This was my last essay for this quarter. I finished it in 4 days and I could have improved it immensely if I put more time into it:
The Epidemic of Homelessness
In the 1980's a significant rise in homelessness shocked America into a panic. In response the surge of unemployed Americans, homeless shelters and food kitchens were instituted as temporary solution to a perceived temporary problem. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) conducted a census, in the 80's, that counted 1.4-1.8 million people, over the course of a year, homeless (Wright 1989; Burt 1992; Kondratas 1991). Homelessness has risen in the past twenty years despite the end of the economic recession in the 80's and even through the stable economy of the 90's. In the past twenty years the definition of homelessness has been refined. There are now several categories of homelessness. The temporary homeless, whom have been homeless once for 12 months or less. The episodic homeless, whom have been homeless more than once, but no more than for 12 months at a time. And the chronically homeless, whom have been homeless for more than 12 months regardless of the amount of times (Wright 1998; Baum and Burnes 1993). These groups do not consist of once race or ethnicity. Patterns of race and ethnicity vary between cities, but the average age is consistently in the low to mid-thirties (Wright 1998). Whether these people are temporarily homeless, chronically homeless, male or female, and no matter the age, they all share a common bond. The factors that cause poverty and homelessness reveal themselves in all cases. These factors include: alcoholism, the lack of federally controlled mental health institutions, physical and mental health issues, drug abuse and unemployment (Sommer 2000). The government funded many emergency food and shelter programs in the 80's, but once homelessness persisted after the recession another approach was needed. The past twenty years has seen less temporary forms of aid to homeless, but without a formal institution that is dedicated to prevent and end homelessness, temporary, episodic and chronic homelessness will persist; costing a constant flow of money, time and energy from this country.
While the 1980's saw the biggest increase of homeless people on the streets ever, the cards were stacked against the poor and middle class ever since the 1940's. After the depression a large percentage of the poor lived in small, cheap, cubical style housing, called, "skid row single resident occupation (SRO)"(Jencks 1994). These types of housing were of low quality, densely packed together, and very inexpensive. In the 60's and 70's many of these types of housing were destroyed as the cost of renting and buying housing increased. In the 70's a rift began to appear between the upper 4/5 of the American population and the bottom 1/5. This was in big part because of the increase of globalization and technology that was the cause of de-industrialization of America. Men, and now women, who were blue collar workers and less educated, saw a loss of their job security. Compound the loss of jobs and the loss of inexpensive housing, a sever problem was in the making. Once the recession hit in the 80's, the biggest boom of homeless men and women appeared on the streets of inner cities around the country. In response to this, emergency actions were taken. In 1987, President Ronald Regan signed the McKinney Act. This act authorized about $1 billion, over two years, toward emergency services that were proposed to help the homeless situation (Foscarinis 1996). Today, the homeless problem still persists, but with a better definition of homelessness and a clearer picture of the crisis, we can attack the problem more efficiently.
Homelessness has been part of American history since the colonial times. Spikes in homelessness have occurred during times of change (such as the transfer of our economy from manufacturing to service based) and in times of economic depression, but the 1980's saw a new form of homelessness that continues to rise. Reported numbers of homeless in the millions, threw the American Government in a panic. Through numerous studies it was determined that there was no clear definition of homelessness. In no way was it possible to combat a problem that was so broad as to clump people in shelters, on the street, living in abandoned buildings, or living with multiple people, to the term homeless. In the late 90's, the specific classifications of the homeless was put in print. The catagories of homeless were: temporary, episodic and chronic (Interagency Council on the Homeless 1999). Temporary homeless people face a short-term-crisis. They tend to transition back to work easily and with little assistance. They are the people that are temporarily "down on their luck." The episodic homeless normally include those with limited education, work experience, substance abuse or mild mental health problems. This type has a harder time getting on their feet and it was determined that more in-depth and extensive services were needed in order to keep the episodic from relapsing. Lastly, the chronically homeless spend periods longer than 12 months on the streets and face serious obstacles from enabling them to gain self-sufficiency. Some of these problems include: serious physical/mental health issues and chronic drug/alcohol abuse.
