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In recent decades, the call to 'clean up the streets' (1) has rarely escaped the political docket. Politicians from both sides of the aisle and academics alike have argued for [...]

Although research has documented the majority of homelessness experienced by individuals and families in the US to be transitional rather than chronic, the mechanisms by which some families successfully escape homelessness while other do not remains relatively unclear. To provide more information to this area of inquiry, this study analyzed the transitional nature of homelessness for a sample of families with school-aged children who were homeless under the McKinney-Vento definition. By conducting a survey with over 1000 homeless families with children enrolled in two public school systems in Central Florida, we find that over a quarter of families exit homelessness in less than six months. We compare these families to those that remained homeless to examine the potential importance of demographic differences and other potential barriers to securing housing. Many of the commonly assumed barriers were not significant predictors of continued homelessness; the most salient difference between the groups was income underscoring the importance of employment opportunities for families to allow them to exit homelessness., Author(s): Amy M. Donley [sup.1] , Denise Crisafi [sup.1] , Alyssa Mullins [sup.1] , James D. Wright [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) 0000 0001 2159 2859grid.170430.1Department of Sociology, University of Central [...]

As the nation moves into the 2016 presidential election cycle grappling with multiple military engagements, a large and growing veterans population and problems in the Veterans Administration, a group of [...]

This article explores the links between urban restructuring, homelessness, and collective action in Toronto in the 1980s and 1990s. In Toronto, as elsewhere, urban restructuring at this time comprised a [...]

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2010.09.034 Byline: Marah A. Curtis (a), Hope Corman (b)(c), Kelly Noonan (b)(c), Nancy E. Reichman (d) Abstract: This study exploits an exogenous health shock -- the birth of a child with a severe health condition that is considered by the medical community to be random -- to investigate the effect of that shock on the family's housing situation. We use population-based data from an urban birth cohort study in the U.S. that oversampled non-marital births, resulting in a relatively disadvantaged sample that may be particularly susceptible to the effects of adverse life events. The health conditions were recorded in the infants' hospital medical records and coded by a pediatric consultant to capture conditions that are considered both severe and random. Seven different housing outcomes in the domains of quality, crowding, and stability were assessed from maternal interviews and in-home assessments when the children were 3 years old. We found that poor child health increases the likelihood of both overcrowding and homelessness and that it may also increase the likelihood of having inadequate utilities and generally poor housing quality. The effect sizes ranged from 1 to 17 percentage points, depending on the measure of poor child health and housing outcome. Author Affiliation: (a) Boston University, Boston, MA, United States (b) Rider University, Lawrenceville, NJ, United Statesa (c) National Bureau of Economic Research, New York, NY, United States (d) Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ, United States

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2010.04.013 Byline: Helena Tunstall (a), Kate Pickett (a), Sarah Johnsen (b) Abstract: People that move home within developed countries report, on average, better health than non-movers. Pregnant women, new mothers and infants are particularly mobile, but the limited evidence regarding the relationship between their mobility and health suggests they may not conform to the 'healthy migrant' effect. This paper examines the relationship between mobility and health among these groups in the UK, using logistic regression to analyse cross-sectional data for 18,197 families in the Millennium Cohort Study wave one. It compares health status variables among mobile and non-mobile families; describes mobile families' socio-demographic characteristics; explores associations between health outcomes, reasons for residential moves, and experiences of homelessness; and assesses the association between mobility and health care utilisation, social support and residential satisfaction. The paper concludes that mobile pregnant women, new mothers and infants do have poor health outcomes in comparison to non-movers, but this is primarily explained by their socio-demographic characteristics and the negative circumstances associated with a minority of their moves. Families that moved during pregnancy and infancy had worse self-rated health and depression among mothers, and lower birth weight and higher risk of accidents among infants, than non-movers. Mothers in mobile families were younger and had lower levels of education and owner-occupation than non-movers. After adjustment for socio-demographic characteristics mobility was weakly and non-significantly associated with most health variables with the exception of self-rated health and depression among mothers who moved for negative reasons (such as relationship breakdown or problems with neighbours), or had been homeless since birth. After adjustment mobile families had lower levels of most measures of health care utilisation compared to non-movers, but mothers did not report less frequent social contacts, and those that moved during infancy for positive reasons (such as wanting a better home or neighbourhood) had greater satisfaction with home and area. Author Affiliation: (a) Department of Health Sciences, University of York, United Kingdom (b) Centre for Housing Policy, University of York, United Kingdom

This article explores the emergence of neo-liberal housing policy and programmes in the United States, focusing in particular on the rise of social service initiatives targeting what is known as 'chronic homelessness'. These initiatives are notable for the ways in which they privilege long-vilified populations for immediate placement into housing with no social or medical services required. While this represents a significant break from social service protocols that previously demanded compliance with service requirements, the article argues that understanding chronic homelessness initiatives as economic rather than social programmes reveals the ways in which they enable the reproduction of the same neo-liberal conditions that produce housing insecurity and deprivation. The article concludes by reframing housing issues in terms of racial subordination, which suggests that, in the neo-liberal context, social abandonment and economic investment may persist side by side. Keywords: neo-liberalism; social policy; Foucault; biopolitics; state racism; homelessness. DOI: 10.1080/03085141003620139

A central element of community response to controversial human service facilities is the socio-spatial construction of stigma. This paper develops a conceptual framework for understanding the constitution and role of stigma in community rejection of human services, particularly those associated with homelessness and HIV/AIDS. Three facets of stigma concerning homelessness and HIV/AIDS (non-productivity, dangerousness, and personal culpability) are offered as a way of understanding the rising tide of community rejection toward human service facilities. Key words - socio-spatial stigmatization, homelessness, HIV/AIDS

A study of the cause and effect of poverty and homelessness in America indicates that, compared to the traditionally homeless, recent homeless comprise visible, younger people, more women with children and more ethnic minorities. The policies addressing the problems related with homelessness may be grouped into health, economic, housing, social programs and religious approaches. Various programs aimed at providing short-term rehabilitation along with strengthening personal responsibility and reforming the welfare system are essential.

The commentators I selected for this special issue were invited not because of their reputations for extraordinary kindness and politeness but because they each knew a lot about homelessness and [...]