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Research
 | According to the 1999 figures, the National
Coalition for the Homeless reported that the number of S.R.O.
apartments decreased by 87% in New York City. Progress and urban
renewal eliminated the single-room occupancy hotels where many
addicts and mentally ill on the streets lived—the original
"skid row" hotels are long gone, replaced by boutiques,
cafes and clubs (Laura Parker, "Homeless find the Streets
Growing Colder," USA Today, December 3, 1998).
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| Benefit levels need to be raised to reflect the
cost of housing. According to the New York Times, an appellate court
ruled that state officials do not provide welfare recipient enough
for an apartment in New York City. A family of 3 receives $286 a
month for rent, a sum that has remained unchanged since 1988. It can
be concluded that more people are at a greater risk of becoming
homeless (Rachel L. Swarns, "Court Finds Welfare Pays Too
Little for Rent," The New York Times, May 7, 1999).
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| The Clinton Administration spent $5 million on the
homeless between 1987-1993, most of it going to the "continuum
of care" programs that provide temporary housing, counseling,
and job training. This approach has been successful for some but
advocates still believe that affordable housing has to increase in
order for homelessness to end (Romesh Ratnesar, "Nation, Not
Gone, but Forgotten? Why Americans have stopped talking about
homelessness," Time Inc., February 8, 1999).
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| Workfare is a general term that refers to any
program that requires recipients of public assistance to work for a
public agency in order to receive benefits. New York City’s
version of workfare, called the Work Experience Program (WEP) was
implemented in 1995 (Eric Snyder, "Workfare Punishes Homeless
in New York City," New York Times).
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| International Union Gospel Missions,
"The Changing Face of America’s Homeless: IUGM Issues Tenth
Annual Survey, November 23, 1998. Susan Wright, spokesperson for the
city’s department of the homeless, shares the view that subsidized
housing is an effective way of helping the 4,700 homeless families
now living in the city’s shelters (New York Times, November
1, 1998).
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| A study by the Center for Poverty Solutions showed
23% more people needed help in obtaining shelter and sustenance in
1998 than 1997. Families dropped from welfare rolls because of new
federal mandates turned to emergency providers to feed themselves
and their children. (Washington Times, December
16, 1998). |
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