Homelessness
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[[WP:UNDO|Undid]] revision 225746410 by [[Special:Contributions/ManbooBs88|ManbooBs88]] ([[User talk:ManbooBs88|talk]])
[[Image:HomelessParis_7032101.jpg|right|thumb|300px|A homeless person in [[Paris]].]]
'''Homelessness''' is the condition and societal category of people who lack housing and food, usually because they cannot afford, or are otherwise unable to maintain, regular, safe, and adequate shelter. The term "homelessness" may also include people whose primary nighttime residence is in a [[homeless shelter]], in an institution that provides a temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized, or in a public or private place not designed for use as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings.<ref>Office of Applied Studies, [[United States Department of Health and Human Services]],[http://oas.samhsa.gov/MentalHealthHP2010/terminology.htm "Terminology"]</ref><ref>[http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode42/usc_sec_42_00011302----000-.html United States Code, Title 42, Chapter 119, Subchapter I, § 11302]. [[United States Code]]: General definition of a homeless individual.</ref> A small number of people choose to be homeless [[nomad]]s, such as some [[Romani people]] (Gypsies) and members of some subcultures.<ref>[http://www.umd.umich.edu/casl/hum/eng/classes/434/charweb/HISTORYO.htm History and Way of Life of Gypsies]</ref> An estimated 100 million people worldwide are homeless.<ref>[http://ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=28086 HUMAN RIGHTS: More Than 100 Million Homeless Worldwide]</ref>
==Meaning==
The term "homelessness" includes the people whose primary nighttime residence is in an institution that provides a temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized, or in a public or private place not designed for use as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings.<ref>Office of Applied Studies, [[United States Department of Health and Human Services]],[http://oas.samhsa.gov/MentalHealthHP2010/terminology.htm "Terminology"]</ref><ref>[http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode42/usc_sec_42_00011302----000-.html United States Code, Title 42, Chapter 119, Subchapter I, § 11302]. [[United States Code]]: General definition of a homeless individual.</ref> A small number of people choose to be homeless [[nomad]]s, such as some [[Romani people]] (Gypsies) and members of some subcultures.<ref>[http://www.umd.umich.edu/casl/hum/eng/classes/434/charweb/HISTORYO.htm History and Way of Life of Gypsies]</ref> An estimated 100 million people worldwide are homeless.<ref>[http://ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=28086 HUMAN RIGHTS: More Than 100 Million Homeless Worldwide]</ref>
==Other names for homelessness==
The term used to describe homeless people in academic articles and government reports is "homeless people". Popular slang terms, some of which are considered derogatory, include: [[vagrancy (people)|vagrant]], tramp, [[hobo]] (U.S.), transient, bum (U.S.), bagman/bagwoman, urban outdoorsmen <ref>[http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=urban+outdoorsman Entry for "urban outdoorsman"] - The Urban Dictionary</ref>, or the wandering poor. The term '(of) No Fixed Abode' (NFA) is used in legal circumstances. Sometimes the term “houseless” is used to reflect a more accurate condition in some cases.<ref>[[United States Department of Housing and Urban Development|HUD]], [http://www.hud.gov/local/la/library/archives/2007-03-12.cfm "Not Homeless-Just Houseless"], [[March 12]] [[2007]].</ref><ref>Persall, Steve, [http://www.sptimes.com/2007/02/09/Floridian/A_focus_on_the__house.shtml "A Focus on the 'houseless'"], [[St. Petersburg Times]], [[February 9]] [[2007]]</ref>
===The word "homeless" in different cultures===
[[Image:A gipsy woman with her dog.JPG|right|thumb|A Romanian gypsy woman with her dog in [[Rome]].]]
In different languages, the term for homelessness reveals the cultural and societal perception and classification of a homeless person:<ref>[http://www.logosdictionary.org/pls/dictionary/new_dictionary.dic.main?u_code=4395&code_language=EN&language_list=&trg_lg=&word=HOMELESS&phrase_code=&connect_value=&procedure_type=SW-exact&subject_code=&num_row=10 Logos Multi-lingual Dictionary] - entry for "homeless" in many languages</ref>
*Afrikaans: "haweloos" (homeless)
*Albanian: "i pastrehë" (homeless)
*Arabic: مشرد, بلا مأوى (homeless, beggar)
*Aragones: sin teito ; sin fogar (without a roof; without a home)
*Basque: "kale gorrian bizi den(a)" ; "kalegorritar" (street dweller, homeless)
*Chinese: 无家的 ; 无家可归的 (Non-family; Homeless)
*Croatian: "beskućnik" (homeless),
*Czech: "bezdomovec" (homeless),
*Danish: "hjemløs" (homeless),
*Dutch: "zwerver" (wanderer), "dakloze" (roofless)
*English (Britain): "rough sleeper" (person who sleeps "in the rough" i.e. outdoors)
*Finnish: hemlösa, kodittomat (homeless), <ref>[http://www.jovestone.fi/dictionary/md/MD-ko.pdf Mercury Multi-lingual dictionary] - entry for ''koditon'' and ''Kodittomat''</ref>
*French: France "sans domicile fixe" (SDF, without a fixed domicile), Quebec "sans-abri" (without shelter)
*German: "obdachlos" (without a shelter)
*Greek: "άστεγος" (astegos) (without a roof/home)
*Hebrew: "Chasraei Biyet" (Lacking a house)
*Hindi: "बेघर" ''Be-ghar'' (Without home)
*Hungarian: "Hajléktalan" (Without house)
*Icelandic: heimilislaus ; útigangsmaður
*Italian: "senzatetto" (without a roof)
*Japan : "ホームレス": "Hōmuresu" (a phonetical approximation of 'homeless'), 乞食 "kojiki" (a beggar), 浮浪者 "furōsha" (a transient) or 不労者 "furōsha" ('one-that-does-not-work'), ルンペン "rumpen" (derived from German word [[Lumpenproletariat]])
*Korean: "노숙자" (person who sleeps outside), "거지" (extremely poor)
*Latvia: "bezpajumtnieks" (without a shelter) or "bomzis" (slang loanword from Russian "бомж")
*Lithuania: „Benamis”(without a shelter) or „bomžas” (slang loanword from Russian "бомж" kuciukst)
*Norwegian: "uteligger" (sleeping outside)
*Persian: "بی خانمان" ''Bi-khaneman'' (without home)
*Polish, Russian, Slovene: "bezdomny", "бездомный", or in more frequent use, "бомж", standing for without fixed place of living (без определенного места жительства), "brezdomec" respectively (without a house)
*Portuguese: "desabrigado" or "sem-abrigo" (without a shelter) or "sem-tecto" (without a roof), or "sem-teto" <ref>[http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sem-teto Portuguese Wikipedia article on "Sem-teto" (Homeless)]</ref>
*Romanian: "fara adapost" (without a shelter)
*Spanish: "persona sin hogar" (person without a home), "pordiosero" (person who begs saying "Por Dios" ("For God's sake")), "sin techo" or "sintecho" (person without roof above), "desamparado" (helpless, unprotected, abandoned, deserted), "vagabundo" (vagabond, vagrant), indigente (indigent).
*Swedish: "uteliggare" (someone lying outside), "hemlös" (homeless), "lodis"/"lodare", "luffare" (hobo).
*Turkish: "evsiz" (homeless, rootless)
*Urdu: "بے گھر" ''Be-ghar'' (Without home)
*Vietnamese: "không cửa không nhà, vô gia cư" (dispossessed, roofless, stateless, homeless)
==Voluntary homelessness==
[[Image:2006 homeless at mcdonalds.jpg|thumb|right|Man with sign in front of a McDonald's restaurant in Madrid, 2006]]
A small number of homeless people choose to be homeless, living as [[nomadism|nomads]]. "Nomadism has been a way of life in many cultures for thousands of years" either due to the "...seasonal availability of plants and animals" or an "ability to trade." A 2001 study on homelessness issues in Europe noted that "Urban transience [e.g., homelessness] is different from nomadism/rootlessness or traveling ..." in that nomads and Gypsy travellers in caravans have "planned mobility" rather than forced mobility.<ref>[http://www.feantsa.org/files/national_reports/france/france2003_research_update.pdf "Les formes urbaines de l'errance: lieux, circuits et parcours"], Florence Bouillon, Gilles Suzanne, Marine Vassort Scientific supervisors: Jean-Samuel Bordreuil and Michel Peraldi LAMES September 2001.</ref>
In Britain, most nomadic people are [[romani people|Roma]] (or [[Romani people|Gypsy]]) people, [[Irish traveller]]s, Kalé from North Wales, and Scottish travellers. Many of these people "... continue to maintain a semi-nomadic lifestyle and live in [[Travel trailer|caravans]]"; however, "others have chosen to settle more permanently in houses."<ref>[http://www.connectinghistories.org.uk/Learning%20Packages/Migration/migration_settlement_20c_lp_04.asp Migration and Settlement - Migration as a Way of Life<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>Some European countries have developed policies that acknowledge the unique nomadic (or "travelling") life of Gypsy people;<ref>Molloy, (1998) Accommodating Nomadism, Belfast: Traveller Movement Northern Ireland
Morris, R and Clements, L (2002) At what cost? The economics of Gypsy and Traveller Encampments Bristol: The Policy Press</ref><ref>[http://www.publications.parliament.uk/ United Kingdom Parliament home page<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Similar work has also been done by the Australian government, regarding the subgroup of [[Indigenous Australians|Aborigine]] people who are nomadic. In large Japanese cities such as Tokyo, the "many manifestations of urban nomadism" include day laborers and subculture groups.
