Sociology 498: Homelessness

Policy responses to homelessness

1. Connect the homeless to welfare entitlements
2. Institutionalize the mentally ill with no other options
3. More shelters (e.g., more privacy)
4. Job training programs
5. Guaranteed (maybe temporary) jobs
6. Create more SRO-type housing facilities
7. Increase $ value of welfare benefits
8. Set nationwide standards for welfare benefits
9. Reimburse families for taking in relatives

We will encounter several more as we progress through the readings:

We need to evaluate these responses against what we have learned about the causes of homelessness, for instance from the survey research on the homeless.

In particular, we need to evaluate these by:

• Are they likely to be effective?
• How costly are they?
• Do they provide perverse incentives?

One important fact we have learned is the diversity of the homeless, for instance:

• short vs. long term homeless
• variety of disabilities
• variety of sleeping arrangements