Essay Sample on Homelessness People in California

Introduction

In the article 'Six-year mortality in a street-recruited cohort of homeless youth in San Francisco, California,' Auerswald and other scholars discuss mortality rates among homeless kids living in the streets of California. It achieves this by examining their culture, what causes homelessness, possible risks and interventions to solve the current issues of lacking housing. In San Francisco, two stakeholders are affected by the situation of lack of housing. On one side we have citizens of San Francisco who have been forced to live within the streets due to lack of shelter and on the other hand, is the local government which has not shown concerns to resolve the situation. Presently, the issue of homelessness has attracted various interests following the increasing number of youths who get to street lives and after several threats end up commit suicide or indulge in abuse thereby causing various complications in their health. The citizens expect the government to take action and assist the homeless people living within the streets; whereas the government is too reluctant and has taken no step to resolve the problem. I have chosen the issue since it addresses a present issue within California and the residents expect the government to make efforts to increase job opportunity to absorb youths therein.

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The concerns addressed in the article are pressing. The citizens of California have every right to live a better life. Living in the streets exposes children to higher chances of attacking infectious diseases and drugs that would ultimately destroy one's health status. According to Auerswald and the other scholars (10), "Homeless youth experience a disproportionate risk for morbidity, including, but not limited to, HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, Hepatitis B and C, and psychiatric disorders." As a result, various instances of people committing suicides or indulging in massive drug abuse has been reported in the past. The local government, however, has not given reasons as to why multiple opportunities cannot be created to absorb the youths. The issue of homelessness roots on the idea of poverty in that most of the youths lacks jobs to enable them to pay rent and provide for themselves (Auerswald 12). And decide to stay outdoors or in car packing points within the streets in San Francisco.

The article uses a combination of qualitative and quantitative sampling technique in examining the impact of homelessness. The approach was based on a venue sampling method in which the homeless youths are targeted in the points they spend most of their moments such as corridors within the streets. And in those venues, the teenagers were either observed or given brief street interviews inform of questionnaires that were filled by the respondents. The approach was realistic since it sourced firsthand information from the people affected - the homelessness kids. However, those who were under the 'alcohol or illicit substances or being too distressed or agitated to participate' were excluded from the interview. Based on the results of the study, Auerswald and the authors assert that homelessness is a serious problem that puts youths at higher chances of dying compared to those who were able to access housing. And therefore, the question should be addressed as soon as possible (Auerswald 10).

Conclusion

In summary, the article discusses an essential issue that is likely to affect the future of San Francisco and the entire California State. In my opinion, the local and federal governments should come up with strategies to increase job opportunities and absorb most youths therein. Several people, especially youths, end up in streets because they cannot get money to provide for their personal needs as well as pay for their rents. Therefore, providing more job opportunities would serve the future gross domestic output by adding more labor to the economy thereby enabling a vigorous economic growth to a prosperous future.

Work Cited

Auerswald, Colette L., Jessica S. Lin, and Andrea Parriott. "Six-year mortality in the street-the recruited cohort of homeless youth in San Francisco, California." PeerJ 4 (2016): e1909. https://peerj.com/articles/1909/. Accessed on 3/28/19.