Term Paper on "Homeless Problem in New York"

Term Paper 4 pages (1281 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Homeless Problem in New York

New York City is a city with a long history of large growth populations, resulting in a staggering number of homeless.

New York City grew from a population of roughly 33,000 in 1790 to a metropolis of 400,000 by 1845 as desperately poor immigrants packed into a city that extended at the time no farther north than 14th Street. By the closing years of the 19th Century, New York had become one of the world's largest cities with a population of 1.5 million and with this distinction came the growing problem of the homeless. Police precincts often became the last resort for indigents who slept in "dingy precinct cellars without toilets, bathing facilities or bedding. In 1885, more than 134,000 homeless people were the "guests of the police in these 'precinct hostelries.'"

According to the United States Census Bureau, the population of New York City as of April 1, 2000 was 8,008,278, the largest enumerated census population in the city's history and up 9.4% from the 1990 count. This year, 2004, New York City set another record when the number of homeless New Yorkers residing in shelters reached the highest point in the city's history. According to the Coalition for the Homeless, in the month of August 2004, some 36,400 homeless men, women, and children were sleeping each night in the New York City shelter system, including 15,300 children, 12,700 adult family members, and 8,400 single adults, with many thousands more sleeping on city streets, park benches, and subway trains. New York City's homeless shelter population has increased by 73% since 1998, from 21,000 to the current 36,400. The past six years has seen the number of homeless families sleeping in New York City shelters and welfare hotels increase by 99%, from 4,429 families in January 1998 to 8,726 families in August 2004.(3) Moreover, the average stay for homeless families in the municipal shelter system has almost doubled over the past decade, from six months in 1992, to nearly twelve months today.(3) the number of homeless single adults sleeping in the New York City shelter system has increased by 43% during the last ten years, from approximately 6,100 people per night in 1994 to 8,700 people per night in 2004, the highest point since 1990.

The Coalition for the Homeless reports that from 1987 to 1995, 333,482 different homeless men, women and children utilized New York City's municipal shelter system, a figure representing roughly one of every twenty New York City residents. During the five-year period from 1987 to 1992, nearly one of every ten black children and one of every twenty Latino children in New York City resided in the homeless shelter system.

It is estimated that 90% of homeless New Yorkers are black or Latino even though only 53% of New York City's total population is black or Latino. Moreover, the Coalition reports that over 60% of homeless families previously lived in four of New York City's poorest neighborhoods, the South Bronx, Harlem, Bedford-Stuyvesant, and East New York and over half of homeless mothers in New York City have a history of domestic violence. Furthermore, according to surveys, nearly 75% of homeless individuals sleeping on the streets suffer from chronic mental illness and it is estimated that roughly 40-50% of homeless single adults residing in the municipal shelter system have a chronic mental illness.

According to a survey by the Citizen's Advice Bureau, the street homeless of New York City are as diverse as the city itself, white, black, Hispanic, male, female, young, old, illiterate, highly educated, some native New Yorkers, and some from around the globe, however, the data suggests that a disproportionate number are African-American and Hispanic, and male, as are Veterans, drug users, alcoholic, the mentally ill, and those who never graduated high school.

Seventy-seven percent of those… READ MORE

How to Reference "Homeless Problem in New York" Term Paper in a Bibliography

Related Term Papers:

Heroin Use and Heroin Scene in NYC Essay

heroin NYC

New York City and Heroin: A Cultural Addiction

For a time in New York City, heroin was a cultural lightning rod. Amongst the great musicians, artists and scene-makers… read more

Essay 9 pages (2569 words) Sources: 3 Topic: Drugs / Alcohol / Tobacco

---

NYC Program to Help the Homeless Chronically Mentally Ill Hungry or Impoverished Research Paper

Hunger NYC

Hunger is a major problem throughout the United States. The problem of hunger is considerably troubling in cities with large populations such as New York. The purpose of… read more

Research Paper 4 pages (1157 words) Sources: 4 Topic: Agriculture / Food / Culinary

---

Metropolitan Government and Politics Term Paper

Legalizing Prostitution in New York City

Historically, one of the criminal problems that has proven most pervasive and difficult to eradicate in New York City is prostitution. Prostitution has a… read more

Term Paper 8 pages (2669 words) Sources: 7 Topic: Sexuality / Gender

---

People Vulnerable to Homelessness, and Identify Term Paper

people vulnerable to homelessness, and identify recent policy to address the homeless population in New York City. Homelessness is one of the largest social problems in America today. Today, the… read more

Term Paper 3 pages (1018 words) Sources: 1 Topic: Sociology / Society

---

Homelessness in the United States Term Paper

Homelessness

IN the UNITED STATES and ITS INFLUENCE on CHILD DEVELOPMENT

People Without Homes

Points to Ponder

CONTRIBUTING CONSIDERATIONS

Snapshots of Homelessness

The Number of Homeless

Facts about homelessness in… read more

Term Paper 35 pages (10814 words) Sources: 12 Topic: Family / Dating / Marriage

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>