Who is homeless? Popular belief is that the majority of the African-American population, living in the inner-cities, is homeless, but studies have found that race and ethnicity vary on the local levels. (Wright 1998; Baum and Burnes 1993). The demographics are different all over the country, but people who suffer from any of the symptoms in the previous paragraph have an increased chance of becoming homeless. The majority of the homeless are in their early thirties. Recorded in late 1990's, 1/3 of the homeless population were military veterans. Although that figure has gone down, the recent Iraq war has seen another rise of veterans. More demographics that have been represented to be homeless are, unmarried women with children, young and depressed males, African-American men and the mentally ill. These various people may constitute a large percent of the homeless pie, but they all have similarities, the cause of their homelessness.
The cause of homelessness seems to be the one issue that connects every street sleeping, shelter going or food kitchen eating, man/woman across the country. The biggest causes of homelessness includes: deficiencies in physical or mental health, drug/alcohol abuse, and unemployment. It was found that temporary, episodic and chronic homeless people all have some if not all of these problems. The temporary homeless and the chronically homeless will definitely have variations of the severity of their problems, but every homeless person shares at least one of these major issues. Aside from personal problems, the increasing cost of housing, the de-institutionalization of mentally ill people, and deindustrialization are all issues that have stacked the deck against poor Americans. Ever since the destruction of SRO, the cost of any form of housing has gone up considerably. People who are sitting on the poverty line throw half of their income out on providing a shelther for themselves, while the people who cannot hit the poverty line end up homeless. In the late 70's the governement removed many mentally ill hospitals. The purposal was that local support would provide out-patient treatment programs for the mentally ill. Instead, these people ended up in nursing homes or on the streets because not enough out-patient faciluties were created (Jencks 1994). Lastly, deindustrialization has affected many blue collar workers in the past, but today we see that a new standard is set. Studies show that about 62% of homeless have earned a GED or higher, but the majority of work available to the homeless are temporary. Another factor against many homeless people and their search for employment is their incarseration time. 49% of the homeless reported to have spent five days or more in a city or county jail (Wright 1998). Whether a person suffers from drug/alcohol abuse, mental health conditions or is just "down on his luck," they need help. The first twenty years of dealing with homelessness as a crisis is coming up and we have learned some lessons that will aide in making the future more productive in caring for the homeless.
The explosion of emergency services for the homeless, in the 80's led to greater awareness about the problem. After the first set of statistics were revealed, studies were done in order to determine the best way to address the problem. In 1993 the Clinton administration began a program dubed, "Continuum of Care." This program focused on reforming the current emergency services into preventive programs that would help the homeless stay off the streets (Berman and West 1997). The problem with this program was that the federal government dumped money into local non-profit organizations and country-wide homelessness was dealt with only at the local level. By the end of the 90's, homelessness seemed to drift from public attention. The shelters and initial solutions for homelessness seemed to take many people off the streets and out of the eyes of the pubic. This led to cities to restrict sleeping in public spaces, panhandling and camping, in the belief that the homeless had places to go other than the sidewalk. The result of these actions was incarceration for many mentally ill people. Shelters and food kitchens would not allow in mentally ill people that would potentially cause a disturbance.. In the almost ten years since then, our economic situation has resulted in increasing numbers of people in poverty and homeless. Shoving our heads in the sand is now not an option. Non-profit organizations and local governments still receive federal funding for homeless health care, rehabilitation services, low cost housing, and veterans programs. But throwing money a wound will not heal it. This is why in 2000 a group called, National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH), developed a ten year plan that was dedicated to ending homelessness instead of just managing it. One of their principles is to bring together all of the resources for helping the homeless into one networked group. This kind of thinking will bring the much needed change in the philosophy of solving homelessness. In the past two decades we as Americans have learned a great deal about our homeless situation and threw several avenues of approach we understand what the homeless people need. It is now our responsibility to properly align our efforts so that we can end this disease of our cities.
