Final 534 Assignment

Should there be a “right” to housing for the homeless?

Assignment 2 SOWK 534 - Policy Analysis

Mildred Williams

January 31, 2012

Should there be a “right” to housing for the homeless?

Upon researching statistics on homelessness in America, the author finds the question posed to be obtuse. Homelessness is a pervasive social issue that must be addressed with workable legal solutions. According to the 2009 annual homeless report submitted to congress; “on a single night in January 2009, there were an estimated 643,067 sheltered and unsheltered homeless people nationwide” (5th Homeless Assessment Report, 2009). Homeless point-in-time estimates for 2010 show the author’s home state of Illinois as having a total 14, 355 people homeless. Of those, 12,208 were sheltered, and 2,187 are reported as unsheltered sheltered (The 2010 Annual Assessment Report to Congress, 2011).

In answer to the question, do the homeless have a “right” to housing? Yes. However, there appears to be a matter of semantics with regard to housing vs. shelter, and defining the homeless. Moreover the consideration becomes a matter of carefully navigating law as opposed to moral judgment. The Universal Bill of Human Rights states…

"Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing, medical care, and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control" (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 25(1), 2011).

Who are the homeless?

A comprehensive report from the National Alliance to End Homelessness (2011) categorizes homeless populations and subpopulations to include; sheltered and unsheltered individuals and families. Statistical data categorizes the homeless as follows; 78 percent of all sheltered homeless persons are adults, 61 percent are...