==Assistance and resources available to the homeless==
===Refuges for the homeless===
There are many places where a homeless person might seek refuge.
* '''Outdoors''': On the ground or in a [[sleeping bag]], [[tent]], or improvised shelter, such as a large [[cardboard box]], in a park or vacant lot.
* '''[[Hobo]] jungles'''/[[Shantytown]]s: Ad hoc campsites of improvised shelters and [[shack]]s, usually near [[rail yard]]s, [[interstates]] and high transportation veins.
* '''Derelict structures''': abandoned or condemned houses or buildings, abandoned cars, and beached boats, generally referred to as [[squatting]].
* '''Vehicles''': cars or trucks are used as a temporary or sometimes long-term living refuge, for example by those recently evicted from a home. Some people live in [[van]]s, [[sport utility vehicle]]s, covered [[pick-up truck]]s, [[station wagon]]s, [[sedan]]s, or [[hatchback]]s.
* '''Public places''': [[park]]s, [[bus]] or [[train station]]s, [[airport]]s, [[public transportation]] vehicles (by continual riding where unlimited passes are available), [[hospital]] lobbies or waiting areas, [[college]] campuses, and 24-hour businesses such as [[coffee shop]]s. Many public places use security guards or police to prevent people from loitering or sleeping at these locations for a variety of reasons, including image, safety, and comfort.
*Homelessness or emergency shelters such as [[Najidah]] and [[Raphael House]]
* '''City run [[homeless shelter]]s''' such as emergency cold-weather shelters opened by [[church]]es or community agencies, which may consist of cots in a heated warehouse, or temporary [[Christmas Shelters]].
* '''Inexpensive [[Boarding house]]s''' called [[flophouse]]s offer cheap, low-quality temporary lodging.
* '''Residential [[hotel]]s''', where a bed as opposed to an entire room can be rented cheaply in a dorm-like environment.
* '''Inexpensive [[motels]]''' also offer cheap, low-quality temporary lodging. However, some who can afford housing live in a motel by choice. For example, David and Jean Davidson spent 22 years at a [[UK]] [[Travelodge]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=480999|title=The couple who stopped off at a Travelodge - and stayed 22 years|author=Paul Sims|date=[[11 September]] [[2007]]|accessdate = 2008-01-08}}</ref>
* '''24-hour [[Internet cafes]]''' are now used by over 5,000 Japanese "Net cafe refugees". An estimated 75% of Japan's 3,200 all-night internet cafes cater to regular overnight guests, who in some cases have become their main source of income.<ref>{{cite news|title=Tokyo dreaming|author=Justin McCurry|publisher=The Guardian|date=Friday [[September 28]] [[2007]]|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,2178925,00.html}}</ref>
* '''Friends or family''': Temporarily sleeping in dwellings of friends or family members ("couch surfing"). Couch surfers may be harder to recognize than street homeless people<ref>O'Neill, Susan, [http://www.insidetoronto.com/News/York/article/11919 "Homeless advocates urge council to remember 'couch surfers'"], Inside Toronto, Canada, [[7 July]] [[2006]]</ref>
* '''Underground tunnels''' such as abandoned subway, maintenance, or train tunnels are popular among the permanent homeless.<ref>Morton, Margaret, "The Tunnel: The Underground Homeless of New York City (Architecture of Despair)", Yale University Press, 1995. ISBN 0300065590</ref> <ref>Toth, Jennifer, "The Mole People: Life in the Tunnels Beneath New York City", Chicago Review Press, [[October 1]] [[1995]].
ISBN 1556521901</ref> The inhabitants of such refuges are called in some places, like New York City, "[[Mole People]]". Natural caves beneath urban centers allow for places where the homeless can congregate. Leaking water pipes, electric wires, and steam pipes allow for normal living. Some abandoned subway stations are known to have grand pianos, water fountains, and frescoed walls.
==Health care for the homeless==
Health care for the homeless is a major public health challenge.<ref>Aday, Lu Ann [http://myprofile.cos.com/adayl96], "Health status of vulnerable populations", Annual Review of Public Health, 1994;15:487-509. [http://arjournals.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev.pu.15.050194.002415]</ref><ref>Bibliography on Healthcare for the Homeless [http://www.homeless-healthcare.org/hhh/research/references.htm]</ref><ref>[[United States Department of Health and Human Services]], "Healthcare for the Homeless". [http://bphc.hrsa.gov/Hchirc/]</ref><ref>Ferguson, M., "Shelter for the Homeless", American Journal of Nursing, 1989, pp.1061-2.</ref><ref>Lenehan, G., McInnis, B., O'Donnell, and M. Hennessey, "A Nurses' Clinic for the Homeless", American Journal of Nursing, 1985, pp.1237-40.</ref><ref>Martin-Ashley, J., "In Celebration of Thirty Years of Caring: Pine Street
Inn Nurses Clinic", Unpublished.</ref><ref>[http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/homelesshealthconcerns.html Homeless Health Concerns] - National Library of Medicine</ref><ref>Wood, David, (editor), "Delivering Health Care to Homeless Persons: The Diagnosis and Management of Medical and Mental Health Conditions", Springer Publishing Company, March 1992, ISBN 0-8261-7780-8</ref><ref>Lee, Tony, [http://www.metrobostonnews.com/us/article/2008/05/29/04/0048-66/index.xml "City launches homeless healthcare facility"], Boston Metro, [[May 29]] [[2008]].</ref>
Homeless people are more likely to suffer injuries and medical problems from their lifestyle on the street, which includes poor nutrition, substance abuse, exposure to the severe elements of weather, and a higher exposure to violence (robberies, beatings, and so on). Yet at the same time, they have little access to public medical services or clinics, in many cases because they lack health insurance: "Each year, millions of people in the United States experience homelessness and are in desperate need of health care services. Most do not have health insurance of any sort, and none have cash to pay for medical care." <ref>[http://www.nhchc.org/Publications/basics_of_homelessness.html Basics of Homelessness]</ref> <ref>[http://www.nationalhomeless.org/health/index.html "Homeless people's access to appropriate treatment and care is hindered dramatically by a lack of health insurance coverage"]</ref>
Homeless persons often find it difficult to document their date of birth or their address. Because homeless people usually have no place to store possessions, they often lose their belongings, including their identification and other documents, or find them destroyed by police or others. Without a photo ID, homeless persons cannot get a job or access many social services. They can be denied access to even the most basic assistance: clothing closets, food pantries, certain public benefits, and in some cases, emergency shelters.
Obtaining replacement identification is difficult. Without an address, birth certificates cannot be mailed. Fees may be cost-prohibitive for impoverished persons. And some states will not issue birth certificates unless the person has photo identification, creating a Catch-22.<ref>National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, [http://www.nlchp.org/view_report.cfm?id=128 "Photo Identification Barriers Faced by Homeless Persons"].</ref>
This problem is far less acute in countries which provide free-at-use health care, such as the UK, where hospitals are open-access day and night, and make no charges for treatment. In the US, free-care clinics, especially for the homeless do exist in major cities, but they are usually over-burdened with patients. <ref>{{PDFlink|[http://www.hds.harvard.edu/cswr/research/RHHI/healing_body/08.moore.pdf "No Angels Here: The Closing of the Pine Street Inn Nurses Clinic, 1972–2003"]}}, by Grace Elizabeth Moore, Harvard Divinity School, Center for the Study of World Religions</ref>
The conditions affecting the homeless are somewhat specialized and have opened a new area of medicine tailored to this population. Skin conditions and diseases abound, because homeless people are exposed to extreme cold in the winter and they have little access to bathing facilities. Homeless people also have more severe dental problems than the general population.<ref> An oral health survey of homeless people in Hong Kong (2005) - University of Hong Kong Libraries, Digital Initiatives, Community Health Projects[http://lookup.lib.hku.hk/lookup/bib/B31788932]</ref> Specialized medical textbooks have been written to address this for providers.<ref>O'Connell, James, J, M.D., editor, et al. "The Health Care of Homeless Persons: a Manual of Communicable Diseases & Common Problems in Shelters & On the Streets", Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, 2004. [http://www.bhchp.org/BHCHP%20manual/index.html] </ref>
There are many organizations providing free care to the homeless in countries which do not offer free medical treatment organised by the state, but the services are in great demand given the limited number of medical practitioners. For example, it might take months to get a minimal dental appointment in a free-care clinic. Communicable diseases are of great concern, especially [[tuberculosis]], which spreads more easily in crowded homeless shelters in high density urban settings.
