Homelessness in America - Tufts University

Homelessness in America Tufts University – Department of Urban

SOC 149B/UEP 181 and Environmental Policy and Planning

Roberta L. Rubin, Lecturer Office hours: Wednesdays 12:00 – 2:00

617-224-0609, [email protected] or by appointment

Shannon Moriarty, TA 72 Professors Row

617-824-0069, [email protected] Rm. 202

Homelessness in the United States – how is it possible?

This course will explore both the human tragedy of homelessness as well as the political,
economic and social causes of this problem. In addition to readings drawn from a variety
of disciplines, lectures, guest speakers, and films, students will gain a first-hand
understanding of homelessness through a service experience. Each student will spend at
least 15 hours over the course of the semester “volunteering” in a homeless shelter, soup
kitchen or other setting working directly with homeless persons. The TA will provide
assistance in locating a suitable placement. For most students who have taken this class,
this is an important and memorable experience. It should also facilitate making
connections between the readings, class discussions, and the real world of homelessness.

Goals

1) To enable students to gain substantive, in-depth knowledge of homelessness,
particularly in urban areas

2) To provide a vehicle for students to become more conscious of a key social
problem and to assist them in developing a thoughtful, personal response to the
issue

3) To enable students to gain a greater appreciation for the political, economic, and
social structure of American society, through an exploration of homelessness

4) To familiarize students with the many dimensions of social policy-making,
including policy analysis, political realities and difficulties of program
implementation

Organization

The course is divided into four sections:

I. Background – Multiple profiles of homeless people; scope and history of
homelessness; definitions and numbers; connections to poverty and urban
problems.

II. Causes – Focus on housing and welfare policies, economic and social change,
issues of race and gender, mental health policy and substance abuse

III. Connections – How homelessness is related to a number of key issues, such as
welfare of children, health care, and homelessness in a non-urban, non-US context

IV. Solutions – Policy options that have been proposed; issues of implementation

Homelessness in America –syllabus updated 1_07_2008 Page 1 of 16

Key Questions to be Addressed

Homeless People
What is homelessness?
Who are “the homeless”?
How many homeless are there? Why is it important to know?
Which groups of the population are disproportionately represented among the homeless

population (e.g., people of color, women, children, people with mental/physical
disabilities, substance abusers, veterans, etc.)?
How does homelessness contribute to health problems? How do health problems
contribute to homelessness?
What is the nature of homelessness in non-urban areas and in other countries?

The Context
How does the state of our cities relate to homelessness?
How do our views of homelessness relate to our historical and contemporary views of the

poor?

The Causes
Why do we have homelessness?
To what extent is homelessness due to political, economic and social factors, on the one

hand, or individual shortcomings, on the other? How do substance abuse, mental
illness and mental health policy contribute to homelessness?
Are the current causes of homelessness similar to/different from the causes in prior
periods during which we had homelessness?

What Has Been Done
How has the government responded? To what extent has the McKinney Act alleviated

the problem?
To what extent is our shelter system meeting the need?
Why haven’t federal housing and welfare policies solved the problem?
To what extent are federal programs and subsidies aimed at those in the greatest need?
To what extent have governmental programs exacerbated existing problems or created

new ones?

What Should Be Done
Could there be/should there be – a right to housing for all?
What else could/should be done?

You – The Students
How do you feel about homelessness and homeless people? How do these feelings

change throughout the semester?
What do you want to do about the problem?
How have you responded in the past? How will you respond in the future?

Homelessness in America –syllabus updated 1_07_2008 Page 2 of 16

Readings
A wealth of literature is available on homelessness, as well as related issues, such as
poverty, welfare reform and housing policy. For this course, we will draw from a variety
of sources, including the following:

A. Books. Three required books are available for purchase at the book store and are
also available at Tisch Library:

1) Wright, James D., Beth A. Rubin and Joel A. Devine, Beside the Golden Door:
Policy, Politics and the Homeless. New York: Aldine De Gruyter, 1998.

2) John Iceland, Poverty in America: A Handbook (2d Ed.). Berkeley and Los
Angeles, CA: University of California Press 2006.

