Homeless Service Programs. A Study of its Effectiveness in Alleviating Homelessness in the City of Springfield, MA

Homeless Service Programs. A Study of its Effectiveness in Alleviating Homelessness in the City of Springfield, MA

Author: Luis Santiago-Gaetan

Publisher: diplom.de

Published: 2016-10-11

Total Pages: 58

ISBN-13: 3960675917

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This research project studied the broad subject of homelessness from a distinctive perspective. Homeless individuals have different needs, and different human services organizations offer many homeless service programs to individuals, from temporary shelter to transitional housing, and training and health programs among others. Nonetheless, the most important service needed for homeless individuals should be the one that leads to permanent housing solutions. However, findings from this research study suggested that not all homeless service programs are as effective in alleviating homelessness in the community, as most have been led to believe in the past. Therefore, the required question had to be, how effective are homeless service programs in alleviating homelessness in the City of Springfield MA? Finding an answer to that question was the primary reason for this research. This research study sought to know more about the effectiveness of two distinctive service programs, which although similar in services offered, both operate with completely different funding and visions on how to solve the homelessness problem in the community. Perhaps, this study may someday contribute to further research efforts on the subject, help develop or create more effective programs, or even helps alleviate the growing homeless problem in the community. Nevertheless, as for any other research project, there are limitations to this study. This research is limited to the study of two different homeless service programs in the City of Springfield, Massachusetts. Moreover, program effectiveness was solely measured on the programs abilities to provide permanent housing options to its clients in direct relation to their resources for the purpose to alleviate the problem in the community. A brief roadmap for this master’s thesis research project starts with the introduction to the subject, followed by the review of the existing relevant literature. The community assessment begins with the community description and the research and gathering of data from stakeholders directly and indirectly affected by the problem. Lastly, the action plan, which details a plan of action based on the conclusion of the findings of all the information and data gathered.


Housing First

Housing First

Author: Deborah Padgett

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 249

ISBN-13: 019998980X

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This book provides a unique portrayal of Housing First as a 'paradigm shift' in homeless services. Since 1992, this approach has spread nationally and internationally, changing systems and reversing the usual continuum of care. The success of Housing First has few parallels in social and human services.


How to House the Homeless

How to House the Homeless

Author: Ingrid Gould Ellen

Publisher: Russell Sage Foundation

Published: 2010-06-24

Total Pages: 201

ISBN-13: 1610447298

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How to House the Homeless, editors Ingrid Gould Ellen and Brendan O'Flaherty propose that the answers entail rethinking how housing markets operate and developing more efficient interventions in existing service programs. The book critically reassesses where we are now, analyzes the most promising policies and programs going forward, and offers a new agenda for future research. How to House the Homeless makes clear the inextricable link between homelessness and housing policy. Contributor Jill Khadduri reviews the current residential services system and housing subsidy programs. For the chronically homeless, she argues, a combination of assisted housing approaches can reach the greatest number of people and, specifically, an expanded Housing Choice Voucher system structured by location, income, and housing type can more efficiently reach people at-risk of becoming homeless and reduce time spent homeless. Robert Rosenheck examines the options available to homeless people with mental health problems and reviews the cost-effectiveness of five service models: system integration, supported housing, clinical case management, benefits outreach, and supported employment. He finds that only programs that subsidize housing make a noticeable dent in homelessness, and that no one program shows significant benefits in multiple domains of life. Contributor Sam Tsemberis assesses the development and cost-effectiveness of the Housing First program, which serves mentally ill homeless people in more than four hundred cities. He asserts that the program's high housing retention rate and general effectiveness make it a viable candidate for replication across the country. Steven Raphael makes the case for a strong link between homelessness and local housing market regulations—which affect housing affordability—and shows that the problem is more prevalent in markets with stricter zoning laws. Finally, Brendan O'Flaherty bridges the theoretical gap between the worlds of public health and housing research, evaluating the pros and cons of subsidized housing programs and the economics at work in the rental housing market and home ownership. Ultimately, he suggests, the most viable strategies will serve as safety nets—"social insurance"—to reach people who are homeless now and to prevent homelessness in the future. It is crucial that the links between effective policy and the whole cycle of homelessness—life conditions, service systems, and housing markets—be made clear now. With a keen eye on the big picture of housing policy, How to House the Homeless shows what works and what doesn't in reducing the numbers of homeless and reaching those most at risk.