In 1999, Dr. Susan Barrow of the Columbia University Center for Homelessness Prevention Studies reported in a study that the "age-adjusted death rates of homeless men and women were 4 times those of the general US population and 2 to 3 times those of the general population of New York City". <ref>Barrow, S.M. et al, [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10191796?dopt=Abstract "Mortality among homeless shelter residents in New York City"], Am J Public Health. 1999 Apr;89(4):529-34.</ref>
==Proposed solutions to homelessness==
In 2007 urban designer and social theorist [[Michael E. Arth]] proposed a controversial national solution for homelessness that would involve building nearly carfree [[Pedestrian Village| Pedestrian Villages]] in place of what he terms "the current band-aid approach to the problem."<ref>Michael E. Arth, "A National Solution to Homelessness That Begins Here," Orlando Sentinel, [[January 20]] [[2007]]</ref> A prototype, Tiger Bay Village, was proposed for near [[Daytona Beach]], FL. He claims that this would be superior for treating the psychological as well as psychiatric needs of both temporarily and permanently homeless adults, and would cost less than the current approach. It would also provide a lower cost alternative to jail, and provide a half-way station for those getting out of prison. Work opportunities, including construction and maintenance of the villages, as well as the creation of work force agencies would help make the villages financially and socially viable. <ref>Tom Leonard, "Daytona may give vagrants their own resort." Telegraph.co.uk, [[January 24]] [[2007]] [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/01/23/wdaytona23.xml/ link to article]</ref><ref>Etan Horowitz, "Developer defends homeless-village concept," Orlando Sentinel, [[January 27]] [[2007]]</ref><ref>Rebbecca Mahoney, "Homeless village or leper colony?" Orlando Sentinel, [[January 20]] [[2007]]</ref>
==International law and homelessness==
Since the publication of the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]] (Charter of the United Nations -- UN) in 1948, the public perception has been increasingly changing to a focus on the human ''[[right]]'' of housing, travel and migration as a part of individual self-determination rather than the human ''[[condition]].'' The Declaration, an international law reinforcement of the [[Nuremberg Trials|Nuremberg Trial Judgements]], upholds the rights of one nation to intervene in the affairs of another if said nation is abusing its citizens, and rose out of a 1939-1945 World War II Atlantic environment of extreme split between "haves" and "have nots." The modern study of homeless phenomena is most frequently seen in this historical context.
===Income sources===
Many non-profit organizations such as [[Goodwill Industries]] maintain a mission to "provide skill development and work opportunities to people with barriers to employment", though most of these organizations are not primarily geared toward homeless individuals. Many cities also have [[street newspapers]] or magazines: publications designed to provide employment opportunity to homeless people or others in need by street sale.
While some homeless have paying jobs, some must seek other methods to make money. [[Begging]] or [[panhandling]] is one option, but is becoming increasingly illegal in many cities. Despite the stereotype, not all homeless people panhandle, and not all panhandlers are homeless. Another option is [[busking]]: performing tricks, playing music, drawing on the sidewalk, or offering some other form of entertainment in exchange for donations. In cities where [[plasmapheresis]] centers still exist, homeless people may generate income through frequent visits to these centers.
Homeless people have been known to commit crimes just to be sent to [[County jail|jail]] or [[prison]] for food and shelter. In police slang, this is called "three hots and a cot" referring to the three hot daily meals and a cot to sleep on given to prisoners. Similarly a homeless person may approach a hospital's emergency department and fake physical or mental illness in order to receive food and shelter.{{Fact|date=November 2007}}
==Main causes of homelessness==
[[Image:Enfants de don quichotte.jpg|thumb|right|Tents for homeless people on the [[Canal Saint-Martin]] in Paris, December 2006-January 2007, put there by the [http://www.lesenfantsdedonquichotte.com/v2/index.php Enfants de Don Quichotte] NGO (videos available on site).]]
[[Image:Street dwellers in Mumbai.jpeg|thumb|right|200px|Homeless street dwellers in [[Mumbai]], [[India]].]]
The major reasons and causes for homelessness as documented by many reports and studies include:<ref>[[United States Conference of Mayors]], "A Status Report on Hunger and Homelessness in America's Cities: a 27-city survey", December 2001.</ref><ref>United States Conference of Mayors, {{PDFlink|[http://www.mayors.org/uscm/hungersurvey/2005/HH2005FINAL.pdf "US Conference of Mayors/Sodexho Hunger and Homelessness Survey: 2005"]|1.19 MB}}, December 2005, "Main Causes of Homelessness", p.63-64. {{PDFlink|[http://www.mayors.org/uscm/news/press_releases/documents/hh2005_121905.pdf]|62.3 KB}} [http://www.sodexhousa.com/press-releases/pr122005.asp]</ref><ref>Vanneman, Reeve, [http://www.bsos.umd.edu/socy/vanneman/socy498/causes.html "Main Causes of Homelessness"], University of Maryland</ref>
*Lack of affordable housing
*Substance abuse and lack of needed services
*Mental illness and lack of needed services
*Domestic violence
*Poverty, caused by many factors
*Prison release and re-entry into society
*Lack of affordable healthcare
*Natural disaster
The high cost of housing is a by-product of the general distribution of wealth and income. The rate of homelessness has also been impacted by the reduction of household size witnessed in the last half of the 20th century.
Individuals who are incapable of maintaining employment and managing their lives effectively due to prolonged and severe drug and/or alcohol abuse make up a substantial percentage of the U.S. homeless population.<ref name = "glrdtz">Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio (2006-09-17). [http://www.cohhio.org/resources/factsheets/Chicagofactsheet.html Homelessness: The Causes and Facts]. Retrieved [[2006-05-10]].</ref> The link between substance abuse and homelessness is partially caused by the fact that the behavioral patterns associated with addiction can alienate an addicted individual's family and friends who could otherwise provide a safety net against homelessness during difficult economic times.
Increased wealth and income inequality have caused distortions in the housing market that push rent burdens higher, thereby decreasing the availability of affordable housing.<ref>For example, cf. [http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/regional/mpi/mpi_newsrelease.htm "News Release: Personal Income for Metropolitan Areas, 2006"], [[Bureau of Economic Analysis]].</ref>
There is an initiative in the United States to help the homeless get re-integrated into society, and out of homeless shelters, called "[[Housing first|Housing First]]". It was initiated by the federal government's [[Interagency Council on Homelessness]]. It asks cities to come up with a plan to end chronic homelessness. In this direction, there is the belief that if homeless people are given independent housing to start off with, with some proper social supports, then there would be no need for emergency homeless shelters, which it considers a good outcome. This is a very controversial position.<ref>Graves, Florence; Sayfan, Hadar, [http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2007/06/24/first_things_first/ "First things first: 'Housing first,' a radical new approach to ending chronic homelessness, is gaining ground in Boston"], Boston Globe, Sunday, [[June 24]] [[2007]].</ref>
In Boston, Massachusetts, in September 2007, an outreach to the homeless was initiated in the [[Boston Common (park)|Boston Common]], after some arrests and shootings, and in anticipation of the cold winter ahead. This outreach targets homeless people who would normally spend their sleeping time on the Boston Common, and tries to get them into housing, trying to skip the step of an emergency shelter. Applications for Boston Housing Authority were being handed out and filled out and submitted. This is an attempt to enact by outreach the Housing First initiative, federally mandated. Boston's Mayor, [[Thomas Menino]], was quoted as saying "The solution to homelessness is permanent housing". Still, this is a very controversial strategy, especially if the people are not able to sustain a house with proper community, health, substance counseling, and mental health supportive programs.<ref>St. Martin, Greg, [http://www.metrobostonnews.com/us/article/2007/09/17/02/2107-72/index.xml "Seeking help for homeless on Common: Program hopes to offer housing"], Boston Metro newspaper, Monday, [[September 17]] [[2007]].</ref>
In Australia, there is a legislation: Supported Accommodation Assistance Program Act 1994 (SAAP)
which is a joint Commonwealth state program which provides funding for more than 1,200 organizations which are aimed to assist homeless people or those in danger of becoming homeless, as well as women and children escaping domestic violence. They provide accommodation such as refuges, shelters and half-way houses, and offer a range of supported services. The Commonwealth has assigned over $800 million between 2000-2005 for the continuation of SAAP.
