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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
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- Homelessness (56)
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Articles 1 - 30 of 78
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Editor's Note, Padraig O'Malley
Editor's Note, Padraig O'Malley
New England Journal of Public Policy
Four years ago, in the 1988 Summer/Fall issue of the New England Journal of Public Policy, we wrote,
"[The two] presidential candidates, Michael Dukakis and George Bush, [proved] themselves extraordinarily adept time and again at not addressing any of the excruciatingly difficult choices a new administration will have to make. But the realities the new president will face cannot be indefinitely obscured. The prosperity we enjoy, the unparalleled splurge in consumption during the 1980s, has been fueled by borrowing against the future. Although this observation is not especially new — and repetition has robbed it of urgency — what …
Latinos In Massachusetts: Growth And Geographical Distribution, Ralph Rivera
Latinos In Massachusetts: Growth And Geographical Distribution, Ralph Rivera
New England Journal of Public Policy
Massachusetts has undergone radical changes in its racial/ethnic composition in the last ten years. The Latino population, owing to its extraordinary growth rate during the last two decades, is the largest racial/ethnic minority group in the state. Yet relatively little is known about this population because of the "information gap." Based on 1990 census data, this article focuses on the growth and geographical distribution of Latinos in Massachusetts. It considers the undercount of Latinos, the growth of Latinos in the commonwealth from a national perspective, and assesses the increase of Latinos in the New England states. It explores the growth …
The Cost Of Home Ownership In Vermont, 1975-1990, Arthur G. Woolf
The Cost Of Home Ownership In Vermont, 1975-1990, Arthur G. Woolf
New England Journal of Public Policy
Housing prices in Vermont, like those in the other New England states, shot up dramatically during the economic boom of the 1980s. This article investigates the causes of that price increase and focuses on the cost of home ownership in Vermont in the years 1975 to 1990. Cost of home ownership is defined as the percentage of family income needed to finance an average-price home. Although prices skyrocketed during the 1980s, the actual cost of home ownership as a percentage of income was about 15 percent greater in 1990 than it was during the mid-1970s. Housing price increases are expected …
The Legacies Of Deindustrialization And The Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor, Douglas M. Reynolds
The Legacies Of Deindustrialization And The Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor, Douglas M. Reynolds
New England Journal of Public Policy
Creation of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor and release of a master plan for cultural and physical resource development is creating a new standard for private, local, state, and federal partnerships. Actions by the Corridor's partners are shaped by both past and contemporary economic development issues. Using tools of humanistic inquiry — history, economics, preservation, sociology, political science — for social and economic purposes signifies far-reaching shifts and possibilities for public planning and policy philosophies in both public and private agencies.
New York Revisited, Shaun O'Connell
New York Revisited, Shaun O'Connell
New England Journal of Public Policy
The works discussed in this article include: City of the World: New York and Its People, by Bernie Bookbinder; New York, New York, by Oliver E. Allen; New York Intellect: A History of Intellectual Life in New York City, from 1750 to the Beginnings of Our Own Time, by Thomas Bender; The Heart of the World, by Nik Cohn; The Art of the City: Views and Versions of New York, by Peter Conrad; After Henry, by Joan Didion; Literary New York: A History and Guide, by Susan Edmiston and Linda D. Cirino; Our …
Foreword, Raymond L. Flynn
Foreword, Raymond L. Flynn
New England Journal of Public Policy
Imagine a hypothetical disaster befalling America's cities. A bomb, perhaps; or a ferocious hurricane; or an earthquake. Two to 3 million Americans lose their homes. We know that, daily, the evening news and the major newspapers would feature stories on the number of people victimized by the disaster. Many Americans would volunteer to help their neighbors in need, and many community agencies and local governments would come to the rescue, but the public would rightly expect the federal government to play a leading role in repairing the human and physical damage. The president and Congress would act swiftly to declare …
Question, Edward Baros
Homelessness Past And Present: The Case Of The United States, 1890-1925, Ellen Bassuk, Deborah Franklin
Homelessness Past And Present: The Case Of The United States, 1890-1925, Ellen Bassuk, Deborah Franklin
New England Journal of Public Policy