The proper medicine is necessary to cure the specific disease. The temporary homeless need emergency services such as: shelters, food kitchens, healthcare, counseling, employment and housing services. These services are already available, but most organizations act independently and there is no progressive service that moves with individuals through the process so that these homeless individuals become productive members of society and do not end up back on the street. The next step is provide the same services with substance abuse treatment and mental health care to those homeless people that are episodic and chronically homeless. Our government needs to join forces on multiple levels: local, state and federal, in order for homelessness to be properly dealt with. Not only will that set a standard of care for the homeless, but it will aid in keeping statistics on the homeless country-wide, and the program will be able to keep tabs on those homeless that are going threw the program and finally a standard of release, once those in the program are on their feet again.
In addition, a program needs to be in-placed to prevent our citizens from becoming homeless and prevent citizens from returning to homelessness. An all-inclusive program that includes: affordable housing, increasing transitional and supportive housing, eviction and displacement prevention, and increasing the income of the poor is necessary and possible. One way to create affordable housing is to renovate historic buildings or industrial warehouses in place of destroying them for high-end condos or apartments. This is also a way of closing the rift between the rich and the poor. The Weingart Center Association in Los Angeles is doing something similar. There are instating a program that will help low wage workers develop basic educational skills as well as housing them. This is an effort to increase the worker's employment opportunities as well as providing them transitional housing so that they can become self-supportive again (Rivera 2000). Eviction and displacement services is also important for those individuals that are being released from jails, rehab, mental health care and foster care. If the program misses these vulnerable people, the end result will most likely be another increase in homelessness. Increasing wages of the poor may come in time, but with the current economy increasing the minimum wage is not possible. Not only will these programs aid in preventing the problem of homelessness, but during nation-wide crises, like Hurricane Katrina or a sudden economic depression, America will not waste much needed resources. The proper precautions will be set along with a competent group of workers that specialize in crisis aid.
This proposed program is not without a few downfalls. The lack of in-depth and current research on all of America's homeless will lead to unforeseen problems that always are included in pioneering unknown territory. There will be some known stumbling blocks along the way. Money is a major factor. Chronic homelessness only accounts for 10-15% of the homeless population, but they account for 50% of the cost to support homeless in shelthers (Burt, Aron, & Lee, 2001). If this staticistic is proven true, then the cost of my proposed plan will be extensive in order to properly rehabilitate the homeless population. In addition, because of sever physological disorders and substance abuse issues, many chronic homeless people reject most forms of rehabilitation. Once the program steps in these waters, through extensive research and field testings of different avenues, a solution will be found for this group. Lastely, forming a program that is a result of merging many different non-profit, government, non-government, medical, education and many other types of organizations will not be easy, but if the federal government heads the endeavor and assumes control, then there will be less problems in the merging of many different organizations. Although there are several holes in my purposed program (most of the holes we are not even aware of, because the lack of in-depth research), our current focus of dealing with homelessness will cost the tax-payer much more money and time in the long run. The resulting new data of this proposed plan will not only expand on the current knowledge of our complex problem, but it is a major set toward the end of homelessness.
Homelessness became a national agenda in the mid 80's and we have learned an extensive amount about homelessness. The 1990's and early 00's economic stabilization did not see a decline in homelessness and we realized there was a more complex problem occurring. Through several government and non-government sponsored studies we have found what homelessness is, who is homeless, and how/why they became homeless. The efforts to survey homelessness have shed light on all of the above, but further research and surveying is needed to give a complete picture of the problem we face. Beginning with the McKinney Act all the way through the recent 10 year plan by the NAEH, we have seen the results of efforts to manage, end and prevent homelessness. The resulting effort of the past twenty years is encompassed in my plan to prevent and finally end homelessness. Questions remain as how to properly and successfully transfer the chronic homeless from the streets to permanent housing that will not result in a relapse. Despite potential drawbacks, this proposal is our best chance to cure the epidemic of homelessness.