3) Wilson, William Julius, When Work Disappears: The World of the New Urban
Poor. New York, NY: Vintage Press, 1997.

B. Supplemental Materials. Supplemental materials drawn from government
reports, books, journals, and Internet resources will broaden the scope of our readings
while providing up-to-date information. You will need to download many required
readings from Blackboard; because course packet costs have increased significantly, this
course utilizes electronic resources to the greatest extent possible. PLEASE download
before printing -- often the assigned reading is only a portion of a voluminous document,
and you will only need to print a few pages. Page numbers in the syllabus refer to the
page numbers printed in the document itself, not including tables of contents, separately
numbered introductions, etc. In addition, a brief course packet of required readings,
identified on the syllabus by (S), will be available for purchase through Gnomon Copy;
the books will also be on reserve at Tisch Library.

Students are also urged to read The Boston Globe and/or The New York Times on a daily
basis to keep up with current events pertaining to homelessness. In addition, there are a
host of Internet sources that you may want to consult (see attached web addresses). We
will be discussing news articles from time to time in class – you are encouraged to
circulate, post on Blackboard, or mention in class any relevant articles you read.

Finally, for perspectives on the life experiences of homeless individuals and families,
students are urged to read at least one of the books in section A on the following list:

Selected Recommended Books

A. Personal Perspectives

Kathleen Hirsch, Songs from the Alley, New York, NY: Anchor Books, 1989

Jonathan Kozol, Rachel and Her Children. New York, NY: Crown, 1998

Homelessness in America –syllabus updated 1_07_2008 Page 3 of 16

Elliot Liebow, Tell Them Who I Am: The Lives of Homeless Women. New York, NY:
Penguin Books, 1995

Diane D. Nilan, Crossing the Line: Taking Steps to End Homelessness. HEARUS, Inc.,
2005.

Robert Neuwirth, Shadow Cities: A Billion Squatters, A New Urban World. New York,
NY: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2006.

Rob Rosenthal, Homeless in Paradise: A Map of the Terrain. Philadelphia, PA: Temple
University Press, 1994

Jennifer Toth, The Mole People: Life in the Tunnels Beneath New York City. Chicago,
IL: Chicago Review Press, Incorporated, 1993.

James D. Wright, Address Unknown: The Homeless in America. New York, NY:
Aldine de Gruyter, 1989.

B. Additional Recommended Readings

Anna Lou Dehavenon, Ed., There’s No Place Like Home: Anthropological Perspectives
on Housing and Homelessness in the United States. Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey,
1996

Herbert J. Gans, The War Against the Poor: The Underclass and Antipoverty Policy.
New York, NY: Perseus Books Group, 1995.

Kim Hopper, Reckoning With Homelessness. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press,
2003.

Christopher Jencks, The Homeless. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1994.

Michael B. Katz, The Undeserving Poor. New York. NY: Pantheon Books, 1989.

Frances Fox Piven, Joan Acker, Margaret Hallock and Sandra Morgen, Eds., Work,
Welfare and Politics: Confronting Poverty in the Wake of Welfare Reform. Eugene, OR:
University of Oregon Press, 2002.

Marjorie J. Robertson and Milton Greenblatt, eds., Homelessness: A National
Perspective. New York, NY: Plenum Press, 1992.

Peter H. Rossi, Down and Out in America, The Origins of Homelessness. Chicago, IL:
University of Chicago Press, 1989.

David K. Shipler, The Working Poor: Invisible in America. New York, NY: Vintage
Books, 2005.

Homelessness in America –syllabus updated 1_07_2008 Page 4 of 16

Assignments and Grading

There are four short written assignments. In addition, as noted on p. 1, all students are
required to perform at least 15 hours of service in a shelter during the semester.
Assignment #3, below, is a paper (either in journal or essay format) describing what you
did and your feelings about your service experience. Two of the papers are take-home
essay exams; there will not be a final in-class exam during exam week.

Please type all submissions, in 11 point or larger type, double-spaced, 1” margins.

Page limits below are intended as a guide, not an absolute mandatory limit. However,
please make an effort to stay reasonably close to the recommended page limits.

