Calgary's Social Community Problems: Homelessness, Abuse and More - Essay Sample

Introduction

Social community problems are those undesirable conditions in a community that adversely affect the quality of life in the community and often lead to unsafe communities, antisocial behavior, and crime. They include homelessness or lack of affordable housing, domestic violence, drug and substance use and abuse, poverty, unemployment, and child abuse and neglect. The City of Calgary, Alberta, Canada is no exception to such social community issues. The main social concern that Calgary City currently grapples with is the issue of homelessness.

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A Description of the Problem

A proper understanding of the nature and extent of homelessness is critical in formulating effective strategies for ending it (Ahajumobi, 2017). The Canadian Definition of Homelessness is that it is a condition or situation whereby a community, family, or individual lacks housing that is appropriate, permanent, safe, and stable. The inability to acquire stable and safe housing is also termed as homelessness. However, the prescription of the nature of homelessness varies from one country, community, or society to another.

Despite misconceptions to the contrary, individuals do not normally choose to be homeless but become homeless due to a combination of social, economic, and cultural factors (Homeless Hub, 2019). Some of the causes of homelessness include lack of adequate reentry programs and planning for people leaving mental health and correctional facilities, abrupt job loss, lack of or poor housing policies and legislation, and lack of structural and social support for people in poverty-stricken areas (Homeless Hub, 2019). In Calgary, the main victims of homelessness are women, children, and old men with mental health and drug-related problems (Rumbolt, 2018). This issue is mainly caused by the city's horizontal rather than vertical housing expansion which has not kept up with its growing urban population attracted by the oil wealth (Rumbolt, 2018). The ultimate implication has been an increase in antisocial behavior and crimes on the streets of Calgary.

An Analysis of the Problem

From a stakeholders' perspective, the main people and institutions that will have a role to play in finding a solution to the problem of homelessness in Calgary City are the population (the homeless), the City government leadership (politicians, lawmakers), Community Service Providers (not-for-profit organizations), and Law Enforcement. This problem of homelessness affects these stakeholders and the work they do in different ways. For instance, the issue of homelessness affects the entire population of Calgary City in that it leads to increased incidences of crime and antisocial behavior by the homeless. The homeless are more often than not compelled to engage in crime and other antisocial behaviors such as theft to sustain themselves, hence directly affecting city residents adversely in terms of quality of life. The homeless are also stakeholders because they bear the brunt of the problem and are easy targets of police arrests and incarceration.

The city municipal government leaders are also affected by this problem in that it forces them to come up with the short term and long term measures and strategies, laws, and policies for ending homelessness. Their effectiveness as political leaders is judged by the electorate mainly based on how well they can tackle the problem of homelessness. Community Service providers such as non-profit organizations like the Calgary Homeless Foundation (CHF) are also stakeholders because the problem of homelessness affects their day-to-day activities in the community due to the financial implications involved in providing stable, safe housing to the homeless. Finally, the law enforcement agencies are affected by homelessness in that it creates related issues of crime, drug abuse, mental disorders, and delinquency which the police have to contend with on a day-to-day basis.

A Suggested Prevention Strategy

The main strategies that need to be used to reduce or end the social problem of homeliness to have a safer and healthier community in Calgary City, Alberta, Canada may be classified as preventive, enforcement, and intervention measures. To begin with, a preventive strategy with short, medium, and long-term goals that would help decrease or end homelessness in Calgary, Alberta is the Housing First approach which is now widely being implemented across Canada. Under this strategy, the homeless who live on the streets are provided with permanent houses and homes before availing optional social supports to them. With this strategy, an individual who is homeless need not meet any preconditions before they can qualify for housing (Steffler, 2016). Such a strategy hence has short, medium, and long term impacts in that it addresses all the possible obstacles to access to stable, healthy housing, such as discrimination.

The preventive strategy also encompasses other measures such as the provision of permanent independent housing, housing mediation, monetary assistance, institutional discharge planning, transitional shelters, and policy initiatives (Pauly, Carlson, & Perkin, 2012). It is a recovery-oriented approach. Prevention strategy aims at stopping the problem of homelessness right before it begins and entails targeting the issue at the tertiary, secondary, and primary levels by bypassing the barriers to stable, safe housing for the most vulnerable population. It is a prevention, cure, and recovery approach to ending homelessness that has been proved to be effective in other cities in Canada and the US (Gaetz, Scott, & Gulliver, 2013).

As to enforcement and intervention tactics that can be used, Gaetz, Scott, and Gulliver (2013) suggest that there should be continuous housing support, monitoring, and funding. Most importantly, the authors observe that partnerships between governments and non-governmental organizations can help promote sustainability in the housing sector through continuous provision of social and financial support to those at the greatest risk of being rendered homeless. As Steffler (2016) emphasizes, effective implementation requires embedding the strategy into an integrated and broader framework or systems plan and engaging stakeholders. The Homelessness Partnering Strategy (HPS) is an example of such a program that has proved to be efficient in tackling homelessness across Canada, such as Toronto.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the social problem of homelessness in Calgary, Alberta, Canada is one that requires a multi-faceted approach or strategy that will incorporate short, medium, and long term goals of solving the issue for both present and future generations. Partnerships among stakeholders are key to finding a permanent solution to this problem that has both public health and criminal justice implications.

References

Ahajumobi, E.N. (2017). Homelessness in Calgary from the perspectives of those experiencing homelessness. Walden University. Retrieved from https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/4413/

Gaetz, S., Scott, F., & Gulliver, T. (2013). Housing First in Canada: Supporting communities to end homelessness. Toronto: Canadian Homelessness Research Network Press

Homeless Hub. (2019).Whatis homelessness? Retrieved from https://www.homelesshub.ca/about-homelessness/homelessness-101/what-homelessness

Pauly, B., Carlson, E., & Perkin, K. (2012). Strategies to end homelessness: Current approaches to evaluation. Toronto: Canadian Homelessness Research Network Press

Rumbolt, R. (2018). Finding Home: Calgary's at-risk population goes beyond the 'visible homeless.' Calgary Herald. Retrieved from https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/finding-home-an-inside-look-at-Calgary's-vulnerable-populations/

Steffler, S. (2016). Housing First in Canada: A new approach to homelessness and best practicesformunicipalimplementation.http://localgovernment.uwo.ca/resources/docs/research_papers/2016/Steffler2,%0Shelly%20-%202016%20-%20PUBLIC.pdf