Youth and young adults rarely come to mind when we think of homelessness. Caseworkers working full time with the country's homeless population tell us that homelessness among young people is largely out of sight.

Youth homelessness looks different because it is fluid and hidden. A recent national study found homelessness in 1 out of 30 youth aged 13 to 17 and 1 out of 10 young adults aged 18 to 25. Youth homelessness often remains in the shadows because it may involve couch hopping with friends by a young person who goes from household to household without a choice and is subject to dismissal or exploitation. Young people experiencing homelessness include parents with young children, youth met with rejection after disclosing their sexual orientation or gender identity, and youth who ran away from a foster home or “aged out” of foster care.

One does not have to experience homelessness to understand that it presses hard; the energy and will required to attend to basic survival does not leave much room for vocation, education, or aspiration. It is no wonder that young people experiencing homelessness are less likely to graduate from high school, attend college, and succeed in higher education.

The ARPA

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States engaged in an innovative policy experiment: for one year, the federal government expanded the existing child tax credit—making it available to families with little or no earnings, increasing the credit amount, and providing monthly payments instead of an annual payment at tax time.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention more people died from suicide in the United States in 2022 than any other year on record dating back to 1941. In 2022 (the last year for which stats are available), 49,449 lives were lost due to intentional self-harm. Men were about four times more likely than women to die by suicide, and rates were highest among senior men. But the suicide rate increased twice as much for women in 2022 with especially significant increases among White women ages 25 to 34.

Social workers who identify with the marginalized populations they are sworn to support are now caught up in a shifting social paradigm that has turned identifying with certain needy groups into dangerous divisive politics. This paradigm shift has been so gradual it almost went unnoticed until it finally crystallized into hard political positions. The last place that devoted, well-meaning social workers want to find themselves is being pushed to the hard right or the far left when it comes to identifying need and taking action to alleviate suffering. How did this shift happen?

The recent resumption of hostilities in Gaza has reminded this blog of the heroic dedication of Medecines Sans Frontieres or Doctors without Borders as it is known here in the states.

All over Gaza, Palestinians are suffering under siege and bombardment, losing loved ones, homes, and their own lives. Among them are Doctors Without Borders (MSF) staff members, many of whom continue to work and provide lifesaving care in hospitals and health centers across Gaza. They share their stories with us below.

This blog pauses to look at the world of social services. We do not suppose to educate but only offer a glance at a corner of the vast social services landscape.....

Nonprofits have long been active in providing support for children ravaged by poverty, hunger, and disease in third world countries across the world. But working mothers and parents on the poverty line in America have flown under the radar and toiled in the shadows relying on Federal assistance that is woefully inadequate. Marginalized parents in the United States need to work two jobs to afford the paid childcare required to raise their children. But childcare is more expensive than ever, and the federal government can’t do enough to support families, especially working mothers. Now more than ever, families bear the brunt of the economic burden. This domestic crisis is every bit as urgent in our country as in third world countries. The children are our future; to nurture them and our potential as a country, we need to address the nationwide crisis underlying childcare.

Whenever this blog shines a spotlight on how many Americans go hungry every day, our readers respond with surprise and skepticism. Most Americans live in a cultural environment that looks away from poverty, and even the impoverished themselves tend to hide their unfortunate circumstances. In America, it’s noble to inhabit the working class but undignified to struggle feeding your family.  Although most of our readers are in the social services profession, even they seem unaware of the depth and breadth of our marginalized population where hunger is still a prominent issue. They consider ads with a picture of a sad-looking child on billboards, the internet, and television saying, "No school means no school lunch. Donate now [to] Feeding America," a cry for help from a select few.

🎵Bless the beasts and the children

For in this world

They have no voice…

They have no choice…🎵

Over the past few months close friends who work in animal nonprofits have reminded this blog that we have overlooked them and the biodiversity that they represent. While we have publicized the work of almost every social service and nonprofit organization, we confess we have consistently overlooked the animal nonprofits, and the struggle they are engaged in to save the animals and natural habitat of our planet.

Back in the 80s and 90s eating disorders had risen to epidemic proportions among teen-age girls. In fact, most used the mirror as a tool for taking stock of their worth conducting a critical search for flaws, fat, and proof of their failure to live up to the standards they had set for themselves. Their hunger for perfection and acceptance was insatiable, giving rise to body shame, self-loathing, anxiety, and life-threatening bouts of anorexia and bulimia.