Running head: MENTAL ILLNESS CONTRIBUTING TO HOMELESSNESS

Mental Illness Contributing to Homelessness

Caroline Jarvis
Mrs. Disher
November 5, 2014

Abstract

MENTAL ILLNESS CONTRIBUTING TO HOMELESSNESS

The topic Ive chosen to research was how mental illnesses contribute to homelessness. This is
an issue because most mentally ill Americans are being put in psychiatric hospitals or being
sentenced to prison, since they cant or dont know how to control their actions. When they get
released from these prisons or psychiatric hospitals, the victims are not given any compensation
to help start them off again so that they can live independently. This means that since most
cannot hold a job, do not receive any income, and do not have their basic needs of food, clothing,
and shelter, that they are forced to live on the streets or in homeless shelters. There are a couple
ways we could solve this problem and keep the mentally ill off the streets: we could work harder
to keep the mentally safe and secure by making sure they have a place to stay during the night,
provide more group homes so that those who have mental illnesses can learn how to live
independently, and to make jobs more accessible to those with these illnesses.

Mental illness is a serious topic that affects many Americans. It is unfair that they are so
discriminated against, to the point where it is hard for them to earn and keep jobs. Since they

MENTAL ILLNESS CONTRIBUTING TO HOMELESSNESS

cannot keep their jobs, there is not a steady source of income for them to live off of, which
makes it difficult to get the proper medications and prevents them from having healthcare. One
solution to fix this is to make it easier for them to access jobs that relate to their talents and
interests.
Yet, the reality in America is that many people with mental illness are either unemployed
or underemployed (Douglas, 2014). According to NAMI, nearly 80% of the four million people
in the mental health care system are unemployed. Around 60% to 70% of those unemployed said
that they would work if they had the support. To get the support that they need, there should be
more organizations like IPS (Individual Placement Support) to place those with mental illnesses
in jobs that theyre interested in and skilled with. Even if they are employed, they arent being
paid fairly for the work that they perform. There should also be more clubhouses in the country,
which are places where those who have a mental illness can gather to be supported and have the
opportunity to be employed.
How can we provide support for those affected by mental illness in our community? By
coming together as a community to raise money for organizations so that they can open new
support groups and organizations. In New York, there was a marathon to help raise money for
those that were homeless with mental illnesses. Over 2,000 people participated in this marathon
from all over the state, so that they could afford housing in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Bronx.
All together they collected over 27,000 dollars. "On any given night in New York City, over
30,000 people are sleeping in homeless shelters. More than 25% of these individuals are
struggling with a severe and persistent mental illness, which puts up many roadblocks that
prevent them from building healthy, stable lives (PR Newswire, 2011). They used the money to

MENTAL ILLNESS CONTRIBUTING TO HOMELESSNESS

provide new houses for those who needed them and to provide education to workers so that they
would know how to deal with patients that had mental illnesses.
When one has a mental illness, they can find it very difficult to control themselves and
cannot find a way for themselves to acquiesce with the rest of society. Some may feel isolated,
while others just never learned the proper way to act. Since they dont know how to act, they
usually end up in jail or prison. According to a study, 44 states and the District of Columbia have
more mentally ill Americans in their state jails than they have in their largest state psychiatric
hospitals.
We are doing an abysmal job of treating people with serious mental illnesses in this
country. It is both inhumane and shocking the way we have dumped them into the state prisons
and the local jails. (Torrey, 2002). Instead of sending Americans with mental illnesses to the
psychiatric hospitals in order to get them the help they need, they end up arresting them and
sending them to their state jails and prisons. Prison guards are not trained to deal with the
mentally ill inmates; in fact, most states prohibit prison guards from forcing inmates to take their
medications, so those inmates that refuse to take it are not better off than they would be in the
real world. If anything, assigning time in jail and prison make things worse for these Americans.
They are not being provided with the proper health care and medicine that they would have
access to in psychiatric hospitals and when they are living with other family members, or even
living in group homes.
As a result, when these mentally ill inmates are released from their sentence, they are sent
back out into the world. Most are unable to pay rent or afford food, so they are forced to live on
the street or seek refuge in homeless shelters. Even the Americans without mental illnesses have
difficulty getting back on their feet after being released from their prison sentences or amount of

MENTAL ILLNESS CONTRIBUTING TO HOMELESSNESS

jail time. This shows that it would be extremely difficult for those with mental illnesses to find a
way to fulfill their basic needs of food, shelter, and clothing.
To help those with mental illnesses fulfill their basic needs of food, shelter, and clothing,
there are group homes that would help to teach them to become independent and [to help them
learn how to] become independent in the future. In these group homes, they learn basic skills like
doing laundry, managing a budget, or going shopping for groceries. These are especially helpful
because hospitals fail to ensure that when their patients are released, they have the proper living
conditions that will help them become successful in live or living conditions that will ensure
that they survive on their own.
By giving the proper support in these group homes, the rate of homelessness can be reduced. In
these group homes, they have the proper housing, income support, and psychiatric support they
need to be successful. They are grouped with other people that have the same or similar
disabilities and this teaches them not only their skills on independent living, but also social skills.
It keeps them from arguing and teaches them how to get along with people and treat others
respectfully.
It is found to be true that individuals without homes lack access to healthcare treatment. When
compared with the general population, people without homes have poorer physical health, including
higher rates of tuberculosis, hypertension, asthma, diabetes, and HIV/AIDS (Zlotnick & Zerger,
2008), as well as higher rates of medical hospitalizations (Kushel et al., 2001) (Health &
Homelessness, 2014). These programs that provide group homes helps them from contracting these

MENTAL ILLNESS CONTRIBUTING TO HOMELESSNESS

illnesses. It also provides a steady home, instead of forcing them to move around from home to
home every night, always uncertain as to if theyll have a place to stay.

Another way people have tried to gain help and insight on how mental illness contributes
to homelessness was by testing programs like ACCESS (Access to Community Care and
Effective Services and Supports). ACCESS is a program that has provided about $250,000
[dollars] a year for four years to 9 groups containing 100 clients. It was an attempt to improve
their living conditions and to help them with their mental health and housing situations.
However, after their trials, the creators of this program found that it did very little to help them in
the long run.
In conclusion, there are many ways that a community can help those that are mentally ill
to becomes more independent and to help them from living on the streets. A few ways we can
solve this homelessness is by keeping the mentally ill out of jails and prisons, finding jobs that
are suitable and interesting for them, providing group homes so that they can learn how to live
independently, and by providing more programs like ACCESS to research and attempting to
improve the living conditions of those in need.