The current program, governed by the Supported Assistance Act 1994, specifies that “the overall aim of SAAP is to provide transitional supported accommodation and related support services, in order to help people who are homeless to achieve the maximum possible degree of self-reliance and independence. This legislation has been established to help the homeless people of the nation and help rebuild the lives of those in need, the joining of the states also helps enhance the meaning of the legislation and demonstrates the collboration of the states and their desire to improve the nation as best they can .
==Pre-disposing factors to homelessness==
[[Image:Los Angeles Skid Row.jpg|right|thumb|[[Skid Row]] in [[Los Angeles|Los Angeles, CA]]]][[Image:Homeless Woman.jpg|right|thumb|A homeless person in [[Nice]].]]
Most researchers attempt to make a distinction between: 1) why homelessness exists, in general, and 2) who is at-risk of homelessness, in specific. Homelessness has always existed since urbanization and industrialization.
Factors placing an individual at high-risk of homelessness include:
* '''Cost of living''': Although most people would not admit this as a cause, in the US (and some other countries) those who are homeless but employed are not considered vagrants. With rising cost of living (notably gas in the US)<ref>Real-time gas prices: [http://www.gasbuddy.com/gb_gastemperaturemap.aspx]</ref>, some people elect to be homeless/nomadic, in order to save for other expenses. This is especially true when wages are minimal (but existent, unlike those in poverty), and housing prices<ref>Housing Prices Map 2007: [http://www.datadrivenmaps.com/myonlinemapscom/images/2007/04/09/us_housing_prices_3_2.png]</ref> in the area is high. Not surpirisingly, California which is noted elsewhere in this article as having a high homelessness rate, also has a high cost of living.<ref>According to the last two maps</ref> Ironically, this is NOT due to poverty, so much as the fact that the average wages are high enough to drive prices up to match.<ref>[http://www.labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov/article.asp?ArticleID=126 California's minimum wages vs Federal minimum]</ref>
* '''Poverty''': People living in poverty are at a higher risk of becoming homeless.
* '''[[Drug abuse]] and substance abuse''': It is common for homeless to suffer from a substance abuse problem. Debate exists about whether [[drug use]] is a cause or consequence of homelessness. However, regardless when it arises, an untreated addiction "makes moving beyond homelessness extremely difficult."<ref name = "glrdtz"/> Substance abuse is quite prevalent in the homeless population.<ref>cf. Booth, Koegel, et al. "Vulnerability Factors for Homelessness Associated with Substance Dependence in a Community Sample of Homeless Adults", 2002.</ref>
* '''Serious Mental Illness and Disability''': It has been estimated that approximately one-third of all adult homeless persons have some form of [[mental illness]] and/or [[disability]]. In previous eras, these individuals were institutionalized in state mental hospitals. According to the [[National Alliance for the Mentally Ill]] (NAMI), there were 50,000 mentally ill homeless people in California alone because of deinstitutionalization between 1957 and 1988 and a lack of adequate local service systems.<ref>[http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/full/hlthaff.w5.212/DC1 Health Affairs - Sign In Page<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Various assertive outreach approaches, including a mental health treatment approach known as [[Assertive Community Treatment]] and the [[Path Program]], have shown promise in the prevention of homelessness among people with serious mental illness.<ref>Robert A. Rosenheck, MD; Deborah Dennis, MA, "Time-Limited Assertive Community Treatment for Homeless Persons With Severe Mental Illness", Archives of General Psychiatry. 2001;58:1073-1080. [http://archpsyc.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/58/11/1073]</ref><ref>Dixon L, Weiden P, Torres M, Lehman A., "Assertive community treatment and medication compliance in the homeless mentally ill", American Journal of Psychiatry. 1997 Sep;154(9):1302-4. [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=9286194&dopt=Abstract]</ref><ref>Meisler N, Blankertz L, Santos AB, McKay C., "Impact of assertive community treatment on homeless persons with co-occurring severe psychiatric and substance use disorders", Community Mental Health Journal, 1997 Apr;33(2):113-22. [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=9145253&dopt=Abstract]</ref>
* '''Foster Care background''': This population experienced rates of homelessness nearly 8 times higher than the non-foster care population.
* '''Escaping [[domestic abuse]]''', including sexual, physical and mental abuse: Victims who flee from abuse often find themselves without a home. Abused children also have a higher chance of succumbing to a drug addiction, which contributes to difficulties in establishing a residence.<ref>Homeless Agency. [http://www.homelessagency.ie/about_homelessness/causes.html Facts about Homelessness: Causes of Homelessness]. Retrieved [[2006-05-10]].</ref> In 1990 a study found that half of homeless women and children were fleeing abuse.<ref>National Coalition for the Homeless (June 2005). Often, more local resources are available to fleeing women and children as this group is easier to identify and improve their situation. {{PDFlink|[http://www.nationalhomeless.org/publications/facts/domestic.pdf Domestic Violence and Homelessness]|142 KB}}. Retrieved [[2006-05-11]].</ref>
* '''Prison discharge''': Often the formerly incarcerated are socially isolated from friends and family and have few resources. Employment is often difficult and even sometimes impossible for those with a criminal record. Untreated substance abuse and mental illness also may put them at high risk for homelessness once discharged.<ref>Chicago Coalition for the Homeless. [http://www.chicagohomeless.org/factsfigures/causesandfacts.htm Homelessness—Causes and Facts]. Retrieved [[2006-05-10]].</ref>
* '''Civilian during [[war]]''': Civilians during war or any armed conflict are also are at a higher risk for homelessness, because of possible military attacks on their property, and even after the war rebuilding their homes is often costly, and most commonly the government is overthrown or defeated which is then unable to help its citizens.<ref>{{PDFlink|1=http://www.chicagohomeless.org/factsfigures/war.pdf#search=%22War%20and%20homelessness%22|2=414 KB}}</ref>
==Homelessness in specific countries==
{{Main|Homelessness in the United States|Homelessness in Canada|Homelessness in Australia|Homelessness in the United Kingdom}}
===Statistics for developed countries===
In 2005, an estimated 100 million people worldwide were homeless.<ref>Capdevila, Gustavo, [http://ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=28086 "HUMAN RIGHTS: More Than 100 Million Homeless Worldwide"], IPS, Geneva.</ref>
The following statistics indicate the approximate average number of homeless people at any one time. Each country has a different approach to counting homeless people, and estimates of homelessness made by different organizations vary wildly, so comparisons should be made with caution.
:[[European Union]]: 3,000,000 ([[UN-HABITAT]] 2004)
::[[United Kingdom]]: 10,459 rough sleepers, 98,750 households in temporary accommodation ([[Department for Communities and Local Government]] 2005)
:[[Canada]]: 150,000 (National Homelessness Initiative - Government of Canada)<ref>[http://homelessness.gc.ca Government of Canada, "National Homelessness Initiative: Working Together"]</ref>
:[[Australia]]: 99,000 ([[Australian Bureau of Statistics|ABS]]: 2001 Census)<ref>Australian Bureau of Statistics, "Housing Arrangements: Homelessness", 2004.
[http://www.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/abs@.nsf/0/DDC8DC3787E2D9FCCA256E9E0028F91E?Open]</ref>
:[[United States]]: Chronically homeless people (those with repeated episodes or who have been homeless for long periods) 847,000-3,470,000<ref>[http://www.endhomelessness.org]National Alliance to End Homelessness</ref>.
:[[Japan]]: 20,000-100,000 (some figures put it at 200,000-400,000)<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/asia_pac/04/japans_homeless/html/1.stm "In pictures: Japan's homeless", BBC News.]</ref> Reports show that homelessness is on the rise in Japan since the mid-1990s.<ref>Ezawa, Aya, [http://www.springerlink.com/content/2nw3t32cd3m6qctx/ "Japan's New Homeless"], Journal of Social Distress and the Homeless, Springer Netherlands, Volume 11, Number 4, October, 2002, pp. 279-291</ref>
===Developing and undeveloped countries===
The number of homeless people worldwide has grown steadily in recent years. In some [[Third World]] nations such as [[India]], [[Nigeria]], and [[South Africa]], homelessness is rampant, with millions of children living and working on the streets. Homelessness has become a problem in the countries of [[China]], [[Thailand]], [[Indonesia]], and the [[Philippines]] despite their growing prosperity, mainly due to migrant workers who have trouble finding permanent homes and to rising income inequality between social classes.
==History of homelessness==
[[Image:Down and out on New York pier.gif|thumb|right|200px|Great Depression: man lying down on pier, New York City docks, 1935.]]
