Urban, Community and Regional Planning Commons^™

Ending Chronic Homelessness: Cost-Effective Opportunities For Interagency Collaboration, Dennis P. Culhane, Thomas Byrne

Dennis P. Culhane

Faced with a difficult economic climate with high levels of unemployment and widespread home foreclosures, the Administration of President Barack Obama has created a unique opportunity to rethink and redirect fundamental policies and practices ranging from health care to regulation of the financial industry. A similar opportunity exists to change Federal homeless assistance policies and programs.

Institutional Discharges And Subsequent Shelter Use Among Unaccompanied Adults In New York City, Stephen Metraux, Thomas Byrne, Dennis P. Culhane

Dennis P. Culhane

This study empirically examines the link between homelessness and discharges from other institutions. An administrative record match was undertaken to determine rates of discharge from institutional care for 9,247 unaccompanied adult shelter users in New York City. Cluster analysis and multinomial logistic regression analysis was then used to assess associations between different types of institutional discharges and the likelihood of persons subsequently experiencing extended shelter stays. Results show that 28% of the cohort was discharged from institutional care within the 90-day period preceding their initial shelter entry, with different types of institutional discharge associated with differences in subsequent patterns of …

Tackling Homelessness In Los Angeles' Skid Row: The Role Of Policing Strategies And The Spatial Deconcentration Of Homelessness, Dennis P. Culhane

Dennis P. Culhane

While recent research suggests that policing interventions can reduce crime through the spatial deconcentration of street homelessness in Skid Row, such efforts will not succeed on a sustained basis. The city and county need a more comprehensive plan that includes targeted housing development for people who are chronically homeless, along with the spatial deconcentration and repurposing of existing homeless programs.

Behavioral Health Services Use Among Heads Of Homeless And Housed Poor Families, Jung Min Park, Stephen Metraux, Dennis P. Culhane

Dennis P. Culhane

Objectives. This study compares the use of and cost for behavioral health services among heads of homeless and housed poor families. Methods. Medicaid records for 59,135 heads of families receiving Temporary Assistance to Needy Families benefits were matched with data from Philadelphia’s municipal shelter system. Propensity score matching was used to select a matched control group to those identified as having been homeless between 1997 and 2003. Behavioral health services utilization was then assessed based on Medicaid claims records. Results. Substantially higher levels of behavioral health services use and corresponding costs were found among heads of families with a history …

Investigating The Link Between Gun Possession And Gun Assault, Charles C. Branas, Therese S. Richmond, Dennis P. Culhane, Thomas R. Ten Have, Douglas J. Wiebe

Dennis P. Culhane

Objectives. We investigated the possible relationship between being shot in an assault and possession of a gun at the time.

Methods. We enrolled 677 case participants that had been shot in an assault and 684 population-based control participants within Philadelphia from 2003 to 2006. We adjusted odds ratios for confounding variables.

Results. After adjustment, individuals in possession of a gun were 4.46 (P<.05) times more likely to be shot in an assault than those not in possession. Among gun assaults where the victim had at least some chance to resist, this adjusted

odds ratio increased to 5.45 (P<.05).

Conclusions. On average, guns did not protect those who possessed them from being shot in an assault. Although successful defensive gun uses occur each year, the probability of success may be …

Using Adult Linkages Project Data For Determining Patterns And Costs Of Services Use By General Relief Recipients In Los Angeles County, Stephen Metraux, Dennis P. Culhane

Dennis P. Culhane

This study examines services use and related costs for two cohorts of General Relief (GR) recipients in Los Angeles County. The study is made possible by the creation of the Adult Linkages Project (ALP), a data warehouse containing data on the GR recipients that spans eight Los Angeles County departments. This integration of data sources and County departments enables a unique window into the comprehensive use of County services by GR recipients, and allows for the exploration of hidden costs that GR recipients incur to Los Angeles County. The identification of such services use patterns forms the basis for service …

Health And Social Characteristics Of Homeless Adults In Manhattan Who Were Chronically Or Not Chronically Unsheltered, Aaron J. Levitt, Dennis P. Culhane, Joe Degenova, Patrick O'Quinn, Jay Bainbridge

Dennis P. Culhane

Objective: This study compared health and social characteristics of two groups of homeless adults in Manhattan—those who were chronically unsheltered and those who were not. Methods: Outreach workers conducted brief, structured interviews with 1,093 unsheltered homeless adults. Respondents were later categorized as being chronically unsheltered on the basis of New York City criteria (sleeping without shelter at least nine of the previous 24 months). Results: The sample had high rates of substance abuse (65%), serious medical issues (42%), and repeated trauma (51%) and low rates of medical insurance (47%) and income entitlements (26%) entitlements. Sixty-seven percent were chronically unsheltered, and …

The 2008 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report To Congress, Dennis P. Culhane, Jill Khadduri, Alvaro Cortes, Larry Buron