Assignment #1: Suggested % of
Due Fri, February 21 -- Analysis of housing and Length__ Grade
income data for your region of the country. Utilize
report: Out of Reach 200-200, available at (4-5 pages) 25%
http://www.nlihc.org/oor/oor2008/.

Assignment #2: (8-9 pages) 25%
Due Fri., March 13 - Take-home essay exam
(posted by Fri. Mar. 6)

Assignment #3: (5 pages) 15%*
Due Fri., April 17 – Description of your volunteer
service experience; analysis of your reactions, thoughts,
how your ideas have changed, etc.

Assignment #4: (8-9 pages) 30%
Due Mon., May 4 -- Take-home essay exam
(posted by Mon. Apr. 28)

Class Participation 5%**

* While this written assignment constitutes only 15% of your grade, the volunteer
service is a requirement of the course. You must submit a form evidencing
completion of the minimum hours of service, signed by your supervisor, in order
to receive a passing grade for the course.

** Participation and class attendance count for 5% of your final grade. If you have
been an engaged participant, you will receive a boost in close grading situations;
if you have chosen to remain a silent observer throughout the course, that too may
affect your final grade.

Homelessness in America –syllabus updated 1_07_2008 Page 5 of 16

Selected Sources on the Internet Related to Homelessness, Poverty, etc.

Almanac of Policy Issues: Homelessness http://www.policyalmanac.org/social_welfare/ho
meless.shtml

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities http://www.cbpp.org/
Center for Community Change http://www.communitychange.org/

Center for Social Policy Research, John W. http://www.mccormack.umb.edu/csp/index.jsp
McCormack Graduate School of Policy http://www.chapa.org/
Studies, University of Massachusetts-Boston
Citizens Housing and Planning Association

Coalition on Human Needs http://www.chn.org/
http://www.feantsa.org/code/en/hp.asp
FEANTSA – European Federation of
National Organisations Working with the
Homeless

Institute for Research on Poverty http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/irp/
http://www.ich.gov/
Interagency Council on Homelessness http://www.mhsa.net/
http://www.serve.org/nche
Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless http://www.endhomelessness.org/

National Center for Homeless Education at
SERVE
National Alliance to End Homelessness

National Association for the Education of http://www.naehcy.org
Homeless Children and Youth http://www.nch.ari.net/
National Coalition for the Homeless

National Coalition for Homeless Veterans http://www.nchv.org/

National Health Care for the Homeless http://www.nhchc.org/
Council http://www.nlchp.org/
National Law Center on Homelessness and http://www.nlihc.org/
Poverty
National Low Income Housing Coalition

National Resource Center on Homelessness http://www.nrchmi.samhsa.gov/
and Mental Illness

The Boston Globe http://www.boston.com.globe/

Homelessness in America –syllabus updated 1_07_2008 Page 6 of 16

The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/
http://aspe.hhs.gov/homeless/index.shtml
U.S. Department of Health and Human http://www.hud.gov/
Services – Home Page on Homelessness http://www.hudclips.org
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban http://www.huduser.org/
Development http://www.urbaninstitute.org/
HUD CLIPS (text of all HUD handbooks,
regs, etc.)
HUD User (documents and reports
published by HUD)
Urban Institute

Some Important Information About Your Voluntary Service

The actual time commitment for the service requirement may be substantially greater
than 15 hours, when you take into account commuting time (depending on where your
placement is located) and any required training/orientation time. Unfortunately, there is
often an inverse correlation between convenience and quality of service experience.
Some of the placements located close to campus may involve more food preparation than
client interaction, while some of the less convenient placements give students the greatest
potential for personal interaction with homeless clients.

Please be as flexible as possible when considering service opportunities. Students whose
schedules limit them one particular afternoon or evening will have far fewer options than
those who were able to be more flexible in scheduling. In the past, students who took the
initiative to plan special activities for homeless clients, ranging from arts and crafts
programs to discussions about current events, generally have had extremely positive
experiences – but they often spent extra time in planning and preparation. Overnight
placements are not for everyone, but some students have found that they offered excellent
opportunities for meaningful interactions with homeless individuals. In general, the
students who have been most flexible, and put the most effort and energy into their
placements, have had the best experiences.

