M.A. (Social Work) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

This study examined the ethnic makeup of individuals who seek services from San Bernardino County, Department of Behavioral Health, Mentally Ill Homeless program.

This study conducted in-depth interviews with 11 homeless or formerly homeless individuals at eh Central City Lutheran Mission. The focus of this research project is mental health service utilization among the homeless in San Bernardino. A wide array of services are available to the mentally ill homeless in this area, however services offered often do not meet the needs of this population.

No description available.

Thesis (MSocialWork)--Stellenbosch University, 2005. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study attempts to gain insight into social welfare programmes for street children. In order to achieve this, a literature study was undertaken to explore social welfare programmes for street children and to describe street children as a social phenomenon. An empirical study was undertaken by means of interviewing through a structured questionnaire. The study indicates that the majority of street children have contact with their parents. The street children are mostly males between 13 and 16 years of age. The dominant socioeconomic aspects contributing to this social phenomenon are housing problems, unemployment and a lack of means. The following socio-cultural aspects were identified: the composition of the family, social pathology as well as an absent father figure. The majority of the street children have limited education and were not encouraged to continue their education. It was found that the street children and their families did not take part in prevention programmes that focus on the direct causes of family disintegration and support services. Welfare organisations had been involved with the majority of the families even before the children moved to the streets. The street children have the necessary knowledge regarding outreach programmes and take part in such programmes. It was found that street children would like to contribute to the compilation of these programmes. The study indicates that educational as well as occupational and vocational programmes are experienced as an opportunity for self-maintenance. It was found that the majority of street children do not want to return to their families and seek alternative care. It was concluded that street children come from families that do not have definite boundaries and structures. The majority of the street children do not experience their family setup as pleasant. The children developed insight into the correlation between education and selfimprovement only after they had left school. The needs of street children can be divided into two categories, namely the need for self-development and the need for better family circumstances. Recommendations are made regarding social welfare service / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In hierdie studie is ondersoek na die maatskaplikewerkprogramme vir straatkinders ingestel. 'n Literatuurstudie ten opsigte van die straatkind as maatskaplike verskynsel en maatskaplikewerkprogramme vir straatkinders is onderneem. Daarna is 'n empiriese studie deur middel van onderhoudvoering met 'n gestruktureerde vraelys gedoen. Navorsing dui aan dat die meerderheid straatkinders wel kontak met hulle ouers het. Die straatkinders is meestal seuns tussen die ouderdom van 13 en 16 jaar. Die prominentste sosio-ekonomiese aspekte wat tot hierdie maatskaplike verskynsel aanleiding gee, is behuisingsprobleme, werkloosheid en 'n gebrek aan bestaansmiddele. Die volgende sosiokulturele aspekte is ge'identifiseer: gesinsamestelling, sosiale patologie, en die afwesige vaderfiguur. Die meerderheid straatkinders het beperkte skoolopleiding ontvang en is nie aangemoedig om terug te keer skool toe nie. Daar is bevind dat straatkinders en hulle gesinne nie ingeskakel het by voorkomingsprogramme wat op die direkte oorsake van gesinsverbrokkeling en ondersteuningsdienste fokus nie. Welsynsorganisasies was reeds by die meeste van die gesinne betrokke voordat die kinders na die straat beweeg het. Die straatkinders is bekend met en neem deel aan uitreikprogramme. Daar is ook bevind dat die straatkinders wel 'n bydrae tot die samestelling van sodanige programme wil lewer. Die navorsing dui daarop dat opvoedkundige programme asook beroeps- en ambagontwikkeling beskou word as 'n ontwikkelingsgeleentheid om selfonderhoudend te wees. Daar is bevind dat die meerderheid straatkinders nie na hulle ouerhuis wil terugkeer nie, maar van alternatiewe versorging wil gebruik maak. Die gevolgtrekking word gemaak dat straatkinders uit gesinne kom waar daar nie definitiewe grense en strukture in plek is nie. Die meerderheid van die straatkinders ervaar nie hulle gesinsopset as positief nie. Nadat die straatkinders die skool verlaat het, het insigontwikkeling plaasgevind rakende die verband tussen skoolopleiding en die verbetering van eie funksionering en ontwikkeling. Die behoeftes van straatkinders kan in twee kategoriee verdeel word, naamlik die behoefte aan eie ontwikkeling en die behoefte aan beter gesinsomstandighede. Aanbevelings word ten opsigte van maatskaplikewerkdienslewering in gasheergemeenskappe asook gesinsherenigings- en voorkomingsdienste gemaak.