(Cited works are on the next page)
Works Cited
Baum, Alice, and Donald Burnes. A Nation in Denial: The Truth
About Homelessness. 1993. Boulder: Westview Press, Inc.
Berman, Evan, and Jonathan West. "Municipal Responses to
Homelessness." Journal of Urban Affairs. 1997. 19(3): 303-18.
Burt, Martha, Laudan Aron, Edgar Lee, and Jesse Valente. (Forthcoming).
America's Homeless a Decade Later (tentative title). 2001. Washington,
D.C.: Urban Institute Press
Foscarinis, Maria. "The Federal Response: The Stewart B.
McKinney Homeless Assistance Act." Homelessness
in America. 1996. ed. Jim Baumohl. Phoenix: The Oryx Press.
Interagency Council on the Homeless. "Homelessness: Programs
and the People They Serve."1999. Findings of the National Survey of
Homeless Assistance Providers and Clients (December).
Jencks, Christopher. The Homeless. Cambridge. 1994 Harvard University
Press.
Kondratas, A. "Estimates and Public Policy: The Politics of
Numbers." Paper presented at the 1991 Fannie Mae Annual Housing
Conference, Washington, D.C. (May).
Rivera, Carla. "Helping Hands for Mentally Ill." Los Angeles
Times, 9 June 2000.
Sommer, Heidi. Homelessness in Urban America: A Review of Literature.
Institute of Governmental Studies Press. University of California, Berkeley.
2000. March 12, 2008. <http://www.igs.berkeley.edu/events/homeless/NewHomelessnessBook1.pdf>
Wright, James, Beth Rubin, and Joel Devine. "Beside the Golden
Door: Policy, Politics and the Homeless." 1998 New York: Aldine De Gruyter.
The Epidemic of Homelessness
In the 1980's a significant rise in homelessness shocked America into a panic. In response the surge of unemployed Americans, homeless shelters and food kitchens were instituted as temporary solution to a perceived temporary problem. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) conducted a census, in the 80's, that counted 1.4-1.8 million people, over the course of a year, homeless (Wright 1989; Burt 1992; Kondratas 1991). Homelessness has risen in the past twenty years despite the end of the economic recession in the 80's and even through the stable economy of the 90's. In the past twenty years the definition of homelessness has been refined. There are now several categories of homelessness. The temporary homeless, whom have been homeless once for 12 months or less. The episodic homeless, whom have been homeless more than once, but no more than for 12 months at a time. And the chronically homeless, whom have been homeless for more than 12 months regardless of the amount of times (Wright 1998; Baum and Burnes 1993). These groups do not consist of once race or ethnicity. Patterns of race and ethnicity vary between cities, but the average age is consistently in the low to mid-thirties (Wright 1998). Whether these people are temporarily homeless, chronically homeless, male or female, and no matter the age, they all share a common bond. The factors that cause poverty and homelessness reveal themselves in all cases. These factors include: alcoholism, the lack of federally controlled mental health institutions, physical and mental health issues, drug abuse and unemployment (Sommer 2000). The government funded many emergency food and shelter programs in the 80's, but once homelessness persisted after the recession another approach was needed. The past twenty years has seen less temporary forms of aid to homeless, but without a formal institution that is dedicated to prevent and end homelessness, temporary, episodic and chronic homelessness will persist; costing a constant flow of money, time and energy from this country.