In the sixteenth century in England, the state first tried to give housing to vagrants instead of punishing them, by introducing [[bridewell]]s to take vagrants and train them for a profession. In the eighteenth century, these were replaced by workhouses but these were intended to discourage too much reliance on state help. These were later replaced by dormitory housing ("spikes") provided by local boroughs, and these were researched by the writer [[George Orwell]]. By the 1930s in England, there were 30,000 people living in these facilities. In the 1960s, the nature and growing problem of homelessness changed for the worse in England, with public concern growing. The number of people living "rough" in the streets had increased dramatically. However, beginning with the Conservative administration's Rough Sleeper Initiative, the number of people sleeping rough in London fell dramatically. This initiative was supported further by the incoming Labour administration from 1997 onwards with the publication of the 'Coming in from the Cold' strategy published by the Rough Sleepers Unit, which proposed and delivered a massive increase in the number of hostel bed spaces in the capital and an increase in funding for street outreach teams, who work with rough sleepers to enable them to access services.
In general, in most countries, many towns and cities had an area which contained the poor, transients, and afflicted, such as a "[[skid row]]". In New York City, for example, there was an area known as "[[Bowery (Manhattan)|the Bowery]]", traditionally, where [[alcoholics]] were to be found sleeping on the streets, bottle in hand. This resulted in rescue missions, such as the oldest homeless shelter in New York City, The Bowery Mission, founded in 1879 by the Rev. and Mrs. A.G. Ruliffson.<ref>The Bowery Mission [http://www.bowery.org/] For a history see [http://www.bowery.org/reference/history.htm]</ref>
[[Image:Boweryrm.jpg|right|thumb|The Bowery Mission in New York City in the 1800s]]
In smaller towns, there were [[hobo]]s, who temporarily lived near train tracks and hopped onto trains to various destinations. Especially following the [[American Civil War]], a large number of homeless men formed part of a counterculture known as "hobohemia" all over America.<ref>Depastino, Todd, "Citizen Hobo: How a Century of Homelessness Shaped America" [http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/143783in.html]</ref>
Although not specifically about the homeless, [[Jacob Riis]] wrote about, documented, and photographed the poor and destitute in New York City [[tenements]] in the late 1800s. He wrote a ground-breaking book including such material in "[[How the Other Half Lives]]" in 1890, which inspired [[Jack London]]'s ''[[The People of the Abyss]]'' (1903).
This raised public awareness, causing some changes in building codes and some social conditions.
However, modern homelessness as we know it, started as a result of the economic stresses in society, reduction in the availability of affordable housing, such as [[Single Room Occupancy|single room occupancies]] (SROs), for poorer people. In the United States, in the late 1970s, the [[deinstitutionalisation]] of patients from state psychiatric hospitals was a precipitating factor which seeded the homeless population, especially in urban areas such as New York City.<ref>Scherl D.J., Macht L.B., "Deinstitutionalization in the absence of consensus", Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 1979 Sep;30(9):599-604 [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=223959&query_hl=2&itool=pubmed_docsum]</ref>
The [[Community Mental Health Act]] of 1963 was a pre-disposing factor in setting the stage for homelessness in the United States.<ref>Rochefort, D.A., "Origins of the 'Third psychiatric revolution': the Community Mental Health Centers Act of 1963", Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, 1984 Spring;9(1):1-30. [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=6736594&dopt=Abstract]</ref> Long term psychiatric patients were released from state hospitals into SROs and sent to community health centers for treatment and follow-up. It never quite worked out properly and this population largely was found living in the streets soon thereafter with no sustainable support system.<ref>Feldman, S., "Out of the hospital, onto the streets: the overselling of benevolence", Hastings Center Report, 1983 Jun;13(3):5-7. [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=6885404&query_hl=2&itool=pubmed_docsum]</ref><ref>Borus J.F., "Sounding Board. Deinstitutionalization of the chronically mentally ill", New England Journal of Medicine, 1981 [[6 August]];305(6):339-42. [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=7242636&query_hl=2&itool=pubmed_docsum]</ref>
Also, as real estate prices and neighborhood pressure increased to move these people out of their areas, the SROs diminished in number, putting most of their residents in the streets.
Other populations were mixed in later, such as people losing their homes for economic reasons, and those with addictions, the elderly, and others.
Many places where people were once allowed freely to loiter, or purposefully be present, such as churches, public libraries and public atriums, became stricter as the homeless population grew larger and congregated in these places more than ever. As a result, many churches closed their doors when services were not being held, libraries enforced a "no eyes shut" and sometimes a dress policy, and most places hired private security guards to carry out these policies, creating a social tension. Many public toilets were closed.
This banished the homeless population to sidewalks, parks, under bridges, and the like. They also lived in the subway and railroad tunnels in New York City. They seemingly became socially invisible, which was the intention of many of the enforcement policies.
The homeless shelters, which were generally night shelters, made the homeless leave in the morning to whatever they could manage and return in the evening when the beds in the shelters opened up again for sleeping. There were some daytime shelters where the homeless could go, instead of being stranded on the streets, and they could be helped, get counseling, avail themselves of resources, meals, and otherwise spend their day until returning to their overnight sleeping arrangements. An example of such a day center shelter model is [[Saint Francis House (Boston)|Saint Francis House]] in [[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston]], [[Massachusetts]], founded in the early 1980s, which opens for the homeless all year long during the daytime hours and was originally based on the [[settlement movement|settlement house]] model.<ref>Keane, Thomas, Jr., [http://tomkeane.com/archives/2003/tom07042003.htm "Greiff's activism isn't just a good act"], Friday, [[July 4]] [[2003]]</ref>
[[Image:Homesless in Roma.jpg|thumb|Many homeless keep all their possessions with them since they have no access to storage.]]There was also the reality of the "bag" people, the shopping cart people, and the soda can collectors. These people carried around all their possessions with them all the time since they had no place to store them. If they had no access to or capability to get to a shelter and possible bathing, or access to toilets and laundry facilities, their hygiene was lacking. This again created social tensions in public places.
These conditions created an upsurge in [[tuberculosis]] and other diseases in urban areas.
In 1979, a New York City lawyer, Robert Hayes, brought a class action suit before the courts, <i>Callahan v. Carey<i>, against the City and State, arguing for a person's state constitutional "right to shelter". It was settled as a consent decree in August 1981. The City and State agreed to provide board and shelter to all homeless men who met the need standard for welfare or who were homeless by certain other standards. By 1983 this right was extended to homeless women.
[[Image:Street Sleeper 2 by David Shankbone.jpg|thumb|left|A homeless person's shelter.]]
By the mid-1980s, there was also a dramatic increase in family homelessness. Tied into this was an increasing number of impoverished and runaway children, teenagers, and young adults, which created a new sub-stratum of the homeless population.
Also, in the 1980s, in the United States, some federal legislation was introduced for the homeless as a result of the work of Congressman [[Stewart McKinney|Stewart B. McKinney]]. In 1987, the [[McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act]] was enacted.
Several organisations in some cities, such as New York and Boston, tried to be inventive about help to the swelling number of homeless people. In New York City, for example, in 1989, the first [[street newspaper]] was created called "Street News" which put some homeless to work, some writing, producing, and mostly selling the paper on streets and trains.<ref>Harman, Dana, "Read all about it: street papers flourish across the US", The [[Christian Science Monitor]], [[November 17]], [[2003]]. [http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1117/p13s01-lihc.htm]</ref> It was written pro bono by a combination of homeless, celebrities, and established writers. In 1991, in England, a street newspaper, following on the New York model was established, called "[[The Big Issue]]" and was published weekly.<ref>[http://www.bigissue.com/ The Big Issue<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Its circulation grew to 300,000. Chicago has "[[StreetWise]]" which has the largest circulation of its kind in the United States, thirty thousand. Boston has a "[[Spare Change]]" newspaper built on the same model as the others: homeless helping themselves. Seattle has "Real Change," a $1 newsletter that directly benefits the homeless and also reports on economic issues in the area. More recently, Street Sense, in Washington, D.C. has gained a lot of popularity and helped many make the move out of homelessness. Students in Baltimore, M.D. have opened a satellite office for that street paper as well (www.streetsense.org). One program that has found success{{Fact|date=November 2007}} in New York City is [[Pathways to Housing]], which adopts the [[Housing first]] philosophy in providing housing for those homeless with mental health issues.
In 2002, research showed that children and families were the largest growing segment of the homeless in America,<ref>FACS, "Homeless Children, Poverty, Faith and Community: Understanding and Reporting the Local Story", [[March 26]] [[2002]]
Akron, Ohio. [http://www.facsnet.org/edu/progs/family_03-26-02.php3]</ref><ref>National Coalition for the Homeless, "Homeless Youth" 2005 {{PDFlink|[http://www.nationalhomeless.org/publications/facts/youth.pdf]|164 KB}}</ref> and this has presented new challenges, especially in services, to agencies. Back in the 1990s, a teenager from New York, [[Liz Murray]], was homeless at fifteen years old, and overcame that and went on to study at Harvard University. Her story was made into an Emmy-winning film in 2003, "Homeless to Harvard".
