Analysis Of The Mckinney-Vento Homeless Act

Social Analysis

The McKinney-Vento Homeless Act of 1987 is a federal law program that provides money for homeless shelter programs as well as special protections for homeless children. It was the first act of its kind to be signed into law on a federal level. Originally, known as the McKinney Act, it was first established in the state of Illinois and later amended to become the McKinney-Vento Act in the year 2000. Under the McKinney-Vento Act, there are a total of fifteen programs and nine titles to protect the homeless. Some of the services that the act provides to the homeless include but are not limited to are emergency shelter, transitional housing, and healthcare.

On a state level, a program that has been enacted to address the

issue of homelessness in children is Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY). This program falls under the umbrella of the McKinney-Vento Act.t It enforces the act and ensures that children have adequate access to free public education, as well as other services, that may be beneficial to a homeless child such as reliable transportation and meals. To get a glimpse of the amount of people that EHCY serves in Virginia, here are some statistics. Across the state of Virginia, there were 879 students who identified as homeless and received help from EHCY. Daily, there are 166 students who receive free meals in emergency shelters in Virginia.(A look at early childhood homelessness, 2013) Basically, as earlier mentioned EHCY is an expansion of McKinney Vento and is also funded by the act.
Our knowledge of what makes up the homeless population and how to better serve them is very vast.

We know the population that we are dealing with and how to serve with them. In most cases, the issue that we notice is the underfunding of the programs that better support this population. Our efforts to deal with the issue are not, in accord with the research findings. I say that because the number of homeless individuals that we have in the state are not consistent with the amount of homeless people that are being served. Typically, people affected by homelessness are the extremely poor and in some cases people who recently experienced major life changes such as divorce, job transitions, and the elderly who can no longer work. However, children are also, in most cases, impacted by homelessness. Usually, this is due to their care being the responsibility of an adult who happens to be

homeless.
To better understand the people impacted by homelessness, here are some of the statistics. In 2016, Virginia had 6,268 persons feel the effects of homelessness according to a HUD report. It should be noted that this number was a ten percent decrease compared to the amount of people who are homeless from the previous year. To understand exactly who is homeless and who is not, the definition of homelessness as defined by the National health care for the homeless council is “A homeless individual is defined in section 330(h)(5)(A) as “an individual who lacks housing (without regard to whether the individual is a member of a family), including an individual whose primary residence during the night is a supervised public or private facility (e.g., shelters) that provides temporary living accommodations, and an individual who is a resident in transitional housing….” [Section 330 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C., 254b)]” (What is the official definition of homelessness, 2018).
Although one would think that the only solution to homelessness would be implementing services and assistance to the population, some states had another approach in mind. In Phoenix, Arizona, the city attempted to rid themselves of homelessness by eliminating support services, shutting down shelters, terminating treatment facilities, and demanding that the city workers coat the trash in kerosene causing it to be inedible (Popple & Leighninger, 2011). This response made it evident that Phoenix’s main concern was the people who are homeless cluttering their streets, rather than the fact that people in their city were without shelter and basic necessities. The action taken in this situation did not benefit the homeless. It did, however, benefit property and business owners within the city (Popple & Leighninger, 2011).
The McKinney-Vento Act could be understood through a social systems perspectives.

A system is defined as an “organized whole made up of components that interact in a way distinct from their interactions with other entities and which endures over some period of time (Schriver, 2018, pg 60, para 4). The people who are homeless are the focal system in this instance and that system is experiencing entropy. Within the programs of the McKinney-Vento Act, there is a linkage transferring energy to the people who are in need. This effort and energy is communicated to the focal system in order to eventually accomplish and maintain homeostasis (Schriver, 2018 pg 60

&61).
Stated goals of the act are to decrease homelessness, as well as provide resources so that homeless children can receive an education in spite of their housing status. Some of the unintended goals of the program are that children are being fed, so it doubles as a nutrition program in a sense. Studies have shown that children who have healthy diets do better academically. So many programs set up to help children who are homeless also focus on the nutritional needs of these children.
Economic Analysis
The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act is the first comprehensive response that addresses the area of homelessness within America (Pavlakis & Duffield, 2017). In 1982, congress held their first meetings in order to discuss both short-term and long-term solutions for homelessness. This program was federally funded following stakeholders request that something be done (Pavlakis & Dufield, 2017). In 2014, the government allocated $2.105 billion to fund the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, allowing for 446,000 homeless people and 284,000 formerly homeless people to find permanent housing (Berg, 2014). The creation of this federal policy allowed for the homeless to remain off the streets and reside in housing that was funded by the federal government.
This policy not only created stable living arrangements for the homeless, but it also created educational opportunities for many homeless kids (Cunningham, Harwood, & Hall, 2010). Educating the nation’s youth has historically been an important focus. Many citizens will make the claim that investing in today’s youth is crucial in order for them to be in a position to lead this country later in their lives. Children who lack proper care and nourishment, whether that is from adequate housing or nutrition, have been found to have an increased risk of mental health and poor physical health (Cunningham, et al., 2010). Tax payers and elected officials have consistently struggled with the idea of paying for someone else’s healthcare. The McKinney-Vento Act was established under No Child Left Behind, a movement that invested in supporting the education of America’s youth (Pavlakis & Duffield, 2017).
Under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, there are five programs that have been focused on ending the cycle of poverty. These programs are the Emergency Shelter Grants Program (ESG), Supportive Housing Demonstration Program (SHDP), Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation for Single-Room Occupancy Dwellings (SROs), Supplemental Assistance to Facilities to Assist the Homeless, and Single Family Property Disposition Initiative (SFPDI) (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 1995). All of these programs were designed in order to allow the homeless to live as independently as possible. This program has created the potential for many homeless individuals to work. While other circumstances may cause an individual to be kept from working, a stable living arrangement has the ability to make a difference in someone’s life.
Political Analysis
When this policy was first introduced, some elected officials were strongly pushing for change in the area of homelessness. Others believed that social welfare should not be an area of concern for the government, but of the citizens themselves (Pavlakis & Duffield, 2017). Those that supported this policy had the support from outside forces. There was a Supreme Court case that provided the right to shelter to all homeless men in New York City, forcing the government to provide funding for temporary housing (Pavlakis & Duffield, 2017). This decision allowed for other cities to push for the similar policies. Other organizations were also beginning to popularize the term “homeless” and develop programs in order to support them. Eventually, the federal government decided that it was time to respond (Pavlakis & Duffield, 2017).
After it was first signed into law, the act had been reauthorized a few times. It was eventually decided that the program needed to be better advertised in order for people to understand the services that were being made available to them (Pavlakis & Duffield, 2017). In 2001, this policy was reauthorized under No Child Left Behind, which established the definition of homelessness. Over the years, it has been noted that the act continues to be restructured in order to continue its service of those in need (Pavlakis & Duffield, 2017). This policy is believed to have three separate avenues of change, rather than incrementalism or rational decision making. These three avenues all merge together focusing and building to bring change to the national issue of homelessness.