The Encyclopedia of Housing

Homelessness

Contributors: Ellen L. Bassuk & Jeffrey Olivet

Edited by: Andrew T. Carswell
Book Title: The Encyclopedia of Housing
Chapter Title: "Homelessness"
Pub. Date: 2012
Access Date: May 11, 2019
Publishing Company: SAGE Publications, Inc.
City: Thousand Oaks
Print ISBN: 9781412989572
Online ISBN: 9781452218380
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781452218380.n96
Print pages: 286-290
© 2012 SAGE Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
This PDF has been generated from SAGE Knowledge. Please note that the pagination of the online
version will vary from the pagination of the print book.
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Homelessness is an endemic social problem in the United States, with approximately 643,000 people now
living without a place to call home on any given night. Over the course of a year, the number of people resid-
ing in emergency shelter and transitional housing exceeds 1.5 million. More than one third live on the streets
or in places not fit for human habitation. Of these, a disproportionate number are single men. During times of
economic recession and high unemployment, the numbers of people experiencing homelessness, especially
those in families, tend to climb. Driven by extreme poverty and the lack of decent affordable housing, home-
lessness occurs in every state in the nation, but it tends to concentrate in urban areas and in large coastal
states (e.g., California, New York, Florida).

Homelessness is more than the lack of housing. It can be seen as a metaphor for disconnection from family,
friends, caretakers, reassuring routines, belongings, and community. Once people become homeless, the
road back to stable housing is tortuous and fraught with peril. Because of the relative lack of affordable hous-
ing and difficulties obtaining housing vouchers in most communities, many individuals and families languish
in emergency shelters, in transitional programs, and on the streets for long periods. The experience of home-
lessness is invariably traumatic and may lead to adverse long-term outcomes related to health and well-being.

Why are People Homeless?

This question has led to numerous and often heated debates, often biased by political ideologies and personal
beliefs. In part, this has occurred because the factors leading to homelessness are complex, interwoven, and
multilayered. Structural issues create the context for homelessness but do not explain who is most vulnerable
to losing his or her homes. Structural, or macrolevel, factors include the supply of affordable housing, poverty
levels, unemployment and foreclosure rates, family composition, and availability of benefits. Extreme poverty
is by far the greatest driver, and in combination with the relative lack of affordable housing, explains why so
many individuals and families are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

As described by the National Low Income Housing Coalition in 2010 in Out of Reach, the confluence of ex-
treme poverty with the absolute shortage of affordable housing units is especially challenging for extremely
low income (ELI) renter households—or those earning 30% or less of their area's median income. With 9.2
million ELI renters and only 3.4 million affordable and available units, it is easy to understand why homeless-
ness is a major social problem. Many of these renters pay more than half of their incomes for housing costs
and are designated as having “worst case housing needs.” They carry the highest risk of becoming homeless.
As their purchasing power decreases, they often must choose among rent, food, clothing, child care, trans-
portation, and other essentials.

This situation has worsened in recent decades as poverty rates have soared. According to the U.S. Census,
43.6 million people were living below the federally established poverty line in 2009. For a family of four, this
means income of about $22,000. The poverty rate of 14.3% (a 15-year high) placed many more people at risk
for becoming homeless. In fact, in every state, housing costs outpace wages. An individual working a full-time
job at minimum wage cannot afford a two-bedroom apartment for himself or his family anywhere in the United
States. Similarly, with the exception of some counties in Puerto Rico, the same worker would be unable to
afford a one-bedroom apartment at fair market rent anywhere in the country. In most states, the hourly wage
needed to afford rent for a two-bedroom apartment is 2 to 3 times the minimum wage. Furthermore, one po-
tential solution, housing vouchers, meet only one quarter of the need.

Who is Most Vulnerable in the Current Housing Market?

In an attempt to answer the question of who is most likely to become homeless, researchers have explored
the contribution of individual level factors, such as medical problems, domestic violence, mental illness,

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and substance abuse. Although these issues are disproportionately represented among people experiencing
homelessness, researchers have been unable to document a one-to-one correlation. Instead, they found that
these factors were more often part of a complex set of issues, processes, and circumstances that together
increased the risk of homelessness. Studies have shown that any constellation of factors that compromise an
individual's economic and social resources or decrease the ability to buffer the unremitting stresses associat-
ed with poverty decreased the ability to compete in a tight housing market.