Dennis P. Culhane

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is pleased to present the 2008 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR), the fourth in a series of reports on homelessness in the United States. The reports respond to a series of Congressional directives calling for the collection and analysis of data on homelessness. The 2008 AHAR breaks new ground by being the first report to provide year-to-year trend information on homelessness in the United States. The report provides the latest counts of homelessness nationwide—including counts of individuals, persons in families, and special population groups such as veterans and chronically homeless people. …

Alcohol Consumption, Alcohol Outlets, And The Risk Of Being Assaulted With A Gun, Dennis P. Culhane, Charles C. Branas, Therese S. Richmond, Michael R. Elliott, Douglas J. Wiebe

Dennis P. Culhane

Background: We conducted a population-based case-control study to better delineate the relationship between individual alcohol consumption, alcohol outlets in the surrounding environment, and being assaulted with a gun.

Methods: An incidence density sampled case–control study was conducted in the entire city of Philadelphia from 2003 to 2006. We enrolled 677 cases that had been shot in an assault and 684 population-based controls. The relationships between 2 independent variables of interest, alcohol consumption and alcohol outlet availability, and the outcome of being assaulted with a gun were analyzed. Conditional logistic regression was used to adjust for numerous confounding variables.

Results: After …

The History And Future Of Homeless Management Information Systems, Stephen R. Poulin, Stephen Metraux, Dennis P. Culhane

Dennis P. Culhane

This chapter reviews the history of the development of management information systems in the homelessness program area. Efforts begun in the 1980s and 1990s by individual cities are discussed, as are the Congressional initatives that led to the mandated implementation of such systems in the US. The use of these systems for the Annual Homelessness Assessment Report to the US Congress is described, as are potential future uses of HMIS for research, policy and program planning.

Rearranging The Deck Chairs Or Reallocating The Lifeboats?: Homelessness Assistance And Its Alternatives, Dennis P. Culhane, Stephen Metraux

Dennis P. Culhane

Problem: At present, homelessness in the United States is primarily addressed by providing emergency and transitional shelter facilities. These programs do not directly address the causes of homelessness, and residents are exposed to victimization and trauma during stays. We need an alternative that is more humane, as well as more efficient and effective at achieving outcomes. Purpose: This article uses research on homelessness to devise alternative forms of emergency assistance that could reduce the prevalence and/or duration of episodes of homelessness and much of the need for emergency shelter. Methods: We review analyses of shelter utilization patterns to identify subgroups …

Translating Research Into Homelessness Policy And Practice: One Perspective From The United States, Dennis P. Culhane

Dennis P. Culhane

Like social scientists everywhere, homelessness researchers in the US are usually ignored. Good science that identifies what causes homelessness, sound evaluations which document that certain programs will never work, and even evidence that promising solutions deserve broad replication, are often disregarded. Such wanton indifference for science would constitute malpractice in the field of medicine, but it sometimes passes as acceptable policy in the field of social welfare. Ideology, politics and preservation of the status quo usually prevail. So, what’s a well intentioned researcher to do? Persevere and become more tactical. After all, policy failures can’t be ignored forever. Like good …

New Strategies And Collaborations Target Homelessness, Dennis P. Culhane

Dennis P. Culhane

No abstract provided.

Homelessness Among Persons With Severe Mental Illness In An Enhanced Community-Based Mental Health System, Eri Kuno, Aileen B. Rothbard, June Averyt, Dennis P. Culhane

Dennis P. Culhane

Objective: Homelessness and patterns of service use were examined among seriously mentally ill persons in an area with a well-funded community- based mental health system. Methods: The sample consisted of 438 individuals referred between 1990 and 1992 to an extended acute care psychiatric hospital after a stay in a general hospital. Those experiencing an episode of homelessness, defined as an admission to a public shelter between 1990 and 1993, were compared with those who were residentially stable. Data from a longitudinal integrated database of public mental health and medical services were used to construct service utilization measures to test the …

Help In Time: An Evaluation Of Philadelphia's Community-Based Homelessness Prevention Program, Yin-Ling I. Wong, Meg Koppel, Dennis P. Culhane, Stephen Metraux, David E. Eldridge, Amy Hillier, Helen R. Lee

Dennis P. Culhane

This report provides an evaluation of Philadelphia's neighborhood-based homelessness prevention initiative. Results indicate that nearly all households served do not become homeless. But it is unclear if households would have become homeless had they not been served. Recommendations are made for targeting prevention interventions to families requesting shelter.

Philadelphia Eligible Metropolitan Area Aids Housing Needs Assessment: 1997-2001, Kimberly Acquaviva, Dennis P. Culhane, Ellen Alpert, David Fair

Dennis P. Culhane

This report describes the results of a survey of people in Philadelphia with HIV/AIDS regarding their current and projected housing needs.