2009 Annual Homeless Assessment

This is a print on demand edition of a hard to find publication. Provides year-to-year trend information that explores changes in the patterns of homelessness over time. This year¿s Annual Assessment Report (AHAR) is delivered at a critical moment ¿- as the Federal government continues to shift its focus toward preventing homelessness and on the eve of the first-ever federal plan to end homelessness. The 2009 AHAR captures a large portion of the economic crisis in its reporting period. It provides real evidence that the economic downturn is impacting the housing stability of low-income and vulnerable Americans -- as we see a rise in family homelessness for the second consecutive year. This year¿s report allows for a comparative analysis of homelessness that spans three years ¿ 2007, 2008, and 2009.

The AHAR provides the results of local counts of people homeless on a single night in January, as well as estimates of the number, characteristics, and service patterns of all people who used residential programs for homeless people during the 2010 federal Fiscal Year (Oct. 2009-Sept. 2010). Also, for the first time, this year¿s AHAR includes info. about the use of permanent supportive housing programs and the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program. This is the first report to provide national estimates on the use of the full continuum of homeless assistance programs ¿ from homelessness prevention to homeless residential services to permanent supportive housing. Charts and tables. This is a print on demand report.

Provides year-to-year trend info. that explores changes in the patterns of homelessness over time. Focuses on two types of national estimates of homelessness. Point-in-time estimates provide the total number of sheltered and un-sheltered homeless persons on a single-night in January. Also provides one-year estimates of the total sheltered population. The one-year estimates account for persons who used a homeless residential program at any time during a 12-month period. The report compares one-year estimates for 2007 and 2008. This report comes at a time of economic uncertainty and provides a few early indicators of how the economic downturn may be affecting the housing situation of low-income and vulnerable Americans. Illus.

A timely examination of the effects of the Great Recession on Americans and the resulting federal reforms to healthcare, employment, and housing policies as a means to alleviate poverty. The Great Recession (2007 to 2009) brought the United States—routinely touted as the richest country in the world—to historical levels of poverty. Rising unemployment, government budget crises, and the collapse of the housing market had devastating effects on the poor and middle class. This is one of the first books to focus on the impact of the Great Recession on poverty in America, examining governmental and cultural responses to the economic downturn; the demographics of poverty by gender, age, occupation, education, geographical area, and ethnic identity; and federal and state efforts toward reform and relief. Essays from more than 20 contributing writers explore the history of poverty in America and provide a vision of what lies ahead for the American economy.

This book presents an unflinching investigation of homelessness in the United States—a problem that has been with us since the arrival of the first English settlers nearly 400 years ago. The terms historically used to describe them include "bums," "hoboes," "migrants," "street people," "transients," "tramps," and "vagrants." Just as varied as the words we have used to describe them are the reasons many people have found themselves living in the land of opportunity without permanent residence. The book considers homelessness and its distinctive character in three periods of American history: the era of tramps and hoboes in the late 1800s–early 1900s, the era of transients and migrants in the 1930s, and the era of homeless and "street" people in the last 40 years. It clarifies the multiple meanings of the word "homeless" today and demonstrates that homelessness is a symptom of more than one problem, leading to confusion about the issue of homelessness and hampering attempts to reduce its occurrence. Author Neil Larry Shumsky, PhD, also postulates that the treatment of homelessness in England before the colonization of North America laid the foundation of pervasive American attitudes and practices.