If transportation is an issue, it may be possible to group together students who do not
have access to a car with those who do, to facilitate access to more distant placements.

Please try to make your placement arrangements as quickly as possible. Shannon
Moriarty, the course TA, will provide initial placement information matching your
interests and schedule as closely as possible, but you are responsible for making contact
with your supervisor and arranging the actual days and times of participation. Often, it
can take several attempts to make contact and finalize arrangements, so please do not
delay - if you do not start your placement until March, you will have difficulty
completing the requirement by the end of the semester.

Homelessness in America –syllabus updated 1_07_2008 Page 7 of 16

Outline of Classes andREADINGS

Part I Background

Wed., Jan. 14 What is Homelessness and Who are “the Homeless”? Introductions,
course objectives & organization.

NO CLASS MON., JAN. 19 – MARTIN LUTHER KING HOLIDAY

Wed., Jan. 21 Profiles of Homeless people
READINGS:
1) Elliot Liebow, Tell Them Who I Am, Free Press, NY, 1993, pp. 81-

114, 223-234 (S)
2) Chapter 2, “An Overview of Homeless Clients”, in Homelessness:

Programs and the People They Serve”, Findings of the National
Survey of Homeless Assistance Providers and Homeless Persons.
(n.d.) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Chapter 2,
pp. 11-30.

http://www.huduser.org/publications/homeless/homelessness/contents.html

3) CRS Report for Congress: Homelessness, Recent Statistics,
Targeted Federal Programs and Recent Legislation, updated May
31, 2005, coordinated by Maggie McCarty, Analyst in Social
Legislation, Domestic Social Policy Division, pp. CRS1 – CRS 3.
(Note: The remainder of this report will be assigned for a later
class.) Available on-line at http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL30442.pdf

Mon., Jan. 26 Poverty in America/The “deserving” and “undeserving” poor
READINGS:
1) Iceland, pp. 1-4, 38-52
2) Wright et al., pp. 65-78
3) Wilson, pp. 149-182

Wed., Jan. 28 LEGISLATIVE TRAINING OFF-CAMPUS
10-11:30 a.m. The Homelessness Committee of Citizens Housing & Planning
Association (CHAPA) is sponsoring a training at the
Massachusetts statehouse for state legislators and/or their aides,
focusing on (1) an overview of homelessness challenges (rising
rents, falling incomes), (2) What “Housing First” really means, (3)
housing resources that are available for homeless individuals and
families and those at imminent risk of homelessness, and (4) the
work of the Massachusetts Interagency Council on Homelessness.
This is an opportunity to hear from speakers who are at the
forefront of addressing issues of homelessness in Massachusetts.

(READINGS TO BE ANNOUNCED)

Homelessness in America –syllabus updated 1_07_2008 Page 8 of 16

Mon., Feb. 2 Film: Outriders
READINGS:
Chester Hartman, “The Case for a Right to Housing,” in Housing
Policy Debate, Vol. 9, No. 2 1998. pp. 223-242, plus responses by
James Carr and Peter Salins, pp. 247-257 and 259-266; respectively
available on-line at
http://www.fanniemaefoundation.org/programs/hpd/pdf/hpd_0902_hartman.pdf ,
http://www.fanniemaefoundation.org/programs/hpd/pdf/hpd_0902_carr.pdf and

http://www.fanniemaefoundation.org/programs/hpd/pdf/hpd_0902_salins.pdf

Wed. Feb. 4 The context of the urban environment
READINGS:
1) Elvin K. Wyly, Norman J. Glickman, and Michael L. Lahr, “A Top

10 List of Things to Know about American Cities,” Cityscape, Vol.
3, No. 3, 1998, pp. 7-32,

http://www.huduser.org/intercept.asp?loc=/Periodicals/CITYS
CPE/VOL3NUM3/article2.pdf
2) Iceland, pp. 52-59 (“Concentrated Poverty”), 70-78
3) Wilson, pp. 25-50
4) Haya El Nasser, “Foreclosure Crisis Has Ripple Effect”, USA
Today, March 11, 2008, available on-line at

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-03-11-foreclosures_N.htm

Mon. Feb. 9 Definitions and Demographics: What is “poverty” and who is
Wed. Feb. 11 poor”? How do we define and count “the homeless”?
READINGS:
1) Iceland, pp. 1-37 (Chapters 1-3)
2) National Alliance to End Homelessness, “Homelessness Counts”,

January, 2007, skim pp. 6-16 only, available on-line at

http://www.endhomelessness.org/content/general/detail/1440

Definitions and Demographics: How do we define and count “the
homeless”? (cont.)
1) David S. Cordray and Georgine M. Pion, pp. 69-90, in Dennis P.

