Loosening a legal straitjacket
HOMELESSNESS
Homeless youth are individuals under the age of 18 who lack parental, foster or institutional care. These young people are often referred to as “unaccompanied” youth. The causes of homelessness among youth fall into three categories:
Family problems: many teenagers leave their homes because physical and sexual abuse occurs in their families. Other causes are strained relationships, the addiction of one family member, parental neglect… In short: disruptive family conditions.
Economic problems: Some teenagers lose their homes because their families suffer from financial crisis resulting from limited employment opportunities, insufficient wages, no medical insurance… This means that the whole family becomes homeless, but is separated soon by shelters and child welfare policies.
Residential instability: The history of foster care correlates with living on the streets at an earlier age and spending a longer time on them.
Some children are too old for foster care, but discharged with no housing or income support. So they move directly from foster care into shelters.
Two trends are largely responsible for the rise in homeless youth over the past decades: no homes to rent and an increase in poverty.
Education:
Unaccompanied youth face difficulties attending school because of legal guardianship requirements, residency requirements, proper records, school fees and a lack of transportation. When families become homeless they are often forced to move frequently and this makes it difficult for the children to attend school regularly. Furthermore guardianship requirements, an absence of transportation and lack of a permanent address often prevents homeless children from enrolling at school.
Children who miss school very often fall behind quickly. Without an opportunity to receive an education, homeless children are much less likely to acquire the skills they need to escape poverty on the streets as adults.
Employment:The lack of education goes hand in hand with the problem of unemployment. For people who sleep rough, have limited skills, experience and education, opportunities for jobs that pay a living wage are hard to find. So climbing out of homelessness is virtually impossible for those without a job. A decent job and a place to live must be found.
Ending homelessness will require closing the gap between income and housing costs.
Health:Homelessness precludes good nutrition, good personal hygiene and basic first aid-adding to the complex health needs of people who sleep rough. Many teenagers are found exchanging sex for food, clothing and shelter as it is their only way to survive on the streets. In turn, they are at a greater risk to contact AIDS, HIV and other communicable diseases. The problem with unaccompanied children is that they often have not received their proper immunizations. Homeless people are far more likely to suffer from every category of chronic health problems for example asthma and middle ear infections.
Conditions which require regular treatment, such as tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, hypertension, addictive and mental disorders are extremely difficult to care for among those without adequate housing. Many homeless individuals have multiple health problems. Frequent disorders are for instance frostbites, leg ulcers and upper respiratory infections.
Homeless adolescents often suffer from severe anxiety, depression, poor health, nutrition and self-esteem. They are also at a greater risk of trauma resulting from muggings, beatings or rape. It is often the case that homeless individuals with mental disorders use drugs or alcohol to self-medicate.
Social services are providing accessible clinics, mobile and street health outreaches to help those in need. The restoration of physical health is often a first step toward re-entry into stable housing and mainstream society.
Help:There are lots of organisations and projects which help people who live on the streets. For example “The Big Issue” is a very popular newspaper sold by homeless people. They can buy exemplars of this newspaper and sell it. The money they earn belongs to them.
The inspiration for “The Big Issue” came from “Street News”, a newspaper sold by homeless people in New York. John Bird established “The Big Issue” in 1991 with assistance of the Body Shop in London. It was an A3 monthly newspaper with a circulation about 30 000 per month. Today the sales are over 271 000 per month. “The Big Issue” aims to
enable homeless people to earn an income through self-help
provide homeless people with a voice in the media
produce a quality magazine which interests and informs readers
There exists an International Network of Street Papers with 21 members spanning 3 continents. The Partners exchange ideas and hold annual conferences.
The Austrian equivalent to “The Big Issue” is called “Das Megaphon”, but I think we all better know the “Augustin” that can be bought in Vienna.
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