- "Demographics and Geography: Estimating Needs," by Martha Burt.
- "Special Populations of Homeless Americans," by Robert Rosenheck, Ellen Bassuk,
and Amy Solomon.
- "Homeless Youth: Research, Intervention, and Policy,"
by Marjorie Robertson and Paul Toro.
- "Making Homelessness Programs Accountable to Consumers, Funders and the Public,"
by Dennis Culhane, David Eldridge, Robert Rosenheck, and Carol Wilkins.
- "Giving Voice to Homeless People in Policy, Practice, and Research," by Nicole Glasser.
- "To Dance with Grace: Out-reach and Engagement to Persons on the Street," by Sally Erickson and Jaimie Page.
- "A Review of Case Management for People Who Are Homeless: Implications for Practice, Policy, and Research," by Gary Morse.
- "Balancing Act: Clinical Practices that Respond to the Needs of Homeless People,"
by Marsha McMurray-Avila, Lillian Gelberg, and William Breakey.
- "Emergency Shelter and Services: Opening the Front Door to the Continuum of
Care," by Judith Feins and Linda Fosburg.
- "Transitional Housing and Services: A Synthesis," by
Susan Barrow and Rita Zimmer.
- "Reconnecting Homeless Individuals and Families to the Community," by Debra Rog
and Scott Holupka.
- "What Do We Know About Systems Integration and Homelessness?" by Deborah Dennis, Joseph Cocazza, and Henry Steadman.
- "Rethinking the Prevention of Homelessness," by Marybeth Shinn and Jim Baumohl.
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Homelessness remains one of America's most important human issues. Many people are vulnerable to the continuing effects of chronic poverty, coupled with physical and other disabilities, and rapid changes in society, the workplace, and local housing markets. Since the enactment of the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act in 1987, more than $11 billion have been appropriated for targeted homeless assistance and billions more have been provided through other Federal, State, and local programs and benefits. Despite these significant increases in funding, program administrators often have managed their programs without current and reliable data on the characteristics of the people they were serving and the newly emerging networks of services and service providers. As research results on the impacts of McKinney funding have become available, it is an appropriate time to review the characteristics of homeless people, the providers of services to this population, and the nature of homelessness.
Two new reports, Homelessness: Programs and the People They Serve and Practical Lessons: The 1998 National Symposium on Homelessness Research, address these and other issues. Homelessness details the findings of the National Survey of Homeless Assistance Providers and Clients (NSHAPC). NSHAPC is a landmark study that updates the national picture of the homeless in a comprehensive and reliable way for the first time since 1987. NSHAPC was conceived, developed, and funded by 12 Federal agencies under the auspices of the Interagency Council on the Homeless. The Census Bureau carried out the data collection on behalf of the sponsoring agencies. The NSHAPC study was designed to provide a nationally representative sample of homeless and other clients who use homeless assistance programs and an indepth examination of the programs themselves.
Users of homeless services in central cities, suburbs, and small cities were interviewed, as well as administrators of homeless services programs. The information in the report is critical to discussions about effective public policy responses needed to break the cycle of homelessness. Homelessness contains a wealth of data that provides a clearer picture of homelessness in the United States. It also provides an important baseline for future studies.
Practical Lessons draws material from studies and research conducted over the past decade on homeless issues. It resulted from the National Symposium on Homelessness Research, which was convened in Arlington, Virginia, in October 1998. Leading researchers, program managers, practitioners, and consumers reviewed and commented on draft papers that synthesized knowledge about how to design continuums of care and how to provide services to homeless people most effectively. Then the authors, HUD, and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) collaborated to develop a final set of summary papers that highlight major lessons learned and topics for future examination.
The 13 research papers contained in Practical Lessons cover a wide range of critical homeless program interests. The papers contain a wealth of information from the synthesized research that can inform future initiatives for homeless people by practitioners, policymakers, and researchers. Papers included in the volume are shown in the box at right.
Homelessness: Programs and the People They Serve is presented in three forms—highlights, a summary report, and a technical report. The summary contains an overview of the survey design, descriptions of homeless clients, comparisons of current with former homeless clients and other service users, details on homeless assistance programs, and appendixes on primary sampling areas and program definitions. The summary report contains numerous illustrative figures and tables. The technical report can be downloaded in PDF form from www.huduser.gov/publications/homeless.html. The summary report is available in html form from the same site.
The full technical report includes additional indepth reporting on the survey design and data collection techniques; demographic characteristics; homeless histories; income, income sources, and employment; clients' health status, service use, and sources of care; food consumption, access, and sources; and special needs populations. The technical report also discusses specific homeless populations, such as veterans and children. The report discusses program use and service needs;
compares homeless clients from central city, suburban, and rural areas; details homeless assistance programs and service locations; looks at client profiles from the program perspective; analyzes service needs; and discusses homeless assistance programs in NSHAPC's 76 sampling areas.
Homelessness: Programs and the People They Serve (forthcoming) will be available free from HUD USER. Practical Lessons: The 1998 National Symposium on Homelessness Research is free from HUD USER. Please use the order form to order online.
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