An examination of the professional, political, and popular literature on the nature and extent of homelessness from 1890 to 1925 affords a comparison of the economic and social characteristics of the homeless population at the turn of the century with that of today. The discussion covers the ensuing debates over the causes of homelessness, the various subgroups among the homeless during both periods, and the relative rates of homelessness, the context of extreme poverty and dislocation, and the prevalence of individual disabilities. Except for the growing numbers of homeless families over the past decade, the homeless populations during both eras …
Build Homes Not Bombs: Get A Better Economy To Boot!, Richard Krushnic
Build Homes Not Bombs: Get A Better Economy To Boot!, Richard Krushnic
New England Journal of Public Policy
Our nation has a rare opportunity to shift resources from military to civilian activities for the next few years. A budget pact is supposed to prevent transfers of funds from the military to domestic programs during fiscal years 1992 and 1993, but the pact is cracking in light of the sudden collapse of the Soviet military and the dismemberment of the Soviet Union. While jobs are lost when funds are shifted out of the military, the funds don't disappear - they are used for alternative federal expenditures, paying federal debt, or tax reduction. Many alternative expenditure patterns are available to …
Streets Are For Nobody: Caroline, Melissa Shook
Streets Are For Nobody: Caroline, Melissa Shook
New England Journal of Public Policy
From an interview by Melissa Shook, July 7, 1988, Boston. Reprinted, with permission, from "Streets Are for Nobody: Homeless Women Speak," Boston Center for the Arts, 1991.
The Housing Crisis Enters The 1990s, Peter Dreier, Richard Appelbaum
The Housing Crisis Enters The 1990s, Peter Dreier, Richard Appelbaum
New England Journal of Public Policy
Homelessness in the United States is a symptom of a much deeper economic and housing crisis — a widening gap between incomes and housing prices. With the end of the Cold War, the nation has the resources to solve these problems, but to do so it must mobilize the political will. This article examines the roots of crisis, the public policies and market forces that created it, and policy recommendations to solve the problem. Key to forging a solution is building the political coalition needed to create a broad public consensus.
Diary, Susan M. Fowler
Diary, Susan M. Fowler
New England Journal of Public Policy
A personal story by Susan Fowler, a former resident of Fifty Washington Square, Newport, Rhode Island. She now lives in her own apartment in Newport with her two-year-old daughter and is "doing great." Her work has appeared in In the Heart of the City, a literary magazine produced by the residents of Fifty Washington Square.
Indemnified In A January Soup Kitchen Line, Ray Hall Jr.
Indemnified In A January Soup Kitchen Line, Ray Hall Jr.
New England Journal of Public Policy
Poetry by Ray Hall, Jr., a contributor to Pile of Papers; Stack of Karma, a collection of poetry published by the Portland Coalition Press. Reprinted with permission.
The Housing Affordability Slide In Action: How Single Mothers Slip Into Homelessness, Elizabeth A. Mulroy
The Housing Affordability Slide In Action: How Single Mothers Slip Into Homelessness, Elizabeth A. Mulroy
New England Journal of Public Policy
This article presents the concept of a housing affordability slide toward homelessness, then analyzes how single mothers living in the Northeast experienced the stark reality of the slide in the summer of 1991. Discussion on critical elements of the slide includes a resource squeeze between high housing costs and low incomes, frequent residential mobility, limited locational choice, and multiple stress burdens. Single mothers speak in their own voices to explain their experiences of the slide and what its impact has been on them and their families. Policy recommendations cover linkage between family well-being and national urban policy and a court-ordered …
The Kindred Bonds Of Mentally Ill Homeless Persons, Richard C. Tessler, Gail M. Gamache, Peter H. Rossi, Anthony F. Lehman, Howard H. Goldman
The Kindred Bonds Of Mentally Ill Homeless Persons, Richard C. Tessler, Gail M. Gamache, Peter H. Rossi, Anthony F. Lehman, Howard H. Goldman
New England Journal of Public Policy
While the unraveling of the kinship bond has long been suspected to play a role in the epidemiology of homelessness, the connection between kinship and homelessness has been little studied. Based on a normative analysis of the role of family structure in response to adversity, this article explores the impact of the amount and quality of kinship ties on episodes of homelessness experienced by discharged psychiatric patients in Ohio. Survey data derived from personal interviews with both former patients and their kin indicate more strain in relations with kin of the homeless than the nonhomeless. The strain in the kinship …
Untitled, Kathie Boulanger
Untitled, Kathie Boulanger
New England Journal of Public Policy
Poetry by Kathie Boulanger, who is a member of the Portland (Maine) Coalition for the Psychiatrically Disabled. Her poem first appeared in Pile of Papers; Stack of Karma, a collection of poetry published by the Portland Coalition Press. Reprinted with permission.