Some trends involving the plight of the homeless have provoked some thought, reflection and debate. One such phenomenon is paid physical advertising, colloquially known as "[[Sandwich board|sandwich board men]]"<ref>Schreiber Cindy, "Sandwich men bring in the bread and butter", Columbia (University) News Service, [[May 8]] [[2002]]. [http://www.jrn.columbia.edu/studentwork/cns/2002-05-08/syndication/]</ref><ref>[[Associated Press]] and [[CNN]], "Pizza company hires homeless to hold ads", Tuesday, [[June 17]] [[2003]]. [http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/West/06/17/offbeat.pizza.ap/]</ref> and another specific type as "[[Bumvertising]]". Another trend is the side effect of unpaid free advertising of companies and organisations on shirts, clothing and bags, to be worn by the homeless and poor, given out and donated by companies to homeless shelters and charitable organisations for otherwise altruistic purposes. These trends are reminiscent of the "sandwich board signs" carried by poor people in the time of [[Charles Dickens]] in the Victorian 1800s in England<ref>Victorian London site, "Sandwich Men" [http://www.victorianlondon.org/advertising/sandwichmen.htm]</ref> and later during the [[Great Depression]] in the United States in the 1930s.
In the USA, the government asked many major cities to come up with a ten year plan to end homelessness. One of the results of this was a "[[Housing first]]" solution, rather than to have a homeless person remain in an emergency homeless shelter it was thought to be better to quickly get the person permanent housing of some sort and the necessary support services to sustain a new home. But there are many complications of this kind of program and these must be dealt with to make such an initiative work successfully in the middle to long term. <ref>Abel, David, [http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/02/24/for_the_homeless_keys_to_a_home/ "For the homeless, keys to a home: Large-scale effort to keep many off street faces hurdles"], Boston Globe, [[February 24]] [[2008]].</ref> <ref>[[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]], [http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/305/index.html "Home at Last? -- A radical new approach to helping the homeless"], [[NOW (TV series)|NOW TV program]], [[December 21]] [[2007]].</ref>
It has been reported that some formerly homeless people, when they finally were able to get their housing and life straightened out and return to a normal lifestyle, felt moved and grateful enough to have donated some of their money back to the organizations which helped them when they were homeless. <ref>Solutions at Work, [http://www.solutionsatwork.org/InTheNews/Hatton.html "Formerly Homeless Boston Man Donates Significant Portion of Social Security Retro-Check to the Organizations and People Who Gave Him a 'Hand Up'"], 2002.</ref>
==Violent crimes against the homeless==
There have been many violent crimes committed against the homeless. <ref>Fantz, Ashley, [http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/02/19/homeless.attacks/index.html?iref=newssearch "Teen 'sport killings' of homeless on the rise"], [[CNN]], [[February 20]] [[2007]].</ref> A recent study in 2007 found that this number is increasing.<ref>Lewan, Todd, [http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-04-08-homelessattacks_N.htm "Unprovoked Beatings of Homeless Soaring"], [[Associated Press]], [[April 8]] [[2007]].</ref><ref>[[National Coalition for the Homeless]], [http://www.nationalhomeless.org/getinvolved/projects/hatecrimes/pressrelease.html Hate, "Violence, and Death on Main Street USA: A report on Hate Crimes and Violence Against People Experiencing Homelessness, 2006"], February 2007.</ref>
==Voting rights==
Over half the states in the United States require a person to have an address in order to vote. In this fashion, many homeless people are denied the opportunity to vote. Similar situations exist in many countries in the world.
==Tracking the homeless==
In the USA, the federal government's HUD agency has required federally funded organizations to use a computer tracking system for the homeless and their statistics, called HMIS (Homeless Management Information System).<ref>Roman, Nan, [http://www.nhi.org/online/issues/132/WNV.html "Tracking the Homeless: An Overview of HMIS"], ShelterForce Magazine, Issue #132, November/December 2003, National Housing Institute.</ref><ref>[http://www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/homeless/hmis/ HUD information on HMIS]</ref><ref>Perl, Libby, [http://digital.library.unt.edu/govdocs/crs/data/2005/meta-crs-7973.tkl "The Homeless Management Information System"], Congressional Research Service, CRS Report RS22328, November 2005.</ref> There has been some opposition to this kind of tracking by privacy advocacy groups, such as [[Electronic Privacy Information Center|EPIC]].<ref>[http://www.epic.org/privacy/poverty/ EPIC page on HMIS privacy]</ref>
==Homelessness in the popular media==
'''Popular songs'''
*1908. ''If It's Good Enough for Washington It's Good Enough For Me'', music by [[Percy Wenrich]], words by Ren Shields - sleeping on bench in public square with statue of George Washington.
*1962. ''Man On the Street'', by [[Bob Dylan]], officially released on 1991's Bob Dylan: The Bootleg Series.
*1963. ''Only a Hobo'', by [[Bob Dylan]], officially released on 1991's Bob Dylan: The Bootleg Series.
*1968. ''I Am a Lonesome Hobo'', by [[Bob Dylan]], from his 8th studio recording [[John Wesley Harding (album)]]. A humble warning from a homeless man to those who are better off.
*1969. ''[[Highway Chile]]'', by [[Jimi Hendrix Experience]]. The song is about a homeless man that Jimi met when he was on tour.
*1972. ''[[Aqualung (song)|Aqualung]]'', by [[Jethro Tull]]
*1977. ''We'd Like to Thank You Herbert Hoover'' in the musical, "[[Annie]]"
*1991. ''Something In The Way'', music by [[Nirvana]], Written by [[Kurt Cobain]] when he was young and homeless and sleeping under a bridge.
*1991. ''[[Even Flow]]'', music by [[Pearl Jam]], lyrics written by [[Eddie Vedder]] telling a story about a homeless man.
*1993. ''Somebody's Baby'' by [[Pat Benatar]].
'''Popular films'''
*1914. ''[[The Tramp|The Little Tramp]]'' with [[Charlie Chaplin]]
*1966. ''[[Cathy Come Home]]'' - An influential film by Ken Loach which raised the profile of homelessness in the UK and led indirectly to the formation of several charities and changes in legislation.
*1977. {{imdb title|id=0258155|title=Simple Gifts}} opening original segment by [[Maurice Sendak]] in collection of six animated Christmas shorts, PBS TV special issued on VHS in 1993.
*1986. ''[[Down and Out in Beverly Hills]]''
*1991. ''[[Curly Sue]]'' - [[John Hughes]] film starring [[James Belushi]]
*1991. ''[[Life Stinks]]''
*1994. ''[[With Honors]]''
*1997. {{imdb title|id=0157154|title=La Vendedora de Rosas}} - Adaptation of [[The Little Match Girl]]
*2003. {{imdb title|id=0338109|title=Homeless to Harvard: the Liz Murray Story}} -- see [[Liz Murray]]
*2006. ''[[The Pursuit of Happyness]]'' - the story of [[Chris Gardner]]
'''Books'''
*1933. ''[[Down and Out in Paris and London]]'' by [[George Orwell]].
*2005. ''Without a Net: Middle Class and Homeless (With Kids) in America'' by [http://www.mishakennedy.com Michelle Kennedy].
*2005. ''The Glass Castle: A Memoir'' by [[Jeannette Walls]]. ISBN 0743247531
*2005. ''Under the Overpass'' by Mike Yankoski.
'''Documentary films'''
*1984. ''[[Streetwise (documentary)|Streetwise]]'' -- follows homeless Seattle youth.
*1993. {{imdb title|id=0107232|title=It Was a Wonderful Life}} -- chronicles the lives of six articulate, educated, "hidden homeless" women as they struggle from day to day. Narrated by Jodie Foster.
*1997. {{imdb title|id=0226494|title=The Street: A Film with the Homeless}} -- about the [[Canada|Canadian]] homeless in [[Montreal]]. [http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/movie.html?v_id=158611 New York Times Review,]
*2000. ''[[Dark Days (documentary)|Dark Days]]'' -- A film following the lives of homeless adults living in the Amtrak tunnels in New York.
*2001. ''[[Children Underground]]'' -- Following the lives of homeless children in Bucharest, Romania.
*2003. {{imdb title|id=0356220|title=À Margem da Imagem}} -- about the homeless in [[São Paulo]], [[Brazil]]. Its English title is "On the Fringes of São Paulo: Homeless".
*2004. {{imdb title|id=0431126|title=Homeless in America}}
*2005. ''[[The Children of Leningradsky]]'' -- About homeless children in Moscow.
*2005. ''[[Reversal of Fortune (2005 film)|Reversal of Fortune]]'' -- A homeless person is given $100,000 and is free to do whatever he wishes with the money.