While the 1980's saw the biggest increase of homeless people on the streets ever, the cards were stacked against the poor and middle class ever since the 1940's. After the depression a large percentage of the poor lived in small, cheap, cubical style housing, called, "skid row single resident occupation (SRO)"(Jencks 1994). These types of housing were of low quality, densely packed together, and very inexpensive. In the 60's and 70's many of these types of housing were destroyed as the cost of renting and buying housing increased. In the 70's a rift began to appear between the upper 4/5 of the American population and the bottom 1/5. This was in big part because of the increase of globalization and technology that was the cause of de-industrialization of America. Men, and now women, who were blue collar workers and less educated, saw a loss of their job security. Compound the loss of jobs and the loss of inexpensive housing, a sever problem was in the making. Once the recession hit in the 80's, the biggest boom of homeless men and women appeared on the streets of inner cities around the country. In response to this, emergency actions were taken. In 1987, President Ronald Regan signed the McKinney Act. This act authorized about $1 billion, over two years, toward emergency services that were proposed to help the homeless situation (Foscarinis 1996). Today, the homeless problem still persists, but with a better definition of homelessness and a clearer picture of the crisis, we can attack the problem more efficiently.
Homelessness has been part of American history since the colonial times. Spikes in homelessness have occurred during times of change (such as the transfer of our economy from manufacturing to service based) and in times of economic depression, but the 1980's saw a new form of homelessness that continues to rise. Reported numbers of homeless in the millions, threw the American Government in a panic. Through numerous studies it was determined that there was no clear definition of homelessness. In no way was it possible to combat a problem that was so broad as to clump people in shelters, on the street, living in abandoned buildings, or living with multiple people, to the term homeless. In the late 90's, the specific classifications of the homeless was put in print. The catagories of homeless were: temporary, episodic and chronic (Interagency Council on the Homeless 1999). Temporary homeless people face a short-term-crisis. They tend to transition back to work easily and with little assistance. They are the people that are temporarily "down on their luck." The episodic homeless normally include those with limited education, work experience, substance abuse or mild mental health problems. This type has a harder time getting on their feet and it was determined that more in-depth and extensive services were needed in order to keep the episodic from relapsing. Lastly, the chronically homeless spend periods longer than 12 months on the streets and face serious obstacles from enabling them to gain self-sufficiency. Some of these problems include: serious physical/mental health issues and chronic drug/alcohol abuse.
Who is homeless? Popular belief is that the majority of the African-American population, living in the inner-cities, is homeless, but studies have found that race and ethnicity vary on the local levels. (Wright 1998; Baum and Burnes 1993). The demographics are different all over the country, but people who suffer from any of the symptoms in the previous paragraph have an increased chance of becoming homeless. The majority of the homeless are in their early thirties. Recorded in late 1990's, 1/3 of the homeless population were military veterans. Although that figure has gone down, the recent Iraq war has seen another rise of veterans. More demographics that have been represented to be homeless are, unmarried women with children, young and depressed males, African-American men and the mentally ill. These various people may constitute a large percent of the homeless pie, but they all have similarities, the cause of their homelessness.
The cause of homelessness seems to be the one issue that connects every street sleeping, shelter going or food kitchen eating, man/woman across the country. The biggest causes of homelessness includes: deficiencies in physical or mental health, drug/alcohol abuse, and unemployment. It was found that temporary, episodic and chronic homeless people all have some if not all of these problems. The temporary homeless and the chronically homeless will definitely have variations of the severity of their problems, but every homeless person shares at least one of these major issues. Aside from personal problems, the increasing cost of housing, the de-institutionalization of mentally ill people, and deindustrialization are all issues that have stacked the deck against poor Americans. Ever since the destruction of SRO, the cost of any form of housing has gone up considerably. People who are sitting on the poverty line throw half of their income out on providing a shelther for themselves, while the people who cannot hit the poverty line end up homeless. In the late 70's the governement removed many mentally ill hospitals. The purposal was that local support would provide out-patient treatment programs for the mentally ill. Instead, these people ended up in nursing homes or on the streets because not enough out-patient faciluties were created (Jencks 1994). Lastly, deindustrialization has affected many blue collar workers in the past, but today we see that a new standard is set. Studies show that about 62% of homeless have earned a GED or higher, but the majority of work available to the homeless are temporary. Another factor against many homeless people and their search for employment is their incarseration time. 49% of the homeless reported to have spent five days or more in a city or county jail (Wright 1998). Whether a person suffers from drug/alcohol abuse, mental health conditions or is just "down on his luck," they need help. The first twenty years of dealing with homelessness as a crisis is coming up and we have learned some lessons that will aide in making the future more productive in caring for the homeless.
