Housing the Homeless

Housing the Homeless
Author: Jon Erickson
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 459
Release: 2017-07-12
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 135151492X

Homelessness has become a lasting issue of vital social concern. As the number of the homeless has grown, the complexity of the issue has become increasingly clear to researchers and private and public service providers. The plight of the homeless raises many ethical, anthropological, political, sociological, and public health questions. The most serious and perplexing of these questions is what steps private, charitable, and public organizations can take to alleviate and eventually solve the problem. The concept of homelessness is difficult to define and measure. Generally, persons are thought to be homeless if they have no permanent residence and seek security, rest, and protection from the elements. The homeless typically live in areas that are not designed to be shelters (e.g., parks, bus terminals, under bridges, in cars), occupy structures without permission (e.g., squatters), or are provided emergency shelter by a public or private agency. Some definitions of homelessness include persons living on a short-term basis in single-room-occupancy hotels or motels, or temporarily residing in social or health-service facilities without a permanent address. Housing the Homeless is a collection of case studies that bring together a variety of perspectives to help develop a clear understanding of the homelessness problem. The editors include information on the background and politics of the problem and descriptions of the current homeless population. The book concludes with a resource section, which highlights governmental policies and programs established to deal with the problem of homelessness.

Homelessness Is a Housing Problem

Homelessness Is a Housing Problem
Author: Gregg Colburn
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 283
Release: 2022-03-15
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0520383796

Using rich and detailed data, this groundbreaking book explains why homelessness has become a crisis in America and reveals the structural conditions that underlie it. In Homelessness Is a Housing Problem, Gregg Colburn and Clayton Page Aldern seek to explain the substantial regional variation in rates of homelessness in cities across the United States. In a departure from many analytical approaches, Colburn and Aldern shift their focus from the individual experiencing homelessness to the metropolitan area. Using accessible statistical analysis, they test a range of conventional beliefs about what drives the prevalence of homelessness in a given city—including mental illness, drug use, poverty, weather, generosity of public assistance, and low-income mobility—and find that none explain the regional variation observed across the country. Instead, housing market conditions, such as the cost and availability of rental housing, offer a far more convincing account. With rigor and clarity, Homelessness Is a Housing Problem explores U.S. cities' diverse experiences with housing precarity and offers policy solutions for unique regional contexts.

How to House the Homeless

How to House the Homeless
Author: Ingrid Gould Ellen
Publisher: Russell Sage Foundation
Total Pages: 201
Release: 2010-06-24
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1610447298

How to House the Homeless, editors Ingrid Gould Ellen and Brendan O'Flaherty propose that the answers entail rethinking how housing markets operate and developing more efficient interventions in existing service programs. The book critically reassesses where we are now, analyzes the most promising policies and programs going forward, and offers a new agenda for future research. How to House the Homeless makes clear the inextricable link between homelessness and housing policy. Contributor Jill Khadduri reviews the current residential services system and housing subsidy programs. For the chronically homeless, she argues, a combination of assisted housing approaches can reach the greatest number of people and, specifically, an expanded Housing Choice Voucher system structured by location, income, and housing type can more efficiently reach people at-risk of becoming homeless and reduce time spent homeless. Robert Rosenheck examines the options available to homeless people with mental health problems and reviews the cost-effectiveness of five service models: system integration, supported housing, clinical case management, benefits outreach, and supported employment. He finds that only programs that subsidize housing make a noticeable dent in homelessness, and that no one program shows significant benefits in multiple domains of life. Contributor Sam Tsemberis assesses the development and cost-effectiveness of the Housing First program, which serves mentally ill homeless people in more than four hundred cities. He asserts that the program's high housing retention rate and general effectiveness make it a viable candidate for replication across the country. Steven Raphael makes the case for a strong link between homelessness and local housing market regulations—which affect housing affordability—and shows that the problem is more prevalent in markets with stricter zoning laws. Finally, Brendan O'Flaherty bridges the theoretical gap between the worlds of public health and housing research, evaluating the pros and cons of subsidized housing programs and the economics at work in the rental housing market and home ownership. Ultimately, he suggests, the most viable strategies will serve as safety nets—"social insurance"—to reach people who are homeless now and to prevent homelessness in the future. It is crucial that the links between effective policy and the whole cycle of homelessness—life conditions, service systems, and housing markets—be made clear now. With a keen eye on the big picture of housing policy, How to House the Homeless shows what works and what doesn't in reducing the numbers of homeless and reaching those most at risk.

Helping America's Homeless

Helping America's Homeless
Author: Martha R. Burt
Publisher: The Urban Insitute
Total Pages: 382
Release: 2001
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9780877667018

Longtime Urban Institute researcher Martha Burt and her co-authors provide an in-depth analysis of homelessness, exploring issues such as how many homeless people there are in America, where they are, why they became homeless, how long their homelessness lasts, the different ways programs in different communities are helping the homeless, and how policymakers have approached the problem. Finally, they consider what societies may be willing to do reduce the probability that their members will become homeless. c. Book News Inc.