*2007. [http://www.wideyedfilms.com/ ''Easy Street''] -- about the homeless in [[St. Petersburg, Florida|St. Petersburg]], [[Florida]].
'''TV and radio documentaries'''
*1977. ''[[Underneath the Arches (documentary)|Underneath the Arches]]'', a ground-breaking documentary produced by [[Owen Spencer-Thomas]] on [[BBC Radio London]] in which London’s homeless people were enabled to tell their own stories.
*1988. {{imdb title|id=0247411|title=Home Sweet Homeless}} -- a [[CBS Schoolbreak Special]] about a mother and her son who find themselves having to live in their car.
'''TV entertainment and comedy shows'''
*2007. "[[Night of the Living Homeless]]" was an episode that appeared on [[Comedy Central]]'s [[South Park]]. It was first broadcast on [[April 18]] [[2007]].
'''Visual Arts'''
*2005. Photographic expose by [[Michel Mersereau]] entitled [http://bluebeatdesign.com/cracks/cracks.html "Between The Cracks"]
==See also==
===Other itinerant or homeless people or terms for this condition===
* [[Carny|Carnies]]
* [[Circuit rider]]
* [[Economic migrants]]
* [[Freighthopping|Freight train hoppers]]
* [[Gutter punk]]s
* [[Gyrovagues]]
* [[Hobo]]es
* [[Internally displaced persons]]
* [[Itinerant]]s
* [[Mendicant]]s
* [[Nomad]]s
* [[Perpetual traveler]]s
* [[Refugee]]s
* [[Romani people|Gypsies (Romani people)]]
* [[Rough sleeper]]s
* [[Schnorrer (Yiddish)|Schnorrer]]
* [[Street child]]ren
* [[Street walkers]]
* [[Technomad]]s
* [[Tramp]]s
* [[Vagabond (person)|Vagabond]]
* [[Vagrancy (people)|Vagrancy]]
===Socioeconomic issues or aspects of homeless life===
* [[Flophouse]]s
* [[Free rider problem]]
* [[Homelessness in Australia]]
* [[Homelessness in Canada]]
* [[Homelessness in England]]
* [[Homelessness in the United States]]
* [[Housing authority]]
* [[Panhandling]] and begging
* [[Poverty]]
* [[Squatting]] in abandoned houses
* [[Substance abuse]]
===Miscellaneous homelessness-related articles===
* [[Bumvertising]]
* [[Homeless World Cup]]
* [[Housing first]]
* [[Jack Tafari]]
* [[StandUp For Kids]]
*[[Homeless Discrimination]]
==References==
{{reflist|2}}
==Bibliography==
<div class="references-small">
*{{cite book|author=Baumohl, Jim (editor)|url=http://www.brynmawr.edu/socialwork/faculty/baumohl.shtml|title=Homelessness in America|publisher=Oryx Press|location=Phoenix|date=1996}}
*BBC News, [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/uk/4089202.stm "Warning over homelessness figures: Government claims that homelessness numbers have fallen by a fifth since last year should be taken with a health warning, says housing charity Shelter"], Monday, [[13 June]] [[2005]].
*[[BBC Radio 4]], [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/youandyours/nohome.shtml "No Home, a season of television and radio programmes that introduce the new homeless."], 2006.
*Beard, Rick, "On Being Homeless: Historical Perspectives", New York, Museum of the City of New York, 1987.
*[http://www.uams.edu/dhsr/faculty/booth.htm Booth, Brenda M.], Sullivan, J. Greer, [http://www.hsrcenter.ucla.edu/people/koegel.shtml Koegel, Paul], Burnam, M. Audrey, [http://www.rand.org/pubs/reprints/RP1147/ "Vulnerability Factors for Homelessness Associated with Substance Dependence in a Community Sample of Homeless Adults"], [[RAND]] Research Report. Originally published in: [http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/00952990.asp American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse], v. 28, no. 3, 2002, pp. 429-452.
*{{cite book|author=Burt, Martha R.|date=1992|title=Over the Edge: The Growth of Homelessness in the 1980s| publisher=Russell Sage}}
*Burt, Martha R., et al., [http://www.urban.org/publications/310291.html "Homelessness: Programs and the People They Serve: Findings of the National Survey of Homeless Assistance Providers and Clients"], Urban Institute, December 07, 1999
*Burt, Martha R., [http://www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=411631 "Evaluation of LA's HOPE: Ending Chronic Homelessness through Employment and Housing Final Report"], [[Urban Institute]], Washington DC, [[March 18]] [[2008]]
*Burt, Martha R., [http://www.urban.org/publications/1001177.html "Hilton Foundation Project to End Homelessness for People with Mental Illness in Los Angeles: Changes in Homelessness, Supportive Housing, and Tenant Characteristics Since 2005"], Urban Institute, prepared for the Corporation for Supportive Housing Report, April 2008.
*{{cite news|author=Charlton, Emma|url=http://p103.news.scd.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070103/bs_afp/francepoliticshomeless|title=France to create 'legal right' to housing|publisher=[[Agence France-Presse]]|date=[[January 3]] [[2006]]}}
*{{cite web|publisher=Coalition for the Homeless (New York)|title=A History of Modern Homelessness in New York City|url=http://www.coalitionforthehomeless.org/downloads/NYCHomelessnessHistory.pdf}}
*Cooper, Yvette, MP, [http://www.homeless.org.uk/newsanddiary/060412%20Letter%20re%20prevention%20YC.doc "Effective Homelessness Prevention"], [[April 12]] [[2006]].
*{{cite news|author=Crimaldi, Laura|title=Homeless getting new lease on life|publisher=[[Boston Herald]]|date=[[December 11]] [[2006]]}}
*Culhane, Dennis [http://www.sp2.upenn.edu/people/faculty/culhane/], "Responding to Homelessness: Policies and Politics", 2001. [http://www.igs.berkeley.edu/events/homeless/papers/CulhanePresentation/]
*{{cite news|author=deMause, Neil|title=Out of the Shelter, Into the Fire: New city program for homeless: Keep your job or keep your apartment|publisher=[[The Village Voice]]|date=[[June 20]] [[2006]]|url=http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0625,demause,73594,5.html}}
*{{cite book|author=DePastino, Todd|title=Citizen Hobo: How a Century of Homelessness Shaped America|date=2003|ISBN=0-226-14378-3}}
*{{cite news|author=Duffy, Gary|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6563359.stm|title=Brazil's homeless and landless unite|publisher=BBC News|date=[[April 17]] [[2007]]}}
*{{cite journal |first=Donna Haig |last=Friedman|title=Surviving Against the Odds: Families’ Journeys off Welfare and out of Homelessness |url=http://www.huduser.org/periodicals/cityscpe/vol6num2/3surviv.pdf |journal=Cityscape|year=2003|volume=6|issue=2|publisher=[[United States Department of Housing and Urban Development]], Office of Policy Development and Research|location=Washington, D.C.}}
*{{cite web|publisher=Institute for Governmental Studies, Berkeley|title=Urban Homelessness & Public Policy Solutions: A One-Day Conference|date=[[January 22]] [[2001]]|url=http://www.igs.berkeley.edu/events/homeless/}}
*{{cite web|publisher=Interagency Council on the Homeless (USA)|url=http://www.huduser.org/publications/homeless/homelessness/highrpt.html|title=Homelessness: Programs and the People They Serve - Highlights Report|date=1997}}
*{{cite book|author=Jencks, Christopher|date=1994|title=The Homeless|publisher=Harvard University Press}}
*{{cite news|author=Kahn, Ric|url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2006/12/17/buried_in_obscurity/|title=Buried in Obscurity|publisher=[[Boston Globe]]|date=[[December 17]] [[2006]]}}
*{{cite book|author=Kusmer, Kenneth L.|url=http://www.temple.edu/history/People/kusmer/|title=Down and Out, On the Road: The Homeless in American History|publisher=Oxford University Press|date=2003|ISBN=0-19-504778-8}}
*{{cite book|author=Morton, Margaret|title=The Tunnel: The Underground Homeless Of New York City|publisher=Yale University Press|date=1995|ISBN=0-300-06559-0}}
*{{cite book|author=O'Brien, Matthew(author) and Mollohan, Danny (photographer)|title=Beneath the Neon: Life and Death in the Tunnels of Las Vegas|publisher=Huntington Press|date=2007|ISBN=0-929-71239-0}}
*{{cite book|author=O'Flaherty, Brendan| date=1996 |title=Making Room: The Economics of Homelessness| publisher=Harvard University Press}}
*{{cite book|author=Riis, Jacob|authorlink=Jacob Riis|title=[[How the Other Half Lives]]|date=1890|url=http://www.yale.edu/amstud/inforev/riis/title.html}}
*{{cite book|author=Rossi, Peter H.|title=Down and Out in America: The Origins of Homelessness|publisher=University Of Chicago Press|date=1990}}
*[http://www.faculty.umb.edu/russell_schutt Schutt, Russell K.], Ph.D., Professor, [[University of Massachusetts Boston]].