The explosion of emergency services for the homeless, in the 80's led to greater awareness about the problem. After the first set of statistics were revealed, studies were done in order to determine the best way to address the problem. In 1993 the Clinton administration began a program dubed, "Continuum of Care." This program focused on reforming the current emergency services into preventive programs that would help the homeless stay off the streets (Berman and West 1997). The problem with this program was that the federal government dumped money into local non-profit organizations and country-wide homelessness was dealt with only at the local level. By the end of the 90's, homelessness seemed to drift from public attention. The shelters and initial solutions for homelessness seemed to take many people off the streets and out of the eyes of the pubic. This led to cities to restrict sleeping in public spaces, panhandling and camping, in the belief that the homeless had places to go other than the sidewalk. The result of these actions was incarceration for many mentally ill people. Shelters and food kitchens would not allow in mentally ill people that would potentially cause a disturbance.. In the almost ten years since then, our economic situation has resulted in increasing numbers of people in poverty and homeless. Shoving our heads in the sand is now not an option. Non-profit organizations and local governments still receive federal funding for homeless health care, rehabilitation services, low cost housing, and veterans programs. But throwing money a wound will not heal it. This is why in 2000 a group called, National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH), developed a ten year plan that was dedicated to ending homelessness instead of just managing it. One of their principles is to bring together all of the resources for helping the homeless into one networked group. This kind of thinking will bring the much needed change in the philosophy of solving homelessness. In the past two decades we as Americans have learned a great deal about our homeless situation and threw several avenues of approach we understand what the homeless people need. It is now our responsibility to properly align our efforts so that we can end this disease of our cities.
The proper medicine is necessary to cure the specific disease. The temporary homeless need emergency services such as: shelters, food kitchens, healthcare, counseling, employment and housing services. These services are already available, but most organizations act independently and there is no progressive service that moves with individuals through the process so that these homeless individuals become productive members of society and do not end up back on the street. The next step is provide the same services with substance abuse treatment and mental health care to those homeless people that are episodic and chronically homeless. Our government needs to join forces on multiple levels: local, state and federal, in order for homelessness to be properly dealt with. Not only will that set a standard of care for the homeless, but it will aid in keeping statistics on the homeless country-wide, and the program will be able to keep tabs on those homeless that are going threw the program and finally a standard of release, once those in the program are on their feet again.
In addition, a program needs to be in-placed to prevent our citizens from becoming homeless and prevent citizens from returning to homelessness. An all-inclusive program that includes: affordable housing, increasing transitional and supportive housing, eviction and displacement prevention, and increasing the income of the poor is necessary and possible. One way to create affordable housing is to renovate historic buildings or industrial warehouses in place of destroying them for high-end condos or apartments. This is also a way of closing the rift between the rich and the poor. The Weingart Center Association in Los Angeles is doing something similar. There are instating a program that will help low wage workers develop basic educational skills as well as housing them. This is an effort to increase the worker's employment opportunities as well as providing them transitional housing so that they can become self-supportive again (Rivera 2000). Eviction and displacement services is also important for those individuals that are being released from jails, rehab, mental health care and foster care. If the program misses these vulnerable people, the end result will most likely be another increase in homelessness. Increasing wages of the poor may come in time, but with the current economy increasing the minimum wage is not possible. Not only will these programs aid in preventing the problem of homelessness, but during nation-wide crises, like Hurricane Katrina or a sudden economic depression, America will not waste much needed resources. The proper precautions will be set along with a competent group of workers that specialize in crisis aid.