Streets Are For Nobody: Awilda Cruz, Melissa Shook
Streets Are For Nobody: Awilda Cruz, Melissa Shook
New England Journal of Public Policy
From an interviewed by Melissa Shook, July 29, 1989, Shepherd House, Dorchester. Reprinted, with permission, from "Streets Are for Nobody: Homeless Women Speak, "Boston Center for the Arts, 1991.
Program Design And Clinical Operation Of Two National Va Initiatives For Homeless Mentally Ill Veterans, Robert Rosenheck, Catherine A. Leda, Peggy Gallup
Program Design And Clinical Operation Of Two National Va Initiatives For Homeless Mentally Ill Veterans, Robert Rosenheck, Catherine A. Leda, Peggy Gallup
New England Journal of Public Policy
In 1987, in response to reports of large numbers of veterans among America's homeless, the Department of Veterans Affairs established two new national health care initiatives, which have seen over 40,000 homeless veterans since their inception. We present here evaluation and treatment data on a sample of 14,000 of them. Because of differences in their design, the two programs vary in the degree to which they emphasize community outreach, homelessness prevention, and the provision of aftercare services to patients discharged from other VA programs. In spite of these differences, veterans treated in the two programs have similar health care problems …
Triangulation In Monument Square, S. B.
Triangulation In Monument Square, S. B.
New England Journal of Public Policy
A personal story by S.B., a member of the Portland (Maine) Coalition for the Psychiatrically Disabled.
Financing Mental Health Services For The Homeless Mentally Ill In New England, Margaret Stephens, Dominic Hodgkin
Financing Mental Health Services For The Homeless Mentally Ill In New England, Margaret Stephens, Dominic Hodgkin
New England Journal of Public Policy
This paper examines how New England states pay for the mental health care of the homeless mentally ill. The focus is on how states choose providers, how they reimburse and monitor them, and how these arrangements may affect the incentives facing providers. Detailed case studies of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont regulations are included. The studies reveal important differences in how states choose and reimburse providers, for both the homeless and nonhomeless mentally ill. The states also differ in the extent to which they have contracted with nontraditional providers, which many believe to be a necessary approach, given the frequent …
Anger, A. E. S.
Anger, A. E. S.
New England Journal of Public Policy
Poetry by A.E.S., a member of the Portland (Maine) Coalition for the Psychiatrically Disabled.
Down And Out In Boston, Jack Thomas
Down And Out In Boston, Jack Thomas
New England Journal of Public Policy
Jack Thomas is a reporter for the Boston Globe, in which this article first appeared, on February 12, 1992. Reprinted with permission.
