This article will attempt to explain the plight faced by one of the largest and most vulnerable populations in America today: the homeless, and how the McKinney Act affected this phenomenon. This outgroup faces many hardships, and many different policies have been put in place to both help and hurt their overall well-being. Policies Implemented for Homelessness Many social welfare policies have been put in place throughout history to attempt to address the ever-present problem of homelessness. Starting from the first widespread attempt by the government with the implementation of the Elizabethan Poor Law, which placed the condition of the poor within the scope of the community's responsibilities; and it forms the very basis of our idea today of what welfare should be. It set apart the worthy poor and those deemed unworthy poor, established indoor relief for those deemed to have caused their own misfortunes through workhouses or outdoor relief for widows and children who had done nothing themselves to cause their troubles that kept them alive. in their own homes. (Jansson, 2013)The advent of the first Charities brought a new way of thinking about how to tackle the issue of homelessness; it advocated helping the poor acquire life skills and knowledge rather than a temporary solution of just using money to solve the problem. Many settlement houses were established and here people were housed and trained in job skills and community links were built (Jansson, 2013). After the Great Depression left the United States with never-before-seen numbers of poor and homeless, President Roosevelt enacted the New Deal that would become the beginning of the welfare state as we know it today (Jansson, 2013). ...... middle of paper ...... a nation where no man, woman or child has to go through life even one night without a shelter over their heads. Bibliography Center for Public Interest Research, I. (n.d.) . National student campaign against hunger and homelessness. Retrieved from http://www.studentsagainsthunger.org/page/hhp/overview-homelessness-americaHope, P. (2013). HOPE project. Retrieved from the College of William & Mary: http://education.wm.edu/centers/hope/resources/mckinneyact/index.phpHUD. (2013). McKinney-Vento Law. Retrieved from HUD: http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/comm_planning/homeless/lawsandregs/mckvJansson. (2013). Brooks/Cole Empowerment Series: The Reluctant Welfare State. Wadsworth Publishing. Kindle Edition.NCH. (2006, June). McKinney-Vento Law. Retrieved from NCH: http://www.nationalhomeless.org/publications/facts/McKinney.pdf