Housing the Homeless
Product Description Cities throughout the United States are experiencing a dramatic rise in the number of homeless persons. Who are the homeless? How many homeless persons are there in America? What policies and programs for the homeless have and should be implemented at the federal, state and local levels? This collection of articles, reports and case studies brings together a variety of perspectives to help answer these questions. The materials include discussions on the political ramifications of the issue, the changing mass media images, and the many sources of homelessness. Estimates by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and others of the number of homeless persons are presented. Three specific population subgroups—the traditional Skid Row population, the deinstitutionalized mentally ill, and homeless women and children—are examined in detail. Finally, case studies and resource materials about existing and proposed policies and programs are included as models for local and state action. This collection brings together a diverse group of authors including Kim Hopper, Chester Hartman, Donald Bogue, Thomas J. Main, H. Richard Lamb, Patricia Cayo Sexton, and other experts from the fields of Anthropology, Planning, Political Science, Psychiatry, Sociology, and Social Work. Not only is the book of vital interest to state and local officials, it is well suited to be a textbook in urban planning, sociology, and policy analysis courses examining current social issues. I. Images of the homeless II. Background and politics III. The importance of numbers IV. Who are the homeless and why? V. Solutions to the problem VI. Resources Review “Housing the Homeless is the first major collection of key research and programmatic articles to appear on the topic… [It] clearly stands as a central reference for those involved in homelessness research or policy-making, and is of fundamental importance to anyone wishing to initiate such endeavors. It should also be useful in both graduate and undergraduate human geography and urban planning curricular, particularly for social geography and human-services planning courses.” —Jennifer R. Wolch, Professional Geographer “In spite of its title, this volume is really a portrait of what we have not done to house the homeless. It does contain, however, enough material to fashion a liberal remedy. We must first recognize the heterogeneity of the homeless population. While the stereotypical white-male alcoholic is a reality, so too is the unemployed man or woman who is unable to find affordable housing in our “revitalized” downtowns. The homeless are a cross-section of our underclass, and as such cannot be separated from poverty in general. To do so means we will continue to develop policies which treat symptoms (providing shelters), rather than causes (providing full employment).” —John Paul Jones III, Growth and Change “[T]he impressive array of research found within… amply illustrates, as advocates already know, that what prevents solutions from being adopted nationally is not a lack of knowledge, but a lack of the political will to make what would be wrenching structural changes concerning housing and social services in this nation.” —Rob Rosenthal, Contemporary Sociology "Useful volume of up-to-date information." —Langley C. Keyes, APA Journal About the Author Charles Wilhelm served as project coordinator at the Capital Budget Homeless Housing Program in New York in the 1980s.Jon Erickson is coordinator of the Environmental Management option in the Master of Public Administration program at Kean University and former research associate at the Center for Urban Policy Research, part of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Policy Research at Rutgers University. Most recently, he helped prepare a report on “Sustainability as Partner to Economic Regeneration: The Impact Assessment of the New