Sociological Focus: Personal Reflections
Although quite a few initiatives have been taken by the US governmental agencies such as the US Department of Housing and Urban Development [2], the US Department of Health and Human Services [2], the US Department of Veteran Affairs [3], and several non-governmental agencies, homelessness still remains a menace which is largely unattended and untreated. According to the National Coalition for Homeless (NCH) [4], “…in a recent approximation USA Today estimated 1.6 million people unduplicated persons used transitional housing or emergency shelters. Of these people, approximately 1/3 are members of households with children, a nine percent increase since 2007. Another approximation is from a study done by the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty which states that approximately 3.5 million people, 1.35 million of them children, are likely to experience homelessness in a given year [5].” The National Coalition for the Homeless states that, “under the age of 18 accounted for 39% of the homeless population; 42% of these children were under the age of five” (“Who Is Homeless”). [6] As many as 3.5 million people experience homelessness in a given year (1% of the entire U.S. population or 10% of its poor), and about 842,000 people in any given week. Most were homeless temporarily. The chronically homeless population (those with repeated episodes or who have been homeless for long periods) fell from 175,914 in 2005 to 123,833 in 2007.
社会学焦点：个人思考
虽然由美国政府机构，如美国住房和城市发展部已经采取了不少措施，美国卫生和人类服务部[2]，[3]美国退伍军人事务部，一些非政府机构，无家可归仍然是一个威胁，这在很大程度上是无人值守和治疗。根据全国无家可归者联盟（NCH）[4]，“在最近的一次近似美国估计有160万人不重复人员过渡性住房或紧急庇护所。在这些人中，大约有1/3是儿童，自2007年以来增加了9％的家庭的成员。另一种近似是从所做的一项研究由全国无家可归和贫困法律中心指出，约3.5亿人，135万是儿童，可能会遇到无家可归在某一年[5]。“全国无家可归者联盟指出，“未满18岁的无家可归的人口中占39％，42％的孩子在5岁”（“谁是无家可归者”）。 [6]多达350万人无家可归者在某一年经验（整个美国人口的1％，其差的10％），约842000人在任何给定的一周。大多数都是暂时无家可归。长期无家可归的人口中那些反复发作或已经长期无家可归者在2007年下降到2005年的175914在123833。
