The Effect of Homelessness on the Youth of America

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There are millions of homeless youth in America. On any given night, you can find these children ducking into abandoned buildings, crammed up against alley dumpsters, curled inside the big yellow slide of a local playground. I imagine they are thankful for sleep, wary of a new day, but thankful nonetheless. Homelessness at such a young age if left alone, leads to increased rates of conflict. The more homeless youths now, the more our country as a whole will have to deal with divorce, mental illness, and the need for government assistance.
We can prevent this in many different ways. We can give donations. We as basic consumers, can make more thought out economical decisions. We can push for legislation demanding a stricter screening of foster homes and orphanages, for better observation of youths leaving facilities like detention and rehabilitation centers. These are potential solutions, but the most effective is the simplest of all. The best way to solve the rising youth homelessness in America, is to better educate ourselves.
With the worsening state of the economy there has been a steady rise in the rates of homelessness for all ages. The causes amongst youth homelessness include financial instability, abusive guardians, conflict between the youth and their guardians in dealings with sexual activity or pregnancy. This leads to a greater need for government assistance, welfare, charity. It includes those same youths growing up to experience higher rates of divorce and mental illness. They will have a greater chance of ending up in prison, in poverty, or even plagued by addiction.
Then we are posed with the task of solving those conflicts. It may be years later, but the problem of homelessness does not just go away, it shift...

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...liance to End Homelessness." Encyclopedia of Homelessness. Ed. David Levinson. Vol. 1. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Reference, 2004. 405-406. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.
"Dealing with the Problem of Homelessness." Social Welfare: Fighting Poverty and Homelessness. Melissa J. Doak. 2009 ed. Detroit: Gale, 2009. 111-119. Information Plus Reference Series. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.
"Homeless and Runaway Youth." Homeless and Runaway Youth. National Conference of State Legislatures, 2014. Web. 17 Mar. 2014.
Hunter, Deborah J. "Violence and the Homeless Population: Perpetrators or Victims?" Violence and Abuse in Society: Understanding a Global Crisis. Ed. Angela Browne-Miller. Vol. 2: Setting, Age, Gender, and Other Key Contexts. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2012. 103- 108. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.

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