Ending Homelessness Among Mentally Disabled People, Steven A. Hitov
Ending Homelessness Among Mentally Disabled People, Steven A. Hitov
New England Journal of Public Policy
This article examines some of the many shortcomings of the mental health system operated by the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health (DMH) and explores the impact of that system on single homeless individuals who suffer from some form of serious or long-term mental disability. To afford that discussion context, however, the article first briefly examines those forces which have, and have not, significantly contributed to the large number of mentally disabled homeless persons. It suggests certain changes, including a shift in departmental focus from hospitals to community services and the creation of a housing subsidy system exclusively for DMH clients, …
Homelessness: The Politics Of Accommodation, Kip Tiernan
Homelessness: The Politics Of Accommodation, Kip Tiernan
New England Journal of Public Policy
This article considers the problem of poverty, with homelessness as the centerpiece. A survey of the problem and its roots and ancillary branches includes (1) a description of poverty in Boston (and America) from 1974 to 1991, its effects, its victims, and its predictable effects on the economy; (2) a description of displacement and of the homelessness that results from it; (3) a description of the immediate response to displacement and homelessness, that is, shelters; (4) a description of the institutionalization/professionalization/ossification of the response (more shelters); and (5) an outline of the terms of the new debate and suggestions for …
The New England Shelter For Homeless Veterans: A Unique Approach, Ken Smith, James M. Yates
The New England Shelter For Homeless Veterans: A Unique Approach, Ken Smith, James M. Yates
New England Journal of Public Policy
It has been estimated that veterans comprise one third of the homeless population. To combat this national disgrace, many small veterans' groups have been formed nationwide to serve their homeless "brothers" in such settings as shelters, group homes, and outreach centers.
A Boston group, the Vietnam Veterans Workshop, based its New England Shelter for Homeless Veterans on the simple but powerful concept of veteran helping veteran. The shelter created a program to accomplish three important functions: providing the basic necessities of a bed, a meal, clothing, and a hot shower; rehabilitating the veterans by offering various activities to comfort and …
Winds Curse, Robert Pavel
Winds Curse, Robert Pavel
New England Journal of Public Policy
Robert Pavel is a member of the Portland (Maine) Coalition for the Psychiatrically Disabled. His poem first appeared in Pile of Papers; Stack of Karma, a collection of poetry published by the Portland Coalition Press. Reprinted with permission.
Rural Homelessness In The Upper Valley, David Shumway
Rural Homelessness In The Upper Valley, David Shumway
New England Journal of Public Policy
Rural Homelessness in the Upper Valley is about the problems and advantages small shelters in the Upper Connecticut River Valley have in working with the homeless. Unable to compete with urban shelters in pursuit of federal and state emergency shelter funding, Headrest, in Lebanon, New Hampshire, demonstrates that its smallness has been turned into offsetting advantages. The quality of Headrest's case management with homeless clients and sincere efforts to network and interact cooperatively with other social service providers, ecumenical groups, and other members of the community have led to significant new community initiatives. Details of recent Upper Valley successes in …
Counting The New York Homeless: An Ethnographic Perspective, Kim Hopper
Counting The New York Homeless: An Ethnographic Perspective, Kim Hopper
New England Journal of Public Policy
Significant ambiguities inhere in the operational definitions of "site" and "selected components of the homeless population" used in the 1990 S-Night Count. Ethnographic methods offer a useful corrective. This article, covering research that was part of a larger project evaluating the S-Night count, describes a brief ethnographic inquiry into the ecology of public spaces occupied by the homeless poor in New York City. Problems in implementation, surprising ease of access, patterns of mobility and prevailing norms from site to site, and the tenuous character of the street sites are reviewed, as are implications for future enumeration efforts.
Framing And Claiming The Homelessness Problem, David A. Rochefort, Roger W. Cobb
Framing And Claiming The Homelessness Problem, David A. Rochefort, Roger W. Cobb
New England Journal of Public Policy
Despite a recent upsurge of interest in the issue, homelessness is a problem of long standing in American society. This article traces how several forces catalyzed the problem's re-entrance onto the political agenda in the 1980s. It then reviews the ongoing debate over homelessness causes and cures as a struggle for problem ownership that has complicated the choices of public policymakers. The final section examines various descriptive attributes that figure into the dispute over how to define homelessness and influence the nature of the public policy response to it.
The Last Thing We Need Is Another Shelter, Jessica Segré
The Last Thing We Need Is Another Shelter, Jessica Segré
New England Journal of Public Policy
Segre suggests that family homelessness is merely the latest and most devastating example of America's lack of commitment to children and families. The history of human services for children is presented to show that, both at the community and at the policy levels, this population and its needs have been neglected, subjected to fragmentation, and consistently downgraded on our lists of priorities. The societal values that have led to this situation are discussed and revealed as still reflecting an individualistic, frontier outlook, which is, however, becoming an anachronism. The need for a child/family policy is stressed, as is the urgency …