Considerando o aumento de pessoas idosas em situação de rua, a Prefeitura do município de São Paulo inaugurou, nos últimos anos, diversos Centros de Acolhida especialmente destinados a esse grupo, com o objetivo de acolher e garantir proteção integral a esses indivíduos. Essa população é bastante heterogênea, e suas demandas são diversificadas, incluindo orientação jurídica e defesa de direitos. O presente estudo exploratório, qualitativo e quantitativo teve como objetivo geral investigar a existência de estratégias de gestão em centros de acolhida para idosos em situação de rua para a promoção do acesso à justiça de seus usuários. A pesquisa foi executada através de entrevistas não diretivas, com amostra por conveniência de 47 residentes e quatro gestores ou membros da equipe de quatro Centros de Acolhidas Especiais para Idosos no município de São Paulo. Observou-se que apesar de uma parcela dos idosos afirmar possuir ações judiciais em andamento, e de grande parte relatar necessidade de atendimento jurídico, o acesso à informação não ocorre de forma suficiente, pois muitos desconhecem as possibilidades de atendimento gratuito. Os profissionais dos Centros de Acolhida relatam poucas estratégias de promoção de acesso à justiça, atuando mais de forma passiva, a depender da iniciativa dos próprios usuários. As poucas estratégias parecem restritas à micro gestão de casos, faltando estratégias de meso e macro gestão para incremento da educação em direitos. Nos sistemas de informação e monitoramento dos serviços, há campos para a inserção de dados sobre questões jurídicas. Porém, é preciso capacitar e conscientizar os profissionais acerca da importância de preenchimento detalhado dessas informações / Considering the increase of homeless elderly, the city hall of São Paulo has created many Special Elderly Homeless Shelters, in order to accommodate and ensure full protection to these individuals. This population is very heterogeneous, and its demands are diversified, including legal guidance and advocacy. The present exploratory, qualitative and quantitative study aimed to investigate the existence of management strategies in shelters for the elderly in the street to promote access to justice for their users. The survey was implemented through non-directive interviews with a convenience sample of 47 residents and four managers or members of the equip of four Special Elderly Homeless Shelters in São Paulo. It was observed that although a portion of the elderly claim to have lawsuits in progress, and largely report the need for legal assistance, access to information does not occur in a sufficient way, since many are unaware of the possibilities of free care. The professionals of the Special Elderly Homeless Shelters report few strategies to promote access to justice, acting more passively, depending on the initiative of the users themselves. The few strategies seem restricted to micro case management, lacking meso and macro management strategies to increase rights education. In the systems of information and monitoring of the services, there are fields for the insertion of data on legal questions. However, professionals must be trained and made aware of the importance of completing this information in detail

Objective: Although factors that promote initial and recurring homelessness among inner city women have been long explored, impoverished women continue enter and re-enter shelters at troubling rates. This trend is projected to increase over time. This longitudinal study uses Sydemics as a framework to advance our understanding of the relationship between depression, PTSD, trauma and intimate partner violence and the loss of housing among impoverished women using inner city Emergency Departments. We hypothesized that depression, PTSD, childhood trauma and IPV are positively associated with homelessness at baseline and that women with higher rates of a combination of these variables (e.g. PTSD and IPV) in wave 1 will have higher odds of experiencing both an initial and repeat bout of homelessness in the second and/or third waves, controlling for all other variables in the study. Method: Multivariate analyses and logistic regression, at baseline and longitudinally, were conducted to test study hypotheses with homelessness as the dependent variable. Six multivariate logistic regression models were used. Odds ratios (OR) with their 95% confidence intervals are reported. Results: Depression and childhood trauma were individually associated with homelessness at the .05 level in this sample of low income women. IPV was marginally related to homelessness (p=0.0917). PTSD however was not. Importantly, although IPV and PSTD were not individually associated with homelessness in bivariate analyses, housed, never homeless women, and women who had previously experienced homelessness had a greater odd of becoming homeless than those who experienced only one of these risk variables. Specifically, housed, never homeless women who had PTSD and IPV had a 2.2 odd of becoming homeless for the first time in waves 2 and 3, whereas those who experienced PTSD only had a 1.3 odds of becoming homeless for the first time; never homeless participants who experienced IPV only a 1.7 greater odds of becoming homeless (CI.0.348, 14.84; p=0.385), adjusting for all other variables. Similarly, the odd of becoming homeless again among participants who had PTSD and experienced IPV was 1.7 whereas the odds of recurrent homelessness was 1.2 among those who experienced PTSD only and 1.1 among those who experienced IPV only (CI.0.397, 7.46; p=0.463), controlling for all other variables in the study. Conclusion: Our findings confirm our hypotheses that low-income women who have PTSD, depression, histories of childhood trauma, and/or IPV have a higher odds of initial and recurrent homelessness when compared with women who do not have these risk variables. Our findings further confirm that women who have combinations of risk variables have even higher odds of future homelessness. Due to the low sample size of women with histories of homelessness in the study, there was lack of power. Despite this challenge, the results of these explorations (in determining heretofore unidentified effect sizes) utilizing Syndemics as a conceptual framework are promising. Future research with larger sample sizes (and sufficient power) are important to further the initial findings from this study.