Permanent Supportive Housing

Permanent Supportive Housing
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 227
Release: 2018-08-11
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0309477042

Chronic homelessness is a highly complex social problem of national importance. The problem has elicited a variety of societal and public policy responses over the years, concomitant with fluctuations in the economy and changes in the demographics of and attitudes toward poor and disenfranchised citizens. In recent decades, federal agencies, nonprofit organizations, and the philanthropic community have worked hard to develop and implement programs to solve the challenges of homelessness, and progress has been made. However, much more remains to be done. Importantly, the results of various efforts, and especially the efforts to reduce homelessness among veterans in recent years, have shown that the problem of homelessness can be successfully addressed. Although a number of programs have been developed to meet the needs of persons experiencing homelessness, this report focuses on one particular type of intervention: permanent supportive housing (PSH). Permanent Supportive Housing focuses on the impact of PSH on health care outcomes and its cost-effectiveness. The report also addresses policy and program barriers that affect the ability to bring the PSH and other housing models to scale to address housing and health care needs.

Housing First

Housing First
Author: Deborah Padgett
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 249
Release: 2016
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 019998980X

This book provides a unique portrayal of Housing First as a 'paradigm shift' in homeless services. Since 1992, this approach has spread nationally and internationally, changing systems and reversing the usual continuum of care. The success of Housing First has few parallels in social and human services.

The Book on Ending Homelessness

The Book on Ending Homelessness
Author: Iain De Jong
Publisher: FriesenPress
Total Pages: 104
Release: 2019-10-25
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1525554166

The Book on Ending Homelessness provides insights for those in the industry, elected officials, policy makers, funders, public servants and the general public on the best ways to move from managing homelessness to ending homelessness. While ending homelessness may seem to be a whacky or even preposterous idea, Iain De Jong takes more than two decades of experience as an award winning industry leader to lay out how and why homelessness can be ended in very practical ways. This book will provoke and teach, serving as both inspiration and an instruction manual for those serious about combatting one of the most important social issues of our time. The book will reshape how you think about homelessness, as well as how strategies like sheltering, street outreach and day services all play a role in ending homelessness when operated with a housing-focused lens and the right service orientation. No doubt the book will reassure some that their thinking and actions regarding homelessness are bang on, while challenging others to think and respond differently in what they do and how they invest their money. Many of the ideas in the book elaborate upon ideas that Iain shares in his blog, keynote speeches and conference presentations, as well as the training series that Iain and his team have been offering for the past decade. If you are involved in homelessness issues or concerned about homelessness, this book is essential reading.

Pretreatment Guide for Homeless Outreach & Housing First

Pretreatment Guide for Homeless Outreach & Housing First
Author: Jay S. Levy
Publisher: Loving Healing Press
Total Pages: 178
Release: 2012-09-30
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1615992014

This book provides social workers, outreach clinicians, case managers, and concerned community members with a pretreatment guide for assisting homeless couples, youth, and single adults. The inter-relationship between Homeless Outreach and Housing First is examined in detail to inform program development and hands on practice. "Pretreatment Guide for Homeless Outreach & Housing First" shares five detailed case studies from the field to elucidate effective ways of helping and to demonstrate how the most vulnerable among us can overcome trauma and homelessness. Readers will:ÿ ÿ * Expand their assessment skills and discover new interventions for helping people who have experienced long-term or chronic homelessness.ÿ ÿ *ÿUnderstand and be able to integrate the stages of common language construction with their own practice.ÿ ÿ *ÿLearn about the positive measurable impact of a Housing First approach and its moral, fiscal, and quality of life implications.ÿ ÿ *ÿUnderstand how to better integrate program policy and supervision with Homeless Outreach & Housing First initiatives.ÿ ÿ *ÿLearn how to utilize a Pretreatment Approach with couples, youth, and unaccompanied adults experiencing untreated major mental illness and addiction.ÿ "Jay S. Levy's book is essential reading to both people new to the movement to end homelessness and folks who have been in the trenches for many years. Learn how to do effective outreach with the chronic homeless population, and the ins and outs of the Housing First model. The personal stories and the success cases will give inspiration to work even harder to help both individuals and for ending homelessness in your community." Michael Stoops, Director of Community Organizing National Coalition for the Homeless, Washington, DC Learn more at www.JaySLevy.com Another empowering book from Loving Healing Press www.LovingHealing.com

Homelessness, Health, and Human Needs

Homelessness, Health, and Human Needs
Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 257
Release: 1988-02-01
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0309038324

There have always been homeless people in the United States, but their plight has only recently stirred widespread public reaction and concern. Part of this new recognition stems from the problem's prevalence: the number of homeless individuals, while hard to pin down exactly, is rising. In light of this, Congress asked the Institute of Medicine to find out whether existing health care programs were ignoring the homeless or delivering care to them inefficiently. This book is the report prepared by a committee of experts who examined these problems through visits to city slums and impoverished rural areas, and through an analysis of papers written by leading scholars in the field.