This article will attempt to explain the plight facing one of the largest and most vulnerable populations in America today: the homeless, and how the McKinney law affected it. This marginal group faces many difficulties and many different policies have been put in place, both to help and harm their overall well-being. Policies implemented for the homeless Many social welfare policies have been implemented throughout history to try to solve this ever-present problem. of homelessness. Beginning with the government's first widespread attempt with the implementation of the Elizabethan Poor Law, which placed the plight of the poor within the realm of community responsibilities; and constitutes the very basis of our current conception of what well-being should be. He distinguished the worthy poor from those deemed unworthy, he established internal help for those who were considered to have caused their own misfortunes via almshouses or external help for widows and children who had done nothing themselves to cause the difficulties that held them back. in their own home. (Jansson, 2013) The advent of early charities brought with it a new way of thinking about how to deal with the problem of homelessness; he advocated helping the poor acquire essential skills and knowledge rather than a temporary solution of only throwing money at the problem. Many settlement houses were established, and here people were housed and trained in job skills and community connections were made (Jansson, 2013). After the Great Depression left the United States with unprecedented numbers of poor and homeless people, President Roosevelt signed the New Deal into law. which 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 live even one night without shelter over their heads.BibliographyResearch Center public interest, I. (nd). National student campaign against hunger and homelessness. Retrieved from http://www.studentsagainsthunger.org/page/hhp/overview-homelessness-americaHope, P. (2013). HOPE project. Retrieved from College of William & Mary: http://education.wm.edu/centers/hope/resources/mckinneyact/index.phpHUD. (2013). McKinney-Vento Act. 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 Editions. Kindle edition.NCH. (2006, June). McKinney-Vento Act. Retrieved from NCH: http://www.nationalhomeless.org/publications/facts/McKinney.pdf