Culhane & Steven P. Hornburg, eds., Understanding Homelessness:
New Policy and Research Perspectives. Fannie Mae Foundation:
1997. Available electronically at

http://www.knowledgeplex.org/kp/report/report/relfiles/fmf_understandinghome.h
tml

2) Wright et al., pp. 31-63.
3) National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and

Youth, “Fact Check: Updating HUD’s Definition of Homelessness
in the Reauthorization of the HUD McKinney-Vento Act
Programs,” pp. 1-4, available on-line at
http://www.naehcy.org/dl/defmyth.pdf.

Homelessness in America –syllabus updated 1_07_2008 Page 9 of 16

NO CLASSES MONDAY, FEB. 16 – SUBSTITUTE MONDAY’S
SCHEDULE ON THURSDAY, FEB. 19

Wed., Feb. 18 Homelessness and Social Policy: A Framework for Understanding
and Addressing Homelessness
READINGS:
1) Wright et al., pp. 1-30.
2) DiNitto, pp. 1-29 (“Politics, Rationalism & Social Welfare”). (Note:

Available on reserve at Tisch Library)

Thurs., Feb. 19 Current U.S. Policy Agenda: Focus on Chronic Homelessness
READINGS:

1) United States Department of Health and Human Services, Ending
Chronic Homelessness: Strategies for Action, chapters 1-3 (pp. 5-
24), available on-line at http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/homelessness/strategies03/

2) National Policy and Advocacy Council on Homelessness,
“Questions and Answers about the ‘Chronic Homelessness
Initiative,’ available on-line at http://www.npach.org/chronicq.html

3) Malcolm Gladwell, Dept. of Social Services, "Million-Dollar
Murray," The New Yorker, February 13, 2006, available on-line at

http://www.gladwell.com/2006/2006_02_13_a_murray.html.

4) David Tian, “A Response to Million-Dollar Murray,” Yale Hunger
and Homelessness Action Project, February 28, 2006, available on-
line at http://www.yale.edu/yhhap/A%20Response%20to%20Million-

Dollar%20Murray.html.

Assignment #1 Due Friday, February 20, 2009 by electronic submission to
[email protected]

Part II Structural Causes Of Homelessness

A. Housing Programs and Homelessness: Why the Gap?

Mon., Feb. 23 U.S. Housing Policy: Historical Context
READINGS:
Peter Dreier, “Labor’s Love Lost? Rebuilding Unions’ Involvement in
Federal Housing Policy”, in Housing Policy Debate, Vol. 11, Issue 2,
2000, pp. 327-354 (note: entire article will be assigned over the
course of the semester)

http://www.fanniemaefoundation.org/programs/hpd/pdf/hpd_1102_dreier.pdf

Wed., Feb. 25 U.S. Housing Policy: Conflicting Views
READINGS:
1) Wright et al., pp. 79-92.
2) Peter Dreier, “Love’s Labor’s Lost,” pp. 354-360

Homelessness in America –syllabus updated 1_07_2008 Page 10 of 16

3) Howard Husock, “We Don’t Need Subsidized Housing,” City Journal,

Winter, 1997, available on-line at http://www.city-
journal.org/html/7_1_we_dont_need.html.