This proposed program is not without a few downfalls. The lack of in-depth and current research on all of America's homeless will lead to unforeseen problems that always are included in pioneering unknown territory. There will be some known stumbling blocks along the way. Money is a major factor. Chronic homelessness only accounts for 10-15% of the homeless population, but they account for 50% of the cost to support homeless in shelthers (Burt, Aron, & Lee, 2001). If this staticistic is proven true, then the cost of my proposed plan will be extensive in order to properly rehabilitate the homeless population. In addition, because of sever physological disorders and substance abuse issues, many chronic homeless people reject most forms of rehabilitation. Once the program steps in these waters, through extensive research and field testings of different avenues, a solution will be found for this group. Lastely, forming a program that is a result of merging many different non-profit, government, non-government, medical, education and many other types of organizations will not be easy, but if the federal government heads the endeavor and assumes control, then there will be less problems in the merging of many different organizations. Although there are several holes in my purposed program (most of the holes we are not even aware of, because the lack of in-depth research), our current focus of dealing with homelessness will cost the tax-payer much more money and time in the long run. The resulting new data of this proposed plan will not only expand on the current knowledge of our complex problem, but it is a major set toward the end of homelessness.
Homelessness became a national agenda in the mid 80's and we have learned an extensive amount about homelessness. The 1990's and early 00's economic stabilization did not see a decline in homelessness and we realized there was a more complex problem occurring. Through several government and non-government sponsored studies we have found what homelessness is, who is homeless, and how/why they became homeless. The efforts to survey homelessness have shed light on all of the above, but further research and surveying is needed to give a complete picture of the problem we face. Beginning with the McKinney Act all the way through the recent 10 year plan by the NAEH, we have seen the results of efforts to manage, end and prevent homelessness. The resulting effort of the past twenty years is encompassed in my plan to prevent and finally end homelessness. Questions remain as how to properly and successfully transfer the chronic homeless from the streets to permanent housing that will not result in a relapse. Despite potential drawbacks, this proposal is our best chance to cure the epidemic of homelessness.
(Cited works are on the next page)
Works Cited
Baum, Alice, and Donald Burnes. A Nation in Denial: The Truth
About Homelessness. 1993. Boulder: Westview Press, Inc.
Berman, Evan, and Jonathan West. "Municipal Responses to
Homelessness." Journal of Urban Affairs. 1997. 19(3): 303-18.
Burt, Martha, Laudan Aron, Edgar Lee, and Jesse Valente. (Forthcoming).
America's Homeless a Decade Later (tentative title). 2001. Washington,
D.C.: Urban Institute Press
Foscarinis, Maria. "The Federal Response: The Stewart B.
McKinney Homeless Assistance Act." Homelessness
in America. 1996. ed. Jim Baumohl. Phoenix: The Oryx Press.
Interagency Council on the Homeless. "Homelessness: Programs
and the People They Serve."1999. Findings of the National Survey of
Homeless Assistance Providers and Clients (December).
Jencks, Christopher. The Homeless. Cambridge. 1994 Harvard University
Press.
Kondratas, A. "Estimates and Public Policy: The Politics of
Numbers." Paper presented at the 1991 Fannie Mae Annual Housing
Conference, Washington, D.C. (May).
Rivera, Carla. "Helping Hands for Mentally Ill." Los Angeles
Times, 9 June 2000.
Sommer, Heidi. Homelessness in Urban America: A Review of Literature.
Institute of Governmental Studies Press. University of California, Berkeley.
2000. March 12, 2008. <http://www.igs.berkeley.edu/events/homeless/NewHomelessnessBook1.pdf>
Wright, James, Beth Rubin, and Joel Devine. "Beside the Golden
Door: Policy, Politics and the Homeless." 1998 New York: Aldine De Gruyter.
eala:
you interest me
uproot:
thats a thoughtful essay man, where are you goin to school - i grew up in the dc area