Different Ideas Of How The Government Can Help The Homeless

The idea of poverty is perplexing and has numerous signs beyond various controls. The pervasiveness of poverty is developing and the effects of how poverty can impact individuals and families. Poverty and mental illness go hand in hand. The effect of poverty on mental health has been appeared to influence those of all ages, varying from children, to teens, and to adults. Numerous individuals are uninformed of the far reaching of poverty and its consequences for mental health in the United States and countries all around the world; hence it is essential to evaluate the idea of poverty and mental illness. There are either very limited resources accessible to help those who are affected by poverty and mental illnesses or no resources accessible at all. In the United States, mental health is not perceived as a significant issue to political and societal elites. 40 million Americans are suffering with a mental health illness (Mental Health America) and most of these people suffer in silence. The stigma that comes with mental health unfortunately leads to a lot of people who suffer in the dark. The government should be providing more resources to institutions and facilities; including local communities to the homeless, to students in school, and to veterans who come return from deployment who struggle with a mental illness.

Mental health needs are growing within the United States, and government funding available for those with mental health needs has been declining in proportion to growing demand for some time. As early as the eighteenth century, there has been a documented disparity in the availability of mental healthcare between high and low-income individuals. At that time, the number of mental institutions was on the rise, and geographic availability made mental health a treatment option that should have been available to a multitude of people. However, it turned out that these institutions favored those who could personally pay for their services over those who required government assistance. Journalist and author, Jain Sreenivasan, highlighted this idea by saying that “Although these institutions were supposed to serve the poor as well as the wealthy, in fact, they preferred to accept people who could pay.”(Sreenvivasan, 2009). In other words, those who would rely on government funding to get much needed mental health care are perpetually vulnerable due to systematic norms. How were people supposed to receive treatment if institutions had preferred self-pay patients over patients who needed government assistance? Without treatment, people would fall through the cracks; leading to the possibility of losing their job that can be the leading cause to their homelessness. In an article in the ‘Mental Illness and Poverty’, edited by Jyotsna Sreenivasan, it was stated that funding by the government for care in local communities were reduced, resulting an increase of homelessness among the mentally ill, but like the article ‘Through the Cracks,’ Marilyn Serafini, I agree that the condition of public mental health is appalling. Throughout the years, access to care has become almost impossible.

Although some schools provide an on-site counselor accessible to the students; it is not enough. Mental health in the education system is a crisis that no one seems to be paying enough attention to. According to Journalist, Meg Anderson and Kavitha Cardoza, “Up to one in five kids living in the U.S. shows signs or symptoms of a mental health disorder in a given year.

So in a school classroom of 25 students, five of them may be struggling with the same issues many adults deal with: depression, anxiety, substance abuse. And yet most children — nearly 80 percent — who need mental health services won't get them.” (Anderson and Cardoza, 2018, para. 1-3). 80% of children with a mental health illness who are not receiving treatment is outrageous. Children who are suffering and are not receiving the treatment needed are known to “[face problems such as]: chronic absence, low achievement, disruptive behavior and dropping out.” (Anderson and Cardoza, 2018, para. 4). When a child is having an issue in school, it will affect the way they treat others and their ability to succeed now and in the future. If teachers do not notice that there is something wrong with the student, then who will? During the week, children spend more time at school than they do with their families at home. Parents and siblings at home may miss an issue that the student may be having due to lack of realizing it is an issue, lack of realizing what to even look for, and lack of realizing how serious the issue may or may not be. If families and the educators do not pick up on an issue the student is having, then who will? Public education needs more counselors and on-site school psychologists to help students sort out these issues. In the article ‘Schools Mental Health Services and Young Children’s Emotions, Behavior, and Learning” Randall Reback emphasizes how we are not doing enough for young children in school who suffer with a mental illness, and by doing so he states, “... more than 30 percent of all public school districts offering elementary schools did not employ any elementary-level counselors”. The government needs to provide schools with more funding so that the schools can use these funds to hire on-site psychologists or counselors. With more mental health professionals on-site, this can help aide the students early on with the issues they may be facing. By doing so, this can and will prevent future school shootings, future poverty, bullying, and suicide in young children and adolescents.

For Veterans, access to mental health care is a challenge, especially in communities that are impoverished. Veteran Affairs does not provide enough access to care causing veterans to have an issue with substance abuse and homelessness.. In fact, according to the VA.gov, “[almost 40,000] veterans were experiencing homelessness in January 2018”. Our Veterans, who go and fight our wars and experience life changing things should not have to come home from their deployment and be homeless. Why can’t the government provide more funding or resources to those who come home with a mental illness? Not only would this decrease our numbers of poverty, but it would also decrease the number of individuals with a substance abuse problem. The Department of Veteran Affairs could be doing much more for our veterans. From my understanding, veterans who return from their deployment have a debrief after service. But once they are released, there is not something else set for them. Before veterans return, the Department of Veteran Affairs should already have psychologists and support groups lined up for the veterans to return home to. By doing this, it is more likely for the veteran to get the help they need since they already have the resources needed. The VA is not providing sufficient help. Editor and Writer, Sharmila Devi, states “The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has been taken to court for failing to provide adequate mental health care for American soldiers returning from active service.” Now, why would they be taking to court if they did provide enough? That’s the problem… they did not. These soldiers are sent away for years at a time experiencing things that most of us would not be able to handle; wouldn’t the VA automatically assume that they would be suffering with PTSD and paranoia? The government needs to do more.

Ultimately, the government must provide more useful assistance to our local communities to the homeless; including facilities and mental institutions, schools, and to veterans returning from a deployment. With more sufficient assistance, those with a mental illness have an actual shot at a better life; a life with less suffering and less likely a chance to fall through the cracks and become homeless. Once the government provides what is needed, institutions and facilities will not only prefer self pay patients, they would be open to accepting any and all new patients. Children in school will be able to get the help needed for their issues since there could be an on-site school psychologists, instead of it being overlooked by teachers and family. The veterans could have the ability to being treated and the number of homeless veterans with a substance abuse could decrease significantly. We need to take a stance and support our mentally ill and those who are impoverished.