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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Foreword, Raymond L. Flynn Mar 1992

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 …


Editor's Note, Padraig O'Malley Mar 1992

Editor's Note, Padraig O'Malley

New England Journal of Public Policy

Today, much of public policy debate takes place in a social vacuum. This is partly because policy issues are often rather arbitrarily assigned to particular and seemingly unconnected disciplines that put a premium on maintaining their separate baronies of intellectual hegemony, and partly because of our own too-pervasive proclivity for compartmentalizing in order to simplify. One of the goals of the New England Journal of Public Policy is to invade, as it were, these baronies, to liberate the policy issues held hostage there and release them into a broader, more human context, one that accentuates the idea of connectedness as …


On Dumpster Diving, Lars Eighner Mar 1992

On Dumpster Diving, Lars Eighner

New England Journal of Public Policy

Lars Eighner became homeless in 1988 after leaving a job he had held for ten years as an attendant at a state hospital in Austin, Texas. He lives in a small apartment in Austin and continues to scavenge. This article was originally published in the Fall 1990 issue of The Threepenny Review. Reprinted with permission.


Question, Edward Baros Mar 1992

Question, Edward Baros

New England Journal of Public Policy

Poem by Edward Baros.


Homelessness Past And Present: The Case Of The United States, 1890-1925, Ellen Bassuk, Deborah Franklin Mar 1992

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 Mar 1992

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 …


Homelessness, A. E. S. Mar 1992

Homelessness, A. E. S.

New England Journal of Public Policy

Personal story from A.E.S., a member of the Portland (Maine) Coalition for the Psychiatrically Disabled.


The Housing Crisis Enters The 1990s, Peter Dreier, Richard Appelbaum Mar 1992

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.


Housing The Homeless Through Expanding Access To Existing Housing Subsidies, Barbara Sard Mar 1992

Housing The Homeless Through Expanding Access To Existing Housing Subsidies, Barbara Sard

New England Journal of Public Policy

The premise of this article is that homelessness in America today is essentially a product of the lack of affordable housing for very low-income people. The article outlines this central income/housing gap analysis as the factual predicate of the goal to alleviate homelessness through securing subsidized housing resources for the homeless and imminently homeless. It explains why, based on the nature and number of annually available housing subsidies, expanding access to existing housing subsidies is a valuable, workable, short-term, at least partial solution to the immediate crisis of lack of affordable housing, albeit one which does not negate the acknowledged …


Twin Peaks, Vince Putnam Mar 1992

Twin Peaks, Vince Putnam

New England Journal of Public Policy

Poetry by Vince Putnam, a resident of Fifty Washington Square, Newport, Rhode Island. His work has appeared in In the Heart of the City, a literary magazine produced by the residents of Fifty Washington Square. He is pursuing an MSW degree at the University of Rhode Island.


Diary, Susan M. Fowler Mar 1992

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. Mar 1992

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.


Housing, Community Support, And Homelessness: Emerging Policy In Mental Health Systems, Paul J. Carling Mar 1992

Housing, Community Support, And Homelessness: Emerging Policy In Mental Health Systems, Paul J. Carling

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article summarizes the dramatic changes in public policy through which public mental health systems are attempting to meet the housing and community support needs of persons with severe and persistent mental illnesses, including those who are homeless. It traces the historical approach to meeting these needs through defining people principally as patients and providing some combination of psychotropic medications, outpatient therapy, and structured, supervised quasi-institutional settings such as group homes, shelters, and segregated single-room-occupancy, or board-and-care facilities. A transition phase in public policy has emphasized defining these individuals essentially as service recipients who need greater or lesser amounts of …


The Kindred Bonds Of Mentally Ill Homeless Persons, Richard C. Tessler, Gail M. Gamache, Peter H. Rossi, Anthony F. Lehman, Howard H. Goldman Mar 1992

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 Mar 1992

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 Mar 1992

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.


My Name Is Edward, I Am An Alcoholic, Edward Baros Mar 1992

My Name Is Edward, I Am An Alcoholic, Edward Baros

New England Journal of Public Policy

A personal story by Edward Baros, a resident of Fifty Washington Square, Newport, Rhode Island. His work has appeared in In the Heart of the City, a literary magazine produced by the residents of Fifty Washington Square.


Triangulation In Monument Square, S. B. Mar 1992

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.