**Schutt, Russell K., et al., [http://www.faculty.umb.edu/russell_schutt/Boston%20Homeless%201986-1987.htm "Boston's Homeless, 1986-87: Change and Continuity"], 1987.
**Schutt, Russell K., [http://www.faculty.umb.edu/russell_schutt/Working%20with%20the%20Homeless.htm Working with the Homeless: the Backgrounds, Activities and Beliefs of Shelter Staff], 1988.
**Schutt, Russell, K., [http://www.faculty.umb.edu/russell_schutt/Homeless%20Adults%20in%20Boston%20in%201990.htm "Homeless Adults in Boston in 1990: A Two-Shelter Profile"], 1990.
**Schutt, Russell K., Garrett, Gerald R., [http://www.springer.com/west/home/generic/search/results?SGWID=4-40109-22-33254028-0 "Responding to the Homeless: Policy and Practice"], Topics in Social Psychiatry, 1992. ISBN 0-306-44076-8
**Schutt, Russell K., Byrne, Francine, et al., [http://www.faculty.umb.edu/russell_schutt/Transitional%20Work%20Study.htm "City of Boston Homeless Services: Employment & Training for Homeless Persons"], 1995.
**Schutt, Russell K., Feldman, James, et al., [http://www.faculty.umb.edu/russell_schutt/Homeless%20Persons%20Residential%20Preferences.htm "Homeless Persons’ Residential Preferences and Needs: A Pilot Survey of Persons with Severe Mental Illness in Boston Mental Health and Generic Shelters"], 2004.
*{{cite web|author=Sommer, Heidi|title=Homelessness in Urban America: a Review of the Literature|date=2001|url=http://www.igs.berkeley.edu/events/homeless/NewHomelessnessBook1.pdf}}
*{{cite web|publisher=St. Mungo's organisation (UK)|title=A Brief History of Homelessness|url=http://www.mungos.org/homelessness/history/}}
*{{cite book|author=Sweeney, Richard|title=Out of Place: Homelessness in America|publisher=HarperCollins College Publishers|date=1992}}
*{{cite web|author=Vissing, Yvonne|url=http://w3.salemstate.edu/~yvissing/|title=Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Homeless Children and Families in Small-Town America|date=1996}}
*{{cite web|author=Vissing, Yvonne|title=The $ubtle War Against Children|work=Fellowship|date=March/April 2003|url=http://www.forusa.org/fellowship/mar-apr_03/vissing.html}}
*{{cite book|author=Vladeck, Bruce, R.|coauthors=The Committee on Health Care for Homeless People, Institute of Medicine|title=Homelessness, Health, and Human needs|publisher=National Academies Press|date=1988|url=http://darwin.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=1092&page=R1}}
*{{cite book|author=Toth, Jennifer|title=The Mole People: Life in the Tunnels Beneath New York City|date=1993|ISBN=1-55652-190-1}}
*{{cite web|publisher=[http://www.usmayors.org/ United States Conference of Mayors]|title=Hunger and Homelessness Survery|date=December 2005|url=http://usmayors.org/uscm/hungersurvey/2005/HH2005FINAL.pdf}}
*[[United States Department of Health and Human Services]], [http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/homelessness/strategies03/ "Ending Chronic Homelessness: Strategies for Action"], Report from the Secretary's Work Group on Ending Chronic Homelessness, March 2003.
*Yoon, Il-Seong, [http://econgeog.misc.hit-u.ac.jp/icgg/intl_mtgs/ISYoon.pdf "A Study on the Homeless in South Korea"], [[Pusan National University]]; International Critical Geography Group Conference, [[Daegu|Taegu]], Korea, 2000. [http://econgeog.misc.hit-u.ac.jp/icgg/intl_mtgs/taegu2000.html]
</div>
==Further reading==
<div class="references-small">
*Arumi, Ana Maria, Yarrow, Andrew L., [http://www.publicagenda.org/research/research_reports_details.cfm?list=105 "Compassion, Concern, and Conflicted Feelings: New Yorkers on Homelessness and Housing"], Public Agenda Foundation, February 2007
*Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Housing and Community Development, Homelessness Commission, Commission to End Homelessness, [http://www.mass.gov/Ehed/docs/dhcd/hc/finalreport2008.doc "Report of the Special Commission Relative to Ending Homelessness in The Commonwealth"], Final Report, December 2007
*Crosette, Barbara, [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE0DA1531F930A15751C1A966958260 "Homeless and Hungry Youths of India"], The New York Times, [[December 23]] [[1990]].
*Friedman, Donna H., et al., [http://www.tbf.org/UnderstandingBoston/PortalListingDetails.aspx?sec=HousingCommunityDevelopment_Housing+%26+Community+Development_Reports_Reports_2&id=5612&parentId=0 "Preventing Homelessness and Promoting Housing Stability: A Comparative Analysis"], The Boston Foundation, June 2007.
*Journal of Social Distress and the Homeless, Springer Verlag [http://www.springerlink.com/content/104940/?p=80f0018412f44b39a7a345daca4244af&pi=0] and Psycke-Logos Press.[http://web.jjay.cuny.edu/~jpr/Journal_of_social_distress_homepage.html]
*[http://www.mahomeless.org/ Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless], [http://mahomeless.org/publications/publications.html "Down & Out: A Manual on Basic Rights and Benefits for Homeless People"], 2005-2006 edition, first published in 1984, 15 Bubier Street, Lynn, Massachusetts.
*Min, Eungjun, (editor), "Reading the Homeless: The Media's Image of Homeless Culture", Praeger Publishers, 1999. ISBN 0275959503
*Nieto G., Gittelman M., Abad A. (2008). [http://www.psychosocial.com/IJPR_12/Homeless_Mentally_Ill_Nieto.html "Homeless Mentally Ill Persons: A bibliography review"], International Journal of Psychosocial Rehabilitation. 12(2)
*University of Michigan Libraries, [http://www.lib.umich.edu/socwork/homelessness.html Selected Bibliography of Homelessness Resources]
*[https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/dspace/bitstream/1794/3097/2/LookingforSanctuary.pdf "Looking for Sanctuary: Staying on Publicly Owned Lands as a Response to Homelessness] by Peggy Ann Dee Southard, a [[dissertation]] presented to the Department of Sociology and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
</div>
==External links==
{{sisterlinks|homelessness}}
*[http://guide2homelessness.blogspot.com/ Survival Guide to Homelessness]
*[http://www.homeless.org.au/statistics/ Homeless Statistics] for Australia, Canada, United Kingdom and United States.
*[http://www.homelesslaw.info Law Librarian's questions and answers about legal information for the homeless.]
*[http://www1.salvationarmy.org/ihq/www_sa.nsf Salvation Army International]
*[http://www.scotborders.gov.uk/life/livingandsocialcare/careandsupport/housingadvice/index.html Scottish Borders Council Homelessness Services]
*[http://homelessmanspeaks.wordpress.com/ Homeless Man Speaks], an on-the-street perspective
*[http://www.lesenfantsdedonquichotte.com/v2/index.php Les Enfants de Don Quichotte], French NGO which organized illegal camping-sites on the [[Canal Saint-Martin]] in Paris end of December 2006-January 2007 in order to enforce the right to lodging ([[:fr:Droit au logement|''droit au logement'']]).
*[http://www.socialmodel.com/pdf/Toxic%20Playground.pdf Toxic Playground: Growing Up In Skid Row]
*[http://www.afronautrecords.com/jonniewilks/?page_id=14 Down and Out in Kyushu], interview with a young Japanese homeless man
*[http://www.bsos.umd.edu/socy/vanneman/socy498/default.html Homelessness course] - University of Maryland Sociology course by Dr. Reeve Vanneman.
*[http://www.nationalhomeless.org/getinvolved/projects/memorial/index.html National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day (USA)] - Information on National Homeless Person's Memorial Day, [[December 21]]
*[[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]], [http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/305/index.html "Home at Last?], [[NOW (TV series)|NOW]] series program, first aired on [[February 2]] [[2007]]. The topic was what will most help homeless people reenter the fabric of society.
*[http://www.hartfordadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=8116 "Just a Paycheck Away"]: A ''Hartford Advocate'' article on the rise of homelessness in Connecticut
====Resources====
*[http://www.cms.hhs.gov/apps/firststep/index.html FirstStep Guide to getting help for the homeless] - US Government [[United States Department of Health and Human Services|HHS]], [[United States Department of Housing and Urban Development|HUD]], et al.
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