Poverty and the Homeless

Poverty and the Homeless

Author: Mary E. Williams

Publisher: Greenhaven Press, Incorporated

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 192

ISBN-13:

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Poverty and homelessness are sadly evident in America's cities-and even in some of the nation's rural areas. Contributors examine the root causes of poverty and what should be done to help the poor and the homeless.


Invisible Punishment

Invisible Punishment

Author: Meda Chesney-Lind

Publisher: The New Press

Published: 2011-05-10

Total Pages: 370

ISBN-13: 1595587365

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In a series of newly commissioned essays from the leading scholars and advocates in criminal justice, Invisible Punishment explores, for the first time, the far-reaching consequences of our current criminal justice policies. Adopted as part of “get tough on crime” attitudes that prevailed in the 1980s and '90s, a range of strategies, from “three strikes” and “a war on drugs,” to mandatory sentencing and prison privatization, have resulted in the mass incarceration of American citizens, and have had enormous effects not just on wrong-doers, but on their families and the communities they come from. This book looks at the consequences of these policies twenty years later.


Encyclopedia of Homelessness

Encyclopedia of Homelessness

Author: David Levinson

Publisher: SAGE

Published: 2004-06-21

Total Pages: 928

ISBN-13: 0761927514

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A readerʼs guide is provided to assist readers in locating entries on related topics. It classifies entries into 14 general categories: Causes, Cities, Demography and Characteristics, Health issues, History, Housing, Legal issues, Advocacy and policy, Lifestyle issues, Organizations, Perceptions of homelessness, Populations, Research, Service systems and settings, World perspectives and issues.


Evicted

Evicted

Author: Matthew Desmond

Publisher: Crown

Published: 2017-02-28

Total Pages: 450

ISBN-13: 0553447459

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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE • NAMED ONE OF TIME’S TEN BEST NONFICTION BOOKS OF THE DECADE • One of the most acclaimed books of our time, this modern classic “has set a new standard for reporting on poverty” (Barbara Ehrenreich, The New York Times Book Review). In Evicted, Princeton sociologist and MacArthur “Genius” Matthew Desmond follows eight families in Milwaukee as they each struggle to keep a roof over their heads. Hailed as “wrenching and revelatory” (The Nation), “vivid and unsettling” (New York Review of Books), Evicted transforms our understanding of poverty and economic exploitation while providing fresh ideas for solving one of twenty-first-century America’s most devastating problems. Its unforgettable scenes of hope and loss remind us of the centrality of home, without which nothing else is possible. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY President Barack Obama • The New York Times Book Review • The Boston Globe • The Washington Post • NPR • Entertainment Weekly • The New Yorker • Bloomberg • Esquire • BuzzFeed • Fortune • San Francisco Chronicle • Milwaukee Journal Sentinel • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • Politico • The Week • Chicago Public Library • BookPage • Kirkus Reviews • Library Journal • Publishers Weekly • Booklist • Shelf Awareness WINNER OF: The National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction • The PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction • The Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction • The Hillman Prize for Book Journalism • The PEN/New England Award • The Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize FINALIST FOR THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE AND THE KIRKUS PRIZE “Evicted stands among the very best of the social justice books.”—Ann Patchett, author of Bel Canto and Commonwealth “Gripping and moving—tragic, too.”—Jesmyn Ward, author of Salvage the Bones “Evicted is that rare work that has something genuinely new to say about poverty.”—San Francisco Chronicle


Batterer Intervention

Batterer Intervention

Author: Kerry Murphy Healey

Publisher: DIANE Publishing

Published: 1999-07

Total Pages: 216

ISBN-13: 0788178695

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"Batterer Intervention: Program Approaches and Criminal Justice Strategies" is a publication of the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) in Rockville, Maryland. The publication provides judges, prosecutors, and probation officers with the information they need to better understand batterer intervention and make appropriate decisions regarding programming.