Mon., Mar. 2 Housing Trends, Housing Subsidies
READINGS:
1) Joint Center for Housing Studies, State of the Nation’s Housing,

2008. Harvard University, sections entitled “Executive Summary”
and “Housing Challenges” required, “Homeownership” optional,
available on-line at

http://www.jchs.harvard.edu/publications/markets/son2008/index.htm

2) U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy
Research, Affordable Housing Needs: A Report to Congress on the
Significant Need for Housing – Annual Compilation of a Worst Case
Housing Needs Study (2005), executive summary only pp. 1-5
(http://www.huduser.org/Publications/pdf/AffHsgNeedsRpt2003.pdf

3) Rick Cohen, “A Structural Racism Lens on Subprime Foreclosures
and Vacant Properties”. The Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race
and Ethnicity at Ohio State University. Paper presented at National
Convening on Subprime Lending, Foreclosure and Race, October 2-
3, 2008, available on-line at

http://4909e99d35cada63e7f757471b7243be73e53e14.gripelements.com/pdfs/Ric
k_Cohen_paper.pdf

Wed., Mar. 4 Not in My Backyard: Barriers to Housing Development and
Homeless Services
READINGS:
1) National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, Access

Delayed, Access Denied: Local Opposition to Housing and Service
for Homeless People Across the United States, December, 1997,
available on-line at

http://www.nlchp.org/content/pubs/Access%20Delayed%20Access%20Denied3.p

df, pp. 1-44.
2) Edward C. Carman, Barry Bluestone and Eleanor White, Center for

Urban and Regional Policy, Northeastern University, Building on
our Heritage: A Housing Strategy for Smart Growth and Economic
Development: Report and Recommendations for the Commonwealth
Housing Task Force, October 30, 2003, , pp. 5-11 only available on-
line at http://www.tbf.org/uploadedFiles/HousingReport.pdf
3) Michael Jonas, “Priced Out”, Boston Sunday Globe, January 8,
2006 (note: you’ll need to search the site for the article)

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2006/01/08/priced_out/

B. Racism, Sexism and “Equal Opportunity”

Mon., Mar. 9 Race – Discrimination in Housing
Film: True Colors

Homelessness in America –syllabus updated 1_07_2008 Page 11 of 16

READINGS:
1) “A Foot In the Door? New Evidence on Housing Discrimination”,

Urban Institute, February 4, 2003, available on-line at

http://www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=900587&renderforprint=1

2) Residential Segregation and Housing Discrimination in the United
States: Violations of the International Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination: A Response to
the 2007 Periodic Report of the United States of America submitted
by Housing Scholars and Research and Advocacy Organizations,
December, 2007, available on-line at

http://www.nationalfairhousing.org/resources/newsArchive/resource_0830527693

1793260067.pdf, pp. 1-29.

Wed., Mar.11 Race and Gender – Multiple Dimensions of Discrimination
READINGS (some to be made optional):
1) B. Reskin and I. Padavic, Women and Men at Work, Thousand

Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2002, pp. 121-147.
2) Wilson, pp. 111-146
3) Iceland, pp. 80-94.
4) Sara Lichtenwalter, “Gender Poverty Disparity in US Cities:

Evidence Exonerating Female-Headed Households”, Journal of
Sociology and Social Welfare, June, 2005, available on-line at

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0CYZ/is_2_32/ai_n14711313/print

5) Daniel Weinberg, “Earnings by Gender: Evidence from Census
2000,” Monthly Labor Review, July/August 2007, available on-line
at http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2007/07/art3full.pdf

Assignment #2 due Friday, March 13, 2009 by electronic submission to
[email protected].

NO CLASSES WEEK OF MARCH 16 – SPRING BREAK

C. The Impact of Social Change

Mon., Mar. 23 Social change: changes in family structure, welfare reform
READINGS:
1) Wilson, pp. 87-110.
2) M. Cancian and D. Reed, “Changes in Family Structure:

Implications for Poverty and Related Policy.” Focus, Vol. 21, no. 2
(2000), pp. 21-6 http://www.irp.wisc.edu/publications/focus/pdfs/foc212.pdf
3) Donna Haig Friedman, Tatjana Meschede and Michelle Hayes,
“Surviving Against the Odds: Families’ Journeys Off Welfare and
Out of Homelessness,” pp. 187-203, Cityscape, Vol. 6, No. 2, 2003
(if link doesn’t work, type or paste address in web browser –
article is available at this address)

http://www.huduser.org/periodicals/cityscpe/vol6num2/3surviv.pdf

Homelessness in America –syllabus updated 1_07_2008 Page 12 of 16

4) Sara McLanahan, Irwin Garfinkel and Ronald B. Mincy, "Fragile
Families, Welfare Reform and Marriage" pp. 1-7 in Welfare Reform
and Beyond, Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution, Policy
Brief No. 10, November, 2001,

http://www.brookings.edu/es/wrb/publications/pb/pb10.pdf

5) Wade F. Horn, “Wedding Bell Blues: Marriage and Welfare
Reform”, The Brookings Review, Summer 2001, Vol. 19, No. 3, pp.
39-42, http://www.brookings.edu/press/review/summer2001/horn.htm

6) Optional: Isabel V. Sawhill, “Non-Marital Births and Child Poverty
in the United States,” Testimony before House Committee on Ways
and Means, Subcommittee on Human Resources, June 29, 1999, pp.
1-5, http://www.brookings.edu/views/testimony/sawhill/19990629.htm

Wed., Mar. 25 A Nation at War: Homeless Veterans
READINGS:
1) National Alliance to End Homelessness, Vital Mission: Ending

Homelessness Among Veterans, November 8, 2007. available on-
line at http://www.endhomelessness.org/content/article/detail/1837
2) Florence Wagman Roisman, “National Ingratitude: The Egregious
Deficiencies of the United States’ Housing Programs for Veterans
and the “Public Scandal” of Veterans’ Homelessness”, 38 Indiana
Law Review 103 (2007), pp. 144-176 only, available on-line at

http://www.endhomelessness.org/content/article/detail/1863

3) Alexandra Marks, “Back from Iraq and Suddenly Out on the
Streets,” The Christian Science Monitor, February 8, 2005,

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0208/p02s01-ussc.html

D. Substance Abuse, Mental Illness And Mental Health Policy

Mon., Mar. 30 Mental Illness and Substance Abuse: Cause and Effect of
Homelessness?
READINGS:
1) Christopher Jencks, The Homeless. Harvard University press, 1994,

pp. 21-48 (S)
2) Wright et al. pp. 105-111; 137-145
3) (skim) Stephen B. Seager, Street Crazy: America’s Mental Health

Tragedy, Redondo Beach, CA: Westcom Press 2000, pp. 24-32,
50-53, 136-145, 150-155, 186-197. (S)
4) “Supportive Housing Helps Break the Cycle of Homelessness”, pp.
1-5, in Healing Hands, Vol. 7, No. 6 (December, 2003),

http://www.nhchc.org/Network/HealingHands/2003/Final_Healing_Hands_1_04.
pdf

Homelessness in America –syllabus updated 1_07_2008 Page 13 of 16

Part. III. Connections

Wed., Apr. 1 Ex-Offenders
READINGS:
1) Caterina Gouvis Roman and Jeremy Travis, “Taking Stock:

Housing, Homelessness and Prisoner Reentry”, Urban Institute,
March 8, 2004, pp. 1-33, available on-line at

http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/411096_taking_stock.pdf

2) “Coordinating Community Services for Mentally ill Offenders:
Maryland’s Community Criminal Justice Treatment Program”, April
1999, pp. 1-15, http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/175046.pdf

Mon., Apr. 6 Health & Safety
Wed., Apr. 8 READINGS:
1) Wright, pp. 147-176
2) GAO report: “Homelessness: Barriers to Using Mainstream

Programs, RCED-00-184, July 6, 2000, pp. 3-17
http://www.gao.gov/archive/2000/rc00184.pdf (skim)
3) “Teen ‘Sport Killings’ of Homeless On the Rise,” CNN, February
20, 2007, available on-line at

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/02/19/homeless.attacks/index/html

Children, Youth and Homelessness
READINGS:
1) Paul G. Shane, What About America’s Homeless Children? Hide

and Seek. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 1996, pp. 23-53. (S)
2) Ellen L. Bassuk, Kristina Konnath and Katherine T. Volk,

“Understanding Traumatic Stress in Children,” The National Center
on Family Homelessness, February, 2006, available on-line at

http://www.familyhomelessness.org/pdf/Understanding%20Trauma.pdf

Mon., Apr. 13 Youth Homelessness – Guest Speaker (date to be confirmed)
Alice Rouse, former director of Starlight Youth Outreach and author of city-wide
needs assessment and profile of homeless youth in the Greater Boston area.