With this in mind, it is understandable that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
reported in 2009 that 78% of all sheltered persons experiencing homelessness are adults, 61% are male,
and 62% are members of a minority group. In fact, the most common demographic description among people
experiencing homelessness is an African American adult male. Almost 40% had a disability—more than 2.5
times greater than a single adult male in the general population. They were also more likely to be veterans.
Before becoming homeless, they tended to live alone in single-person households with limited supports to
help them through a crisis. Many of these men had histories of mental health issues, substance abuse, and re-
lated incarcerations, and they did not qualify for various safety net programs. Only one quarter of single adults
experiencing homelessness are women—many of whom have a combination of medical, mental health, and
substance abuse issues.

Since the mid-1980s, the face of homelessness has changed, with a growing number of families becoming
homeless. The percentage of families in the overall homeless population has grown from less than 1% in the
early 1980s to approximately 32% in 2010. With the economic recession of 2008 to 2009, their numbers are
likely to continue increasing. Most homeless families are headed by women alone. They tend to be poorer
than two-parent families, people with disabilities, and the elderly—putting them at high risk for homelessness.
On average, they have two young children, more than half of whom are less than 6 years of age. In gener-
al, the mothers lack high school diplomas and have limited job skills. They often have histories of physical
and/or sexual abuse as children and domestic violence as adults. It is not surprising that compared to their
housed counterparts, many homeless mothers have medical, mental health, and substance use problems.
Furthermore, women who are homeless and have experienced recurrent traumatic stresses also have diffi-
culty accessing help for themselves and their children.

Children and youth are an invisible but growing part of the homeless population. The National Center on Fam-
ily Homelessness has documented that one in 50 (over 1.5 million) of our nation's children go to sleep with-
out a home each year. Many reside in unsafe and chaotic environments and are exposed to many traumatic
stressors. Although data are limited, at least one quarter have been exposed to violence in their families, and
many more have witnessed violence in their communities. Rates of separation from families are high and
increase the longer the family is homeless. Research indicates that residential mobility and homelessness
lead to increased rates of medical, emotional, and academic difficulties. Children experiencing homelessness
have poor school performance, repeat grades, drop out, and have low rates of high school graduation.

In addition to children in families, approximately 12,000 unaccompanied homeless youth were counted in the
2007 point-in-time counts. More than 50,000 youth accessed services in the homelessness assistance sys-
tem during that year. Because these young people are difficult to locate, the actual number of youth experi-
encing homelessness is likely much higher. In addition to the structural factors contributing to homelessness,
these youth are most often on the streets because of family breakdown and conflict. Many are fleeing abusive
homes or have been abandoned by caretakers. Others are transitioning out of foster care or the juvenile jus-
tice system and lack the supports necessary to find and maintain stable housing. Once on the streets, their
situation is perilous. To survive, many participate in risky and illegal behaviors.

The Impact of Homelessness

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The impact of homelessness on individuals, families, and children is devastating, often leading to long-term
adverse outcomes. Home provides safety, comfort, privacy, and a sense of belonging. Without a place to
call home, people suffer from unpredictability, dislocation, chaos, and violence. Frequently stigmatized and
blamed for their circumstances, people experiencing homelessness can feel alone, alienated, and isolated.
Sadly, the road back into the community and stable housing is typically a long one.

While the process of reconnection and rebuilding can be long, the term homeless does not describe a type of
person or a permanent set of circumstances. Homelessness is a housing situation, not a label. It is a state,
not a trait. For most people, the experience of homelessness is brief or episodic. As the nation's response
to homelessness has evolved in recent decades, service agencies and funders have increasingly targeted
resources toward efforts that end homelessness rather than manage it.

