Homeless struggle with mental illness, medical care
By SEPIDEH SAFAEE
Staff Writer
SOSSO34@PSU.EDU
The mentally ill homeless in the
United States have been associated
with the costly use of medical and
social services, which have been
somewhat ineffective, since the
number of homeless suffering
from mental illnesses has been
increasing.
According to the National Law
Center on Homeless and Poverty,
57 percent of the population of
homeless people had mental
illnesses in 2004, though the
numbers continue to rise.
The increasing numbers of the
mentally ill on the streets have
been affecting public safety,
according to the Journal of
Community Health Nursing.
In January 2007, nearly 63
percentofthe homeless population
who were provided shelter were
individuals, and more than 37
percent were families, according
to the U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development. To
reduce the number of mentally ill
homeless on the streets, the HUD
said that they will be providing
15,000 units ofpermanent housing
in the United States in an effort
to reduce the cost and suffering
associated with homelessness.
“HUD funds are appropriated
each year through the HUD
budget,” said Stanley Seidenfeld,
regional supervisor officer in
New York, and John Roberto
of Pittsburgh, HUD supervisor
regional operations officer.
Roberto said that HUD gets
support from regional authorizing
and legislations
and a number of
other types of
programs. The
most recent grant
was given in 2008
at $1.3 billion
nationwide,
Roberto said
The money
does not go
toward building
new housing, —-
Seidenfeld said, but rather goes abuse or have a serious mental
toward construction work for illness. They must have been
previously built houses to keep homeless for a year or more or
them operating. have had at least four episodes
“To receive regular homeless of homelessness in the past three
assistance a person must be years. “This requirement is in
homeless for one night,” said place only for homeless who are
Roberto. He said applicants chronically ill,” said Roberto,
have to meet the requirement of “Many of these people coping
homelessness to receive housing with severe mental illness
because resources are limited, have been trapped in a cycle of
“But we tiy to place them in homelessness, going back and
housing that will do them the forth from the streets to a shelter,”
Novembi
Courtesyofbetheadamissiont.org;
Above is Bethesda Mission’s men shelter, located at 611 Reilly St. in downtown Harrisburg. According to its website, Bethesda Mission provides temporary shelter to
about 100 men and 40 women and children per night, more than 100,000 meals per year and a full-time after-school youth program.
most good,” he said. According
the Roberto, HUD tries to get
the homeless on the right track
with the ultimate goal of moving
them from nightly housing to
transitional housing to permanent
housing.
Although for homeless people
with chronic illnesses to qualify
for housing, they must be
individuals disabled by substance
“Many of these people
coping with severe mental
illness have been trapped
in a cycle of homelessness,
going back and forth from
the streets to a shelter.”
THE CAPITAL TIME!
said Suzann Legander, publisher
of the Behavioral Healthcare
Journal: Housing First.
John Roberto of the U.S.
Department of Housing and
Urban Development said the
percentage of mentally ill
homeless and homeless people
that have not applied to HUD
vary by jurisdiction provided
by the local government. The
percentage of homeless staying in
shelters changes daily, depending
on a variety of factors, weather
being one of them.
“Among all the homeless people,
58 percent were sleeping in
emergency shelters or transitional
housing facilities and the rest
were on the streets,” said Steve
C. Preston, Secretary of U.S.
Department of Housing and
Urban Development.
Many of the shelters caring for the
mentally ill do not folly assist the
homeless with their fundamental
needs, which is why they often end
up on the streets again. According
to the Journal of Community
Health and Nursing, health care
providers intentionally rely on
common health care settings such
as required documents, security
personal and locked doors,
knowing that it will intimidate or
frighten the homeless and keep
them out.
“Health care providers are most not need to be there, in which case
likely keep homeless out because the hospital will usually release
of cost issues,” said Dr. Richa them.
Aggarwal, a psychiatrist at Penn Psychiatrist Dr. Aggarwal said
State Hershey Medical Center. Penn State Hershey Medical
According to the Journal of Center provides the same type of
Community Health Nursing, programs they would provide for
the transition from homeless to non-homeless patients. Homeless
housing usually begins when patients do not need to meet any
police find them sleeping or specific criteria. They only have to
wandering the streets. Police will meet the same criteria as a normal
usually take them
to a psychiatric
hospital for
evaluation, and if
the patients meet
the criteria, they
are admitted, but
they are usually
discharged after
two or three days
Officer Frank J.
Divonzo, a Penn
State Harrisburg
Police Services
officer, said
that officers When patients
will sometimes have problems are discharged they have nothing
deciding whether to take homeless to go back to. “They take you
to a hospital, because they must in because the police bring you,
take into account if hospital will but as soon as they drive away,
release them after the police the hospital is trying to toss you
have left, ffivonzo said when back out in the streets,” said one
homeless people are taken in, individual,
they will sotnetii&es move in and Aggarwal said that some may still
out of psychotie stales and tell the be living on the streets because
hospital that they are fine and do most state hospitals do not provide
“We do not turn
them away. If they
need help we pro
vide it for them,
and if we see that
their condition is
severe, we then
admit them.”
psychiatric
patient would
need to meet.
Aggarwal said
that some of
the criteria
necessary for
admittance
would be that
they are not
able to take care
of themselves
or are harmful
to themselves
to others.