State Government's Response To Homelessness: The Massachusetts Experience, 1983-1990, Nancy K. Kaufman Mar 1992

State Government's Response To Homelessness: The Massachusetts Experience, 1983-1990, Nancy K. Kaufman

New England Journal of Public Policy

When Governor Michael S. Dukakis reentered the State House in January 1983, he focused his inaugural address and priorities for his incoming administration on solving the problem of homelessness. This article describes the policy approach taken during his two successive terms as governor from 1983 to 1990, outlines the various steps taken to rally public and private support and resources on preventing the problem and on finding long-term, permanent solutions designed to solve it, and points to some of the lessons learned during these years of experimentation and innovation.


Homelessness In Massachusetts: Perception, Policy, And Progress, Milton Argeriou Mar 1992

Homelessness In Massachusetts: Perception, Policy, And Progress, Milton Argeriou

New England Journal of Public Policy

Homelessness is not a new phenomenon in Massachusetts, nor are the "new" homeless of the 1980s and 1990s that different from the "old" homeless of previous decades. What is new is the societal response to the burgeoning population of homeless men, women, and children. Massachusetts's response to the problem of homelessness in the 1980s, as outlined in the Massachusetts Comprehensive Policy Approach, is examined and found to reflect commitment and creativity. However, the problem of homelessness in Massachusetts remains, the community appears frustrated, and current budget cutbacks do not augur well for future services to the homeless.


Anger, A. E. S. Mar 1992

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.


Circle, Dean Hamlin Mar 1992

Circle, Dean Hamlin

New England Journal of Public Policy

Poetry by Dean Hamlin, 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.


Down And Out In Boston, Jack Thomas Mar 1992

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.


Aids And The Homeless Of Boston, James J. O'Connell, Joan Lebow Mar 1992

Aids And The Homeless Of Boston, James J. O'Connell, Joan Lebow

New England Journal of Public Policy

Homeless persons with AIDS and HIV infection face significant health hazards during the daily struggle for survival on the streets and in the crowded shelters of our cities. This article offers a historical perspective on the evolution of the AIDS epidemic within the homeless population of Boston and examines the demographics, risk behaviors, and survival statistics of that epidemic. The Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program is presented as a model of service delivery that offers quality health care to homeless persons with AIDS while addressing the special needs of those bound by the immediacy of the next meal …


Tents Along The Merrimack: Homelessness And University-Community Cooperation, Mark D. Levine Mar 1992

Tents Along The Merrimack: Homelessness And University-Community Cooperation, Mark D. Levine

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article presents historical, institutional, and ethical contexts for a university and an industrial, ethnic community's cooperative effort to address local hunger and homelessness. A large portion of the University of Massachusetts at Lowell's students are of working-class and local origin. Neighborhood social problems are in effect their own, and community service may be considered a variant of self-help. Attention is paid the special importance of developing a sense of community across traditional boundaries on and off campus and to the establishment of permanent mutually beneficial structures.


Let Them Have Housing, Wendy Quinones Mar 1992

Let Them Have Housing, Wendy Quinones

New England Journal of Public Policy

Does eliminating homelessness primarily require social services or affordable housing? Research done among former guests of the family shelter operated by Wellspring House, Inc., suggests that, at least for one group of homeless mothers, the provision of secure and affordable housing enables them to function and even to flourish. This article explores both the research and its philosophical underpinnings.


The Grassroots Home: How Local Communities Are Fighting Homelessness, Sheila Rauch Kennedy Mar 1992

The Grassroots Home: How Local Communities Are Fighting Homelessness, Sheila Rauch Kennedy

New England Journal of Public Policy

In the 1980s federal policy combined with market forces to produce the American tragedy of homelessness. Since that time influential policymakers have debated every aspect of the issue, but avoided the large-scale commitment needed for solutions. Locally, however, grassroots efforts have made these commitments and forged the coalitions needed to address the issue. The solution to homelessness lies in harnessing these same successful public and private resources on the regional and national levels.


Ending Homelessness Among Mentally Disabled People, Steven A. Hitov Mar 1992

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, …


A Single Man And Christmas, Steve Johnson Mar 1992

A Single Man And Christmas, Steve Johnson

New England Journal of Public Policy

Steve Johnson is a resident of Fifty Washington Square, Newport, Rhode Island. His work has appeared in In the Heart of the City, a literary magazine produced by the residents of Fifty Washington Square.


A Visit To The Vet Hospital, D. B. Mar 1992

A Visit To The Vet Hospital, D. B.

New England Journal of Public Policy

D.B. is a member of the Portland (Maine) Coalition for the Psychiatrically Disabled. His poem first appeared in The Portland Coalition Advocate. Reprinted with permission.