Homeless Youth Essay

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History of Homeless Youth In1800s’, individuals who could not sustain themselves or their families were considered the responsibility of the local township. Some children were mentally retarded, some were physically disabled. Some were orphaned by epidemics and other disasters. Some showed incurable behavior. The methods of treatment within a community, however, were simple. The youngest children who required support by the town were “farmed out” to the lowest bidder-a family that agreed to give care to the child for a small regular sum of money or goods. Others were often sent to live in the dreary, unsanitary almshouses with the adult misfits of the town, the mentally ill, the mentally deficient, lawbreakers and the aged, and infirm. Able bodied older children were usually indentured, that is placed under contract with a citizen of the town who agreed to maintain the child and teach him or her a trade or other gainful occupation in return for the profit from the child’s labor. This was a favored practice, as everyone’s labor was needed during the development of the new country. With the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, indenture became less feasible and by 1875 (Downs, Moore, & McFadden, 2009. p 12-13) Most people that live in large cities have come into contact with homeless people. The experience creates an impression of who homeless people are. Many of the encounters are negative. A homeless person rudely approached a person demanding money. The homeless person reeked of alcohol or smelled of urine. Their clothes were dirty and unkempt and so were the hair, fingernails and body. They might have been inebriated, or appeared to be under the influence of some type of drugs. Singing, dancing, holding conversations with the air, angry outbursts and cursing are other behaviors that might be seen. Negative experiences such as these will
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