In the Midst of Plenty: Homelessness and What To Do About It (Contemporary Social Issues Book 32)

"Many people helped improve the quality of this book-its accuracy, its clarity, the force of its presentation. Four people were kind enough to read the entire manuscript, and they made helpful comments and corrections throughout: Paul Dornan, formerly responsible for research on homelessness at HUD; Lucie Khadduri, who lives in Olympia WA, a city with a recent upsurge in homelessness; Daniel Perlman, Series Editor for the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, who provided encouragement throughout the book's long gestation period; and Nan Roman, President and CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness. Zach Glendening, Molly Richard, and Jason Rodriguez at Vanderbilt University read portions of the manuscript and provided comments that improved clarity and pointed to additional sources of information. Meghan Henry, project director for the Annual Homeless Assessment Reports at Abt Associates, commented extensively on Chapter 1 and confirmed numbers. John Miller, an experienced journalist, also read Chapter 1 and, along with Meghan, helped us make the chapter more readable. Jill's Abt colleagues Anna Jefferson and Hannah Thomas helped identify and expand the vignettes about people experiencing homelessness that begin Chapter 1. Kathryn P. Nelson, who designed HUD's ongoing reports on "worst case" housing problems and needs for assistance, read Chapter 2 and suggested additions and corrections. Barbara Sard of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities read Chapter 6 and provided comments on the housing side of the social safety net. She also enlisted her colleagues at the Center to review portions of Chapter 6 on the income side of the safety net: Ed Bolen, Brendan Duke, Chye-Ching Huang, LaDonna Pavetti, Kathleen Ronig, and Chad Stone. We thank them for their comments and for their identification of literature that we had missed"-- Provided by publisher Cover......Page 1 Title Page......Page 7 Copyright Page......Page 8 Contents......Page 11 Foreword......Page 13 Acknowledgments......Page 17 In the Midst of Plenty......Page 19 Introduction......Page 21 Chapter 1 Who Becomes Homeless?......Page 25 Where People Sleep: Definitions of Homelessness......Page 28 Data Sources......Page 30 Families with Children......Page 33 Adults on Their Own......Page 35 People with Chronic Patterns of Homelessness......Page 36 Youth......Page 37 Age, Race, and Gender......Page 39 Changes Over Time......Page 41 Total Numbers Over a Day, a Year, or a Lifetime......Page 44 The Importance of Time Frames......Page 46 Challenges Faced by People Experiencing Homelessness......Page 47 Summary......Page 50 Chapter 2 What Causes Homelessness?......Page 53 Homelessness, Poverty, and Inequality in an International Context......Page 55 Increasing “Deep Poverty” in the United States......Page 59 Family Poverty and Antipoverty Programs......Page 60 Poverty for Childless Adults and Antipoverty Programs......Page 61 Income Volatility......Page 63 Poverty, Housing, and Homelessness......Page 64 Evidence from Time Trends......Page 65 Evidence from Locations where Homelessness is more Prevalent......Page 68 Evidence from Housing Policies......Page 71 Cultural Attitudes, Social Welfare Policy, and Social Exclusion......Page 72 Racism, Social Exclusion, and Homelessness......Page 73 Income......Page 74 Wealth......Page 75 Housing......Page 76 Incarceration......Page 79 Mental Illnesses and Other Disabilities......Page 81 Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity......Page 85 Social Isolation......Page 86 Domestic Violence......Page 88 Bad Luck......Page 89 Summary......Page 90 Long-Term Rental Subsidies for Families......Page 91 Perverse Incentives......Page 97 Psychosocial Services......Page 98 Subsidies Plus Voluntary Services for High Needs Individuals......Page 99 Pathways to Housing......Page 102 At Home/Chez Soi......Page 105 Other Approaches for High-Needs Individuals......Page 108 Summary......Page 110 The Homeless Services System......Page 111 Emergency Shelters......Page 112 Transitional Housing......Page 113 Time-Limited Subsidies: Rapid Re-Housing......Page 117 Permanent Supportive Housing......Page 124 Making the System Work to End Homelessness......Page 126 Making the System More Efficient and Effective......Page 128 Focused Efforts to End Chronic Homelessness......Page 130 Nashville and Los Angeles......Page 131 Reducing Homelessness for Veterans......Page 135 The Finnish Model......Page 136 Summary......Page 138 Chapter 5 Preventing Homelessness for People at Risk......Page 141 Evaluating Prevention for People at High Risk: Efficiency and Effectiveness......Page 142 Efficient Allocation of Prevention Services......Page 146 Evaluating Effectiveness......Page 149 Permanent Deep Housing Subsidies......Page 151 Eviction Prevention: Cash Assistance......Page 153 Community-Based Services: New York City’s HomeBase......Page 154 Universal Screening for Veterans......Page 156 Housing Subsidies with Supportive Services for People with Mental Illnesses......Page 157 Shallow, Permanent Subsidies......Page 158 Eviction Prevention: Landlord–Tenant Mediation......Page 159 Extended Resources for Youth Leaving Foster Care......Page 160 Help for People Reentering the Community from Jails and Prisons......Page 161 Flexible Cash Grants to Low‐Income Households......Page 164 Integrating Homelessness and Antipoverty Service Systems......Page 165 Progressive Engagement......Page 166 Summary......Page 168 Housing......Page 169 Expanding Housing Vouchers......Page 170 Less Expensive Housing Subsidies for Poor Renters......Page 173 Deeper Targeting of Rent Subsidies......Page 175 Temporary Rent Subsidies......Page 176 Rent Subsidies Through the Tax System......Page 177 Housing Subsidies for Particularly Vulnerable Groups......Page 178 Building Housing for Poor Renters......Page 179 Supporting Work and Earnings......Page 185 Broad-Based Transfer Programs......Page 187 Income Support for Families......Page 188 Child Care......Page 189 Income Support for People with Disabilities......Page 190 Counteracting Income Volatility—Overcoming Bad Luck......Page 191 Countering Social Exclusion......Page 192 Tradeoffs and Combinations for Making Housing Affordable......Page 194 Summary......Page 195 Finding the Political Will to End Homelessness......Page 196 References......Page 199 Index......Page 233 EULA......Page 249