Responses to Homelessness: Emergency Shelter to Hous-

ing First
In the 1980s, as the United States witnessed large-scale homelessness, efforts initially focused on emergency
responses, such as shelter, food assistance, and crisis medical care. The goal was to keep people from dying
on the streets. Cities, states, the faith community, and philanthropic groups funded programs, created agen-
cies, and mobilized volunteers dedicated to serving people experiencing homelessness. Advocacy groups
exerted pressure on lawmakers—some sleeping outside the nation's Capitol to illustrate the immediacy of the
issue. As a result, in 1987, Congress passed the first comprehensive legislation in response to the crisis of
homelessness—the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. The McKinney Act aimed to consolidate all
federally funded homelessness efforts, supporting programs to address housing, health care, education, em-
ployment, and substance abuse and mental health services.

While this legislation represented a major step forward, funding remained limited and implementation frag-
mented. Reflecting the lack of coordination at the federal level, agencies within local communities competed
for limited resources, struggling to carve out “turf” and disagreeing about appropriate philosophical and treat-
ment approaches. Faith-based groups disagreed with government-funded programs on service requirements,
and abstinence-based treatment programs argued with harm-reduction programs on how best to support peo-
ple with substance abuse and mental health issues.

In an effort to streamline and coordinate funding for homeless services, HUD introduced the Continuum of
Care (CoC) in 1995. The process emphasized community-wide planning for housing and services and intro-
duced a consolidated application process for HUD homelessness funding. While some CoC funded services
were permanent, many were transitional housing programs, with time limits of 24 months or less, and various
requirements; these included a period of sobriety before moving into housing, compliance with psychiatric
medications, and rules about work. “Housing readiness” underpinned this approach and implied that in order
for a person to become self-sufficient, he or she had to have a range of skills often learned in transitional
programs. These strict service requirements resulted in admission of people with the fewest service needs,
excluding many with severe mental illness and substance abuse issues.

In recent years, Housing First has emerged as the predominant model for providing permanent housing and
supportive services for people experiencing homelessness. Pioneered in New York City by Pathways to Hous-
ing, then quickly spreading to communities across the country, Housing First is based on several key princi-
ples. With the belief that housing is a basic human right, Housing First moves people directly from street to
housing without requiring service compliance. This approach targets the most vulnerable people experiencing
homelessness and aims to engage people in services and treatment through assertive engagement rather
than coercion. Housing is permanent, and services are available but not required.

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In 2009, two major legislative efforts dramatically shaped federal homelessness policy. First, passage of the
Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP) as part of the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009, infused the homeless services system with $1.5 billion, the single largest invest-
ment of homelessness service resources in our nation's history. HPRP emphasized shortening the time peo-
ple are homeless through early identification and links to housing (rapid re-housing) and through preventing
people from becoming homeless through brief, shallow housing subsidies designed to avoid eviction. This
represented the nation's first major investment in homelessness prevention. Second, in May 2009, President
Obama signed the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act. This
law reauthorized all federal homeless assistance funding (previously authorized in the McKinney Act), broad-
ened the federal definition of homelessness to increase eligibility, and restructured some funding streams.

Over the past decade, many cities and states have developed comprehensive 5- and 10-year plans to end
homelessness among certain subgroups (e.g., chronically homeless) by targeting limited resources and co-
ordinating funding streams. These plans have yielded mixed results. Some have generated new partnerships
and new resources, thereby reducing the numbers of homeless people. Others have reallocated existing
funding without significantly impacting the number of people experiencing homelessness, while still others
have been shelved and forgotten. In 2010, the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness released Opening
Doors: Federal Strategic Plan to End Homelessness. This plan sets specific goals for ending homelessness
among various subgroups of homeless people primarily by fostering interagency collaboration and aligning
mainstream resources. However, additional resources will be needed to provide the full range of housing,
supportive services, and prevention programs to end homelessness. Ultimately, we must ask if there is the
political will to end this tragic social problem.

The Role of Housing and Services

In response to the initial push for emergency services in the 1980s, advocates shifted the conversation from
shelter to housing. The dialogue suggested that the solution to homelessness was “housing, housing, hous-
ing.” Extreme poverty and the lack of affordable housing are the primary drivers of homeless-ness, and in-
creasing the stock of safe, decent, and affordable housing is critical for ending homeless-ness. Although es-
sential, housing alone is not sufficient. Most people experiencing homelessness also need services and sup-
ports to remain stably housed. Available services should include medical care, mental health support, drug
and alcohol treatment, child care, education, and job training and opportunities. In addition to these formal
supports, informal connections to family, friends, and neighbors are equally important for integration into the
community.

