McKinney-Vento Act Policy Essay

Outline of the Policy

McKinney-Vento Act is a policy which provides for how the federal government takes care of homeless citizens. It contains provisions for how they are provided with basic needs like health care, education, housing, food, job training, among others. It is named after two representatives who championed for it during Ronald Reagan's reign and Bill Clinton's. Stewart B McKinney, a representative of Connecticut fought for this policy and made President Reagan sign it into law. In the reign of President Clinton, it is Bruce Vento who stood firm for its full implementation. While it was initially called Homeless Persons' Survival Act, Reagan renamed it Stewart B McKinney Homeless Act in honor of Representative McKinney after his demise (Adler, 1991). After Bruce Vento died, having fought for the McKinney Homeless Act successfully, Clinton renamed the policy McKinney-Vento Homeless Act in his honor (2005).

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Nature of the Problem

This policy, as the name itself suggests, targets the eradication of the problem of homelessness. In the early days of President Reagan, homelessness was perceived as a minor challenge, or at least the president saw it that way. It was until a team of lawyers joined forces to urge the Reagan Administration to consider homelessness a national problem and consequently act on it. In 1983, the first national task force was formed to identify excess national resources for use in addressing the problem (Anderson, 1995). The main challenge was defining "homeless."Definition of the Problem

"Subtitle VII-B of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (in reference to Title IX, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as was amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act) defines 'homeless' as individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence" (Cousineau, et al., 1995). This entire subtitle also reveals a section of citizens to whom homelessness was a problem. These include; children and young adults that are collectively accommodated by other people because of losing theirs due to economic difficulties or such kind of reasons; are staying in motels, camping sites, hotels or trailer courts because they have no substitute shelters; are putting up in temporary or emergency housing; or those who are left in hospitals. It also includes children and young adults that use abandoned buildings, cars, parks, abandoned building bus, train stations and such like settings as primary nighttime dwelling places. Migratory children are automatically homeless as long as their primary nighttime lives are similar to these.

The above definition applies to adult citizens too. Also, this policy considers the adults whose primary nighttime dwelling places parallel the ones described for children and youths above. In addition to the so formed list of those who suffer homelessness, is another list of drug addicts, veterans, the disabled, HIV positive individuals and families who also lack a permanent nighttime place to live. It would be wrong too, however, conclude that the people mentioned above are the only ones who are affected by homelessness. This, as the mentioned team of advocates asserted, is a problem that affects the whole nation and the federal government at large.

The Context of the Policy

The McKinney-Vento Act, just like existing policies, revolves around the philosophy that America is the land where everyone has an opportunity to fulfill their dreams. This is exactly why Section 1309 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 introduces 'migratory children,' to let no-one in need miss the McKinney-Vento assistance. The main social concern of the American government is to make sure that everyone within the borders of the U.S. achieves their dreams. This policy is also about that.

Social Allocations and Provisions

This policy bases the allocation of resources on the fact that a person enlisted for benefiting from the program meets the definition of 'homeless.' McKinney-Vento Act contains the following provisions; housing, education, basic healthcare, and job training. The housing provision has sub-provisions which include emergency shelter programs, transitional/temporary program, and in some cases permanent housing. The education provision also has sub-provisions which include the normal education (elementary through to secondary school and college) and adult education. The healthcare provision covers for all beneficiaries, each according to their unique medical needs. Job training provisions apply to the adult beneficiaries and most importantly the veterans.

Implementation Strategies

The implementation of this Act for the homeless is highly strategic. First and foremost, there are the two houses of Congress which constantly work together, to make sure that the program runs successfully through amendments and reviews. For instance, in 2008, the two houses of the Congress refused to co-fund the policy until it included everyone who was homeless and deserving assistance. Additionally, there is an established Interagency Council which oversees the harmony between various agencies which bring together excess national resources to distribute to the homeless. Structurally, Department of Housing and Urban Development provides shelter services; Department of Health and Human Services provides medical assistance; Department of Education provides education services; the Department of Agriculture ensures that food is available to the homeless adequately.

Methods of Financing

Funding of McKinney programs happens per the department under which each program belongs and is cascaded to the last beneficiary. The primary source of funding is the federal government as it is obliged to spend the taxpayers' money in improving their lives. However, all programs under this policy are not supported financially because some actually depend on the excess resources like pieces of land, unoccupied state buildings, and so on. Also, there are scenarios where fundraisers provide funds for the support of these programs. These scenarios include special cases where people are left homeless due to natural disasters like hurricanes, earthquakes, wildfires and so on.

Historical Analysis

Homelessness came into the limelight as a problem in the early 1980's. It was, however, primarily the burden of the local authorities. The Reagan Administration had dismissed it by a wave of the hand, terming it a local problem. Therefore, the provisions were quite limited and it sometimes involved families that had plenty of housing, food, clothing and such like necessities helped those that were in need. Sometimes the homeless persons could only receive food from well-wishers but still lack a nighttime place to live.

The localization of addressing homelessness ended in 1983, during Reagan's Presidency. In the same year, the first task force was formed to identify excess national resources for the sole purpose of helping the homeless civilians get homes and basic needs. Making homelessness a national problem that required the attention of the national government was an idea of unnamed advocates. The matter was picked by Connecticut's Representative Stewart B McKinney, who made it tuned into law through the help of his colleagues in both houses of the congress. Precisely, it was presented to the Congress as Homeless Persons' Survival Act in 1986. The Congress passed this bill into law in 1987. Reluctantly, President Reagan signed the bill into law on July 22nd, 1987. Throughout history, both houses of the Congress supported this bill with a few members objecting. The person who publicly appeared to be against this policy was President Reagan. The only time when the House of Representatives and the Senate refused to support this policy was in 2008; when it appeared that some deserving citizens were denied help due to semantics. This was, however, addressed.

If there is any lesson in the history of how homelessness was handled then it is Reagan's attitude towards the homeless. He apparently considered homelessness a simple matter which did not require input from the central government at all. When he was compelled to make it a national problem, it becomes a bigger problem than he had perceived it. His point of view seemed limited to these people being a burden to the local states where they were homeless. He did not consider the possibility of a large-scale disaster which would have overwhelmed the local authorities.

In response to this realization, the government has put up funding systems in every department, to not only address the existing cases of homelessness but also prepare for any eventualities which would leave citizens without places to spend their nights in permanently. The federal government has also fully embraced its core purpose of looking after the citizens. The main government has also put in place emergency relief measures and has invested time and money researching the possible ways of preventing homelessness. In other words, the central government is working on long-term term solutions to this problem.

References

Adler, W. C. (1991). Addressing Homelessness: Status of Programs under the Stewart B McKinney Act and Related Legislation. National Coalition for Homelessness, 2201 P St., NW, Washington, DC 2003;202/462-4822

Anderson, L. et al. (1995). An Evaluation of State and Local Efforts to Serve the Educational Needs of Homeless Children and Youth,. Available, free, from the U.S. Department of Education, 600 Independence Ave., SW, Room 4168, Washington, DC 20202-8240;202/401 050.

Cousineau, M. et al. (1995). A Study of the Health Center for the Homeless Program: Final Report. Available, free, from the National Clearinghouse for Primary Care Information, 2070 Chain Bridge Rd., Suite 450, Vienna, VA 22182-2536; 800/400-24742. In Washington, DC metro area: 703/902-1248.S

National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty. (2005) McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants. Retrieved 7th March, 2018 from: www.nlhcp.org