READINGS:
1) Natasha Slesnick, Our Runaway and Homeless Youth: A Guide to

Understanding. Westport, CT: Praeger 2004, pp. 3-33. (S)
2) Marjorie J. Robertson and Paul A. Toro, “Homeless Youth:

Research, Intervention and Policy”, presented at 1998 National
Symposium on Homelessness Research, available on-line at

aspe.hhs.gov/homeless/symposium/3-Youth.htm

3) Skim Martha R. Burt, “Understanding Homeless Youth: Numbers,
Characteristics, Multisystem Involvement, and Intervention
Options,” Testimony Before the U.S. House Committee on Ways
and Means, Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support,
June 19, 2007, available on-line at

Homelessness in America –syllabus updated 1_07_2008 Page 14 of 16

http://waysandmeans.house.gov/hearings.asp?formmode=view&id=6139

Wed., Apr. 15 Rural Homelessness
READINGS:
1) Wright, pp. 177-193.
2) National Coalition for the Homeless, “Rural Homelessness,” NCH

Fact Sheet #11, August, 2007, pp. 1-3, available on-line at

http://www.nationalhomeless.org/publications/facts/Rural.pdf

3) Patricia A. Post, “Hard to Reach: Rural Homelessness and Health
Care,” National Health Care for the Homeless Council, January,
2002, pp. 1-26, available on-line at

http://www.nhchc.org/Publications/RuralHomeless.pdf

4) Optional: Habitat International Coalition, “Rural Homelessness
Reaches Crisis Point,” Mon., June 21, 2004, available on-line at

http://www.hic-net.org/articles.asp?PID=147

Assignment #3 due by electronic submission Friday, April 17, 2009

NO CLASS MONDAY, APRIL 20 – PATRIOTS DAY HOLIDAY

Part IV Solutions

Wed.., Apr. 22 McKinney-Vento Act – The Answer to Homelessness?
READINGS:

1) U.S. General Accounting Office, Homelessness: Improving
Program Coordination and Client Access to Programs,
GAO/RCED-02-485T, 2002, Statement of Stanley J.
Czerwinski, Director, Physical Infrastructure issues, pp. 1-16,

http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d02485t.pdf

2) CRS Report for Congress: Homelessness, Recent Statistics,
Targeted Federal Programs and Recent Legislation, pp. CRS-4
through CRS-16 (note: CRS 1-3 prev. assigned – see 1/24)

3) Martha R. Burt, “Reauthorization of the McKinney-Vento
Homeless Assistance Act,” Testimony Before the U.S. House
of Representatives, Committee on Financial Services,
Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity,
October 11, 2007, available on-line at

http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/901120_homeless_assistance.pdf

Mon., Apr. 27 Ending Homelessness - Policy Agendas and Political Activism
READINGS:
1) National Association to End Homelessness, Promising
Strategies to End Family Homelessness, June, 2006, available
on-line at http://www.naeh.org/content/article/detail/999
2) Peter Dreier, “Labor’s Love Lost? Rebuilding Unions’
Involvement in Federal Housing Policy”, in Housing Policy
Debate, Vol. 11, Issue 2, 2000, pp. 366-381

Homelessness in America –syllabus updated 1_07_2008 Page 15 of 16

http://www.fanniemaefoundation.org/programs/hpd/pdf/hpd_1102_dreier.p
df

3) Martha R. Burt, John Hedderson, Janine M. Zweig, Mary Jo
Ortiz, Laudan Y. Aron and Sabrina M. Johnson, “Strategies for
Reducing Chronic Street Homelessness,” prepared for the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of
Policy Development and Research. Urban Institute, January,
2004, available on-line at http://www.urban.org/publications/1000775

chapter 2 only (pp. 9-18).

Mon., May 4 Assignment #4 due by electronic submission to
[email protected].

Homelessness in America –syllabus updated 1_07_2008 Page 16 of 16