Trends in Research, Practice, and Policy

Homelessness research is continuing to evolve. The earliest formal study of homelessness was Alice Solen-
berger's 1000 Homeless Men, a 1911 sociological report of single homeless men in Chicago. Through the
Great Depression, the focus became more descriptive in nature, with photographers and writers such as
Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans, and James Agee capturing the experience of extreme poverty and home-
lessness. As homelessness increased in the 1980s, researchers studied the causes, correlates, and conse-
quences of homelessness and its impact on various subgroups. Much research focuses on the needs and
characteristics of specific subgroups (e.g., families, youth, veterans, people with mental illness, chronically
homeless individuals). Recently, researchers have attempted to document the effectiveness of housing and
service interventions through mixed methods studies that blend qualitative data and quantitative outcomes.
Other studies seek to define the services and supports necessary for housing retention and to explore the
cost-effectiveness of interventions. As the research base has grown, so has an understanding of effective
practices, yet few evidence-based practices are specifically designed for homeless populations.
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Although research on homeless services is growing, a gap persists between research and practice. Dissem-
ination of effective practices is often slow, and the people who most need the research knowledge—ser-
vice providers and program directors—lack the time or skill to access this vital information. However, several
promising trends indicate a movement toward improved quality of care and measurable outcomes. Homeless
service agencies are increasingly embracing service models that are trauma-informed—understanding and
responding to clients’ experiences of trauma before and during homelessness. Similarly, more programs are
moving to recovery-oriented care, involving formerly or currently homeless individuals as staff, board mem-
bers, and volunteers. Finally, funders, program administrators, and service providers are beginning to under-
stand the importance of implementing evidence-based practices (EBPs). As the evidence base grows for cer-
tain interventions, these interventions will likely be more widely utilized in coming years.

While these trends continue to have a major impact on how housing and services are provided, the homeless
service system remains fragmented and underresourced—with growing concerns about the quality of care
provided. The workforce is overworked, underpaid, and inadequately trained. Workers experience high rates
of burnout leading to high rates of turnover. Recently, there has been a renewed focus on workforce develop-
ment and additional support for training and technical assistance. Rather than providing single-session didac-
tic training without follow-up, there has been a shift to providing ongoing, interactive, experiential training—of-
ten accompanied by the creation of communities of practice.

As discussed previously, local, state, and federal policy on homelessness has become increasingly coordinat-
ed, targeted, cost-effective, and aligned with mainstream resources. Promising shifts have occurred in recent
years, including the movement toward Housing First, or rapid re-housing, and permanent supportive housing;
the integration of housing and services; homelessness prevention; workforce development among homeless-
service workers; and implementation of evidence-based practices. Ultimately, the structural causes of home-
lessness—lack of affordable housing and unequal distribution of income—must be addressed.

Without the political will, homelessness will continue to be a growing social problem.

• homelessness
• affordable housing
• homelessness policy
• homeless service systems
• extreme poverty
• shelter and housing
• substance abuse

Ellen L. Bassuk & and Jeffrey Olivet

http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781452218380.n96
See also

• Affordability

Further Readings

Mullen, J., & Leginski, W. (2010). Building the capacity of the homeless services workforce. Open Health Ser-
vices and Policy Journal, 3, 101–110.
National Center on Family Homelessness. (2009). America's youngest outcasts: State report card on child
homelessness. Newton, MA: Author.
National Low Income Housing Coalition. (2010). Out of reach 2010: Renters in the great recession, the crisis
continues. Washington, DC: Author.

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U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. (2009). Annual homeless assessment report to Con-
gress. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. (2010). Opening doors: Federal strategic plan to prevent and end
homelessness. Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://www/usich.gov/PDF/OpeningDoors/2010/FSPPreven-
tEndHomeless.pdf

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