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2. Dynamics of Homelessness
Pages 22-38

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From page 22...
... The tighter the housing market, the greater the amount of economic and personal resources one must have to remain secure. When the need for low-income housing exceeds the available supply, the question is: "Who gets left out?
From page 23...
... A recipient of monthly disability payments or other cash assistance who pays for housing on a weekly basis may be out of funds 2 or 3 weeks into the month. Another example is the chronically mentally ill young adult who lives with family members, but whose situation episodically becomes intolerable and who ends up on the street.
From page 24...
... They are more likely to suffer from mental illness or substance abuse than are those who are temporarily or episodically homeless (Arce et al., 19834. However, only rarely do even chronically homeless people remain homeless indefinitely (see Table 2-11; their state of homelessness typically is interrupted by brief domiciliary arrangements, including institut~onalization.
From page 25...
... Three factors contributing substantially to the recent increase in the numbers of homeless people are the low-income housing shortage, changing economic trends and inadequate income supports, and the deinstitutionalization of mentally ill patients. HOUSING There appears to be a direct relationship between the reduced availability of low-cost housing and the increased number of homeless people.
From page 26...
... For example, in the committee's site visits, the shortage of low-income housing for families was repeatedly cited as the single greatest cause of family homelessness in most cities, but service providers in Milwaukee reported an adequate supply of housing for families receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)
From page 27...
... Similarly, for adult individuals during the 1970s, the real value of general assistance benefits, in states that provided them, fell by 32 percent (Hopper and Hamberg, 19844. In Massachusetts, general relief benefits for an adult individual are now $268.90 per month (Flynn, 19861; in Illinois, they are $144 per month.
From page 28...
... As a policy, it has been supported and encouraged by federal and local governments, and has led to the reduction of populations in publi mental hospitals from a high of 559,000 in 1955 to a low of 130,000 in 1980. It has also been blamed for the large numbers of mentally ill people on the streets of major cities in the 1980s.
From page 29...
... The first involves the transfer of care for individual patients from an institutional setting to the community; the second involves the development of systems within the community that can provide the necessary array of services most important, housing and treatment, care, protection, and rehabilitation of seriously mentally ill people (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1981~.
From page 30...
... Thus, mentally ill people who have been discharged to the streets or who have been displaced from a housing situation are less likely to continue to receive the necessary array of services. As described more fully in Chapter 3, studies of homeless adult individuals in cities such as Los Angeles, New York, St.
From page 31...
... A study of the problem in New York City done by the Institute of Public Services Performance, on contract with the New York State Department of Health.
From page 32...
... The issues raised in the original movement toward deinstitutionalization of the mentally disabled for example, the need to transfer treatment from the institutional setting to the community, the need to have in place community-based treatment centers, the need to provide assistance (both financial and professional) to those in the community when necessary to prevent inpatient admission or readmission—are the same as those in the current proposals that we Reinstitutionalize our correctional, youth services, and hospital systems.
From page 33...
... . However, even in those communities, the relentless pressure of increasing demand makes compliance with even minimal standards difficult.
From page 34...
... Many other parents avoid shelters and any contact with public agencies for fear that custody of their children will be placed in jeopardy by the parents' temporary inability to provide housing. Welfare Hotels and Motels Federal legislation has provided a program of emergency assistance (EA)
From page 35...
... The magnitude and nature of the problem of homelessness are unprecedented within the memory of most adults, so there are few past experiences that could guide planning efforts by public officials and community agencies. Adequate services must be provided, but without permanently institutionalizing homeless families and individuals through another human service system that inherently provides second-class services.
From page 36...
... As reported in the Greater Boston Adolescent Emergency Network study of Massachusetts shelters for adolescents, these facilities are not used for emergency shelter as much as they are used to address other problems or to fill service gaps. The committee concluded that the shelter system cannot substitute for other systems, nor can it be expected to address problems for which at least theoretically~ther systems have already been established.
From page 37...
... Paper prepared for the East Harlem Interfaith Welfare Committee. New York: East Harlem Interfaith Welfare Committee.
From page 38...
... 1985. Listening to the Homeless: A Study of Homeless Mentally Ill Persons in Milwaukee.


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