Poverty of the States
Poverty
1 a : the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions
—Merriam Webster’s Dictionary
636,067
The number of homeless U.S. civilians reported in 2011 listed by the National Alliance to End Homelessness, a U.S. based organization. Night after night, civilians lay in homemade bungalows, sheltering away from the cold. The welfare of the United States relies on taxpayer contributions for aid services, aiding families with low income housing and financial status.
Homelessness
Dr. Cornell West/Occupy Wall Street (NY,USA) world2011.us
The seemingly instinctual need and building of homes from natural materials was seen as a past time of family building and responsibility, a past time taught to children as a survival tool, and protection against the uninhabitable wilderness. It was the modernized efforts of architecture and design that more efficiently shaped the home against harsher weather environments. The new home design required most new occupants to provide a stream of revenue to occupy such a space, either through rent or mortgage payments, thus placing many of those without such streams of income homeless.
Today’s modernized world places the home as a much needed necessity. Topics of personal gambling, narcotics usage, alcoholism, divorce proceedings and financial negligence serve as examples of how homelessness could begin. The constant rise and fall of economic stability, job loss, personal family issues, children and adults with disabilities, medical healthcare and the catastrophic “U.S. Housing Market Crash”, have become the forefront of concerns for civilians. The U.S. government issued its Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009), a 1.5 Billion dollar program to prevent the recession related homelessness. Introduced by the federal government, the HPRP found cost effective ways of housing 700,000 citizens at risk of losing their home or homeless. Although highly effective, the concerned remained of the additional homeless people prior to the government programs adoption.
Poverty Scale www.census.org
The government’s relief efforts remain invisible by many civilians suffering from homelessness. Homeless shelters remained overcrowded and understaffed, with long lines built on a first come, first served basis filled with limited food and resources. Makeshift bungalows wither away by weather conditions and the homeless communities become targets of violence.
Welfare
36th U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson www.wikipedia.org
The U.S. government established programs to aid low-income families, young mothers, children, elderly persons and people with disabilities. During the start of welfare services, the 1960’s ushered in the U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson’s strategic plan, The Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, promoting healthcare, educational and welfare programs. This program regulated by the federal government, monitored the needs of civilian families, and provided the Head Start program for low-income children and the Job Corps program, a free education in vocational training for persons aged 16-24. Johnson’s program gave educational tools for a workforce which slowly drifted from aid to steady income. In 1965, Medicare was established, created from the U.S. Social Security Act, providing healthcare insurance to young people with disabilities and the elderly 65 and older, regardless of income or medical history.
42nd U.S. President William "Bill" Clinton www.wikipedia.org
U.S. President William “Bill” Clinton’s Administration of 1996 developed a similar approach for welfare. The U.S. Congress passed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, a system that gave the responsibility of welfare services back to its civilian states. The new program authorized a revision of the Food-Stamp program (officially renamed S.N.A.P. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in 2008), a federal aid system that distributes funds on a unique debit card for recipients to use for essential goods. President Obama’s 2012 budget proposes $866 million for Head Start and $1.3 billion for child care, a battle against children in poverty.
The topic of welfare appears frequently in the Republican Presidential debates, and despite being seen with successful efforts, the welfare system still remains under constant scrutiny for its long running assistance with financial aid, with whole families depending on the program as a primary income instead of utilizing the aid temporarily.
As time passed the economy grew weaker, making a halting stop during the U.S. recession in 2007. The job market was damaged, the housing market plummeted and the revenue declined. An increase in welfare fraud emerges, placing those who need the aid, incapable of receiving assistance. The taxpayer becomes angered and the war against welfare support begins.
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