Homeless policy in Atlanta

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 DATE \@ "d MMMM yyyy" 5 March 2013
Homelessness Policy Issue in Atlanta
Abstract
There has been a growing need for transitional housing in the metro of Atlanta and across the country and the situation is becoming more aggravated as time goes by. According to the homelessness data from census estimates (Monroe 70), there are more than 10,000 homeless individuals at any given night in the city with as much as 40% of these being children and women. A three-county survey on the homelessness situation in Atlanta has comprehensively revealed that there is a shortage of about 1,700 beds for all homeless people who are single and children alike and it is reported that there is an estimated 700,000 to 800,000 people who are homeless in one night in the United States with about 2.5 million to 3.5 million people experiencing homelessness at least once in a year. Today’s homelessness primarily affects families, women and children and according to the (NCFH) National Centre on Family Homelessness one in every 50 American children is without a home. Georgia, the home state of Atlanta, has about 58,000 homeless children. Children who experience homelessness are twice or more prone to moderate or server health conditions as compared to those from the middle class families. They are also more prone to emotional problems as compared to their much luckier counterparts.
It is has been found that homelessness affects education of a child in some extent and their proficiency has been found to be about 16% lower in reading and math, with an estimated rate of graduation being below 25% according to the NCFH.
The Statistics
As already established, there are growing numbers of homeless citizens in Atlanta, Georgia, with a majority of them being children under the age of nine. Atlanta, the poorest U.S. city for children has the highest number of children living in poverty than any other United States city (Soule 185) with about 48% of children in the city coming from families with an income of less than 15000USD per year. Children under the age of 6 in families with a female head and no spouse presently have a poverty rate that is at an overwhelming 58.6%. The poverty rate of those aged between 16 and 17 in single female headed family is also at a high of 44.9%. For a woman with two children, the TANF (welfare) benefits stand at USD282 per month and this amount is not enough to find a rental apartment while at the same time catering for the children’s needs and worse still fewer of these women with children on welfare are getting some sort of housing fund subsidy. In the U.S., about 98 million children are not on health insurance, among these; only about 8 million live in working families. At this juncture it is important to note that about 40 to 60% of those without homes have a job. This statistic is of particular concern because the minimum wage in the state of Georgia is 5.85USD ("Congressional Record, V. 152, Pt. 7, May 18, 2006 to May 26 2006 , Part 7" 8947) per hour and this can only yield about 12,168USD annually before taxes. This means that one has to pay about 270USD per month for rent. The average two-bedroom apartment in the city of Atlanta is about 834USD per month which is approximately 30% of an annual income of...