Foreword by Nan Roman, President and CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness

This book explains how to end the U.S. homelessness crisis by bringing together the best scholarship on the subject and sharing solutions that both local communities and national policy-makers can apply now

In the Midst of Plenty shifts our understanding of the phenomenon of homelessness away from issues of individual disability and embeds it in larger contexts of poverty, income inequality, housing affordability, and social exclusion. Homelessness experts Shinn and Khadduri provide guidance on how to end homelessness for people who experience it and how to prevent so many people from reaching the point where they have no alternative to sleeping on the street or in emergency shelters.

The book is organized around four questions: Who becomes homeless? Why do people become homeless? How do we end homelessness? How do we prevent it? Based on a comprehensive look at relevant research, the authors show that we know how to end homelessness--if we devote the necessary resources to doing so.

In the Midst of Plenty: Homelessness and What to Do About It is an excellent resource for professionals and decision-makers in the homeless services system, as well as for anyone who is interested in helping to end homelessness. It also can be used as a text in undergraduate or masters courses in public policy, sociology, psychology, social work, urban studies, or housing policy.

“The knowledgeable and thoughtful authors of this book--two brilliant women who know as much as anyone in the country about the nature of homelessness and its solutions--have done a great service by taking us on a journey through the history of homelessness, how our responses have changed, and how we can end it.” Nan Roman, President and CEO National Alliance to End Homelessness.

“Shinn and Khadduri’s new book is a thorough yet concise examination of what we know about the nature and causes of homelessness, and the crucial lessons learned. This critically important work provides a roadmap to restoring basic housing and income security as viable policy options, in the face of our daunting inequality divide that otherwise threatens millions with destitution and homelessness.” Dennis Culhane, Dana and Andrew Stone Professor of Social Policy, University of Pennsylvania

“Marybeth Shinn and Jill Khadduri have combined their significant expertise to create an essential guide about the history of modern homelessness and to offer a clear path forward to end this American tragedy. Their policy recommendations on ending homelessness are culled from the best about what we know works.” Barbara Poppe, Executive Director US Interagency Council on Homeless, 2009-2014.

Foreword by Nan Roman, President and CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness This book explains how to end the U.S. homelessness crisis by bringing together the best scholarship on the subject and sharing solutions that both local communities and national policy-makers can apply now. In the Midst of Plenty shifts understanding of homelessness away from individual disability to larger contexts of poverty, income inequality, housing affordability, and social exclusion. Homelessness experts Shinn and Khadduri provide guidance on how to end homelessness for people who experience it and how to prevent so many people from reaching the point where they have no alternative to sleeping on the street or in emergency shelters. The authors show that we know how to end homelessness—if we devote the necessary resources to doing so. In the Midst of Plenty: Homelessness and What to Do About It is an excellent resource for policy-makers, professionals in the homeless services system, and anyone else who wants to end homelessness. It also can serve as a text in undergraduate or masters courses in public policy, sociology, psychology, social work, urban studies, or housing policy. "The knowledgeable and thoughtful authors of this book—two brilliant women who know as much as anyone in the country about the nature of homelessness and its solutions—have done a great service by taking us on a journey through the history of homelessness, how our responses have changed, and how we can end it." — Nan Roman, President and CEO National Alliance to End Homelessness. "Shinn and Khadduri's new book is a thorough yet concise examination of what we know about the nature and causes of homelessness, and the crucial lessons learned. This critically important work provides a roadmap to restoring basic housing and income security as viable policy options, in the face of our daunting inequality divide that otherwise threatens millions with destitution and homelessness." — Dennis Culhane, Dana and Andrew Stone Professor of Social Policy, University of Pennsylvania "Marybeth Shinn and Jill Khadduri have combined their significant expertise to create an essential guide about the history of modern homelessness and to offer a clear path forward to end this American tragedy. Their policy recommendations on ending homelessness are culled from the best about what we know works." — Barbara Poppe, Executive Director US Interagency Council on Homeless, 2009-2014