NCJ Number
120449
Editor(s)
J A Momeni
Date Published
1989
Length
258 pages
Annotation
Research specialists in homelessness draw upon different data sources to present perspectives on homelessness in States and regions that cover approximately one-third of the Nation.
Abstract
The States covered are Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Virginia. The Pacific Northwest is covered as a region. The essays dramatize the national uniformity of the problem of homelessness, although profiles of the homeless may vary from State to State. In most ways, the "new" homelessness is much like the old. Most homeless people are still multiproblem men. Compared to the general population, the homeless are apt to be disabled, diseased, or mentally ill; they have attenuated kinship and friendship networks; they tend to be long-term unemployed or unemployable; and they are more likely to have histories of drug use, alcoholism, arrest, and incarceration. What is "new" about the current homelessness problem is an unprecedented shortage of low-income housing. Chapter tables and references, subject index.