Homelessness in the U.S. continues to rise. Today’s housing crisis is certainly not the first, but that doesn’t change its impact or the need to keep striving for solutions. Social workers point to systemic failures like shortages in affordable housing and the ever-widening gap between income and housing costs.
The solutions are not simple, but allocating more resources, funding and flexibility to programs that already exist, and to those that need to be developed, is a good place to start. Unlike other federally funded social safety net programs—such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, which are funded at whatever the cost may be—housing programs are funded at a set amount each year, as determined by Congress.
This discrepancy highlights the fact that “housing is not a human right” in the U.S., says Emily Kenney, LCSW, systems change director at Impact in Milwaukee. “There’s a whole lot of moral judgment that comes with housing that is a little bit confusing to me to be honest. There’s this idea that you have to earn it.”
Our cover story provides more information about the problems and solutions surrounding the current housing crisis. We hope you enjoy this article and other content included in this issue.
Until next time,
Laetitia