IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/houspd/v18y2007i1p1-28.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Testing a typology of family homelessness based on patterns of public shelter utilization in four U.S. jurisdictions: Implications for policy and program planning

Author

Listed:
  • Dennis P. Culhane
  • Stephen Metraux
  • Jung Min Park
  • Maryanne Schretzman
  • Jesse Valente

Abstract

This study tests a typology of family homelessness based on patterns of public shelter utilization and examines whether family characteristics are associated with those patterns. The results indicate that a substantial majority of homeless families stay in public shelters for relatively brief periods, exit, and do not return. Approximately 20 percent stay for long periods. A small but noteworthy proportion cycles in and out of shelters repeatedly. In general, families with long stays are no more likely than families with short stays to have intensive behavioral health treatment histories, to be disabled, or to be unemployed. Families with repeat stays have the highest rates of intensive behavioral health treatment, placement of children in foster care, disability, and unemployment. The results suggest that policy and program factors, rather than family characteristics, are responsible for long shelter stays. An alternative conceptual framework for providing emergency assistance to homeless families is discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Dennis P. Culhane & Stephen Metraux & Jung Min Park & Maryanne Schretzman & Jesse Valente, 2007. "Testing a typology of family homelessness based on patterns of public shelter utilization in four U.S. jurisdictions: Implications for policy and program planning," Housing Policy Debate, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(1), pages 1-28, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:houspd:v:18:y:2007:i:1:p:1-28
    DOI: 10.1080/10511482.2007.9521591
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/10511482.2007.9521591
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/10511482.2007.9521591?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Goodman, Sarena & Messeri, Peter & O'Flaherty, Brendan, 2016. "Homelessness prevention in New York City: On average, it works," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 14-34.
    2. Collins, Cyleste C. & Bai, Rong & Crampton, David & Fischer, Robert & D'Andrea, Rebecca & Dean, Kendra & Lalich, Nina & Chan, Tsui & Cherney, Emily, 2019. "Implementing housing first with families and young adults: challenges and progress toward self-sufficiency," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 34-46.
    3. Byrne, Thomas & Montgomery, Ann Elizabeth & Chapman, Alec B. & Pettey, Warren & Effiong, Atim & Suo, Ying & Velasquez, Tania & Nelson, Richard E., 2023. "Predictors of homeless service utilization and stable housing status among Veterans receiving services from a nationwide homelessness prevention and rapid rehousing program," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    4. Cassidy, Michael T., 2020. "A Closer Look: Proximity Boosts Homeless Student Performance in New York City," IZA Discussion Papers 13558, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Ayşe İmrohoroğlu & Kai Zhao, 2022. "Homelessness," Working papers 2022-17, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics.
    6. Treglia, Dan & Cassidy, Michael & Bainbridge, Jay, 2023. "Improving school attendance among homeless children: Evaluating the attendance matters program," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    7. O'Flaherty, Brendan, 2009. "When should homeless families get subsidized apartments? A theoretical inquiry," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 69-80, June.
    8. O’Flaherty, Brendan, 2012. "Individual homelessness: Entries, exits, and policy," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(2), pages 77-100.
    9. Cassidy, Michael T., 2020. "Short Moves and Long Stays: Homeless Family Responses to Exogenous Shelter Assignments in New York City," IZA Discussion Papers 13559, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:houspd:v:18:y:2007:i:1:p:1-28. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/RHPD20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.