another obstacle in getting out of homelessness and into housing. Being homeless comes with the challenge of what is necessary “ competing demands for shelter, food, and safety supersede the need to obtain primary medical care for many homeless individuals.” When individuals have to figure out where their next meal is coming from, they usually are not concerned with medical care especially if they can not afford it. While many will use the emergency room for health care, they are still unable to get the proper medication they may need because of cost. Once a person is sick and unable to take care of themselves it's even harder to try to get the strength to investigate housing options for themselves.
Many resources are in need in order for a person to be removed from homelessness. The first thing needing to be completed is shelter “ According to HUD, the primary means of deceasing chronic homelessness is through homeless projects that provide both housing and supportive services to chronically homeless people on a long-term basis.” Once the shelter is set in place resources for food, health, and employment are easier to access for people and they can become more self-sufficient. Without this start, they may continue the repeated cycle of chronic homelessness. Services are extremely important to this population but services that also help with their forms of barriers they face daily.
Discussion and Conclusion
The research study does lack overall data of the chronic homeless population as families are being left out of the study. With the study only being single adults 18 and over it limits the ability to show enough data to present for funding or grants to assist with the chronically homeless. Also, with the participants being limited to just chronically homeless it leaves out individuals that have recently become homeless. Another lack in the study is the type of participants selected, homeless individuals inside shelters or transitional housing were not selected as part of the study.
At the same time, the research study shows strength in how the chronically homeless need services to being housed. Also, that they need stronger support from those services to help guide them. Once a person is housed, they can focus on other necessities such as employment and health care needs. This study while being an in-depth interview process allows for the researcher to have a better understating of the chronically homeless population's needs instead of just giving them a multiple choice to answer from. When researchers can study an in-depth thought process of a population more work can be done for them because they are telling people exactly what they need.
In conclusion, it is important in understanding the never-ending cycle of chronic homelessness. All three variables of housing tie back into how single adults continue in the repeated cycle of chronic homelessness. Support within the system to help the chronically homeless is desperately needed for these individuals. The hope is that this research study will provide enough data to present to the city that more funding is needed to provide better services to the chronically homeless in helping them go from homeless to housed.
References
- Anon. n.d. “Fast Facts