Ho Chui-ming. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 210-223). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / List of Plates --- p.i / Abstract --- p.iii / Acknowledgements --- p.v / Introduction The Quest for the Agency of Street Sleepers --- p.1 / Chapter Chapter One --- Literature Review and Theoretical Framework --- p.9 / Chapter I. --- Reading Street Sleepers: To Review the Past Studies --- p.9 / Chapter II. --- Center and Margin: To Approach the Operation of Power --- p.24 / Chapter III. --- Domination and Resistance: To Bring the Human Agency Backin --- p.26 / Chapter IV. --- From Spatial Resistance to Spatial Formation --- p.31 / Chapter V. --- From Identity Formation to Unfixing the Body --- p.35 / Chapter Chapter Two --- Methodology and Contexutualization --- p.40 / Chapter I. --- A Qualitative Research on Street Life --- p.40 / Chapter II. --- Triangulated Methods: Ethnography and Non-Reactive Method --- p.41 / Chapter III. --- The Profile of the Subjects --- p.48 / Chapter IV. --- Contextualizing the Study and Locating the Researcher --- p.53 / Chapter V. --- The Context: Yaumatei --- p.55 / Chapter Chapter Three --- Persistence of Street Sleeping: Beyond Housed/ Non-housed --- p.69 / Chapter I. --- Home Ownership --- p.70 / Chapter II. --- Rental System in Private Market --- p.73 / Chapter III. --- Public Housing --- p.77 / Chapter IV. --- Shelter and Hostel for Street Sleepers --- p.80 / Chapter V. --- Rehabilitation Program for Substance Users --- p.84 / Chapter VI. --- Open Space --- p.86 / Chapter VII --- Concluding Remarks: Beyond Housed/Non-housed --- p.91 / Chapter Chapter Four --- Producing a Livable Space: A Space of Resistance --- p.95 / Chapter I. --- A Production of Space: The Spatial Arrangement --- p.95 / Chapter II. --- A Space of Resistance: The Spatio-social Relations --- p.111 / Chapter III. --- Concluding Remarks: Marginal Space and Livable Space --- p.135 / Chapter Chapter Five --- Narratives of Identity: Fixing and Unfixing the Body --- p.139 / Chapter I. --- The Construction of Social Identities --- p.139 / Chapter II. --- The Multiplicity of Self Narratives --- p.144 / Chapter III. --- Concluding Remarks: Negotiating Identities in Everyday Life --- p.159 / Chapter Chapter Six --- Conclusion --- p.163 / Epilogue --- p.173 / Appendix A The Profile of the Subjects --- p.176 / Appendix B The Alternative Map of Yaumatei --- p.189 / Appendix C The Benches and the Chairs in Yaumatei --- p.206 / Appendix D Glossary --- p.207 / Bibliography --- p.210

En marge de la société, les SDF – personnes dépourvues de « chezelles» et vivant dans une situation de grande précarité – se situent a priori aussi en marge du droit. Pourtant, les SDF sont des sujets de droit et peuvent, à ce titre, faire l’objet d’une étude juridique.La thèse entend démontrer que le droit positif interne est ainsi conçu qu’il ne parvient que très peu à contribuer à l’amélioration de la situation de grande précarité des SDF et même, à l’inverse, qu’il l’aggrave. Dans un premier temps, la recherche permet de constater que les règles de droit ne confèrent concrètement qu’une protection inefficace des SDF, alors pourtant qu’elles reconnaissent de très nombreux droits à la garantie d’un minimal vital, qu’elles sont au fondement d’une politique publique dédiée à la lutte contre le sans-abrisme et qu’elles encadrent des dispositifs restrictifs de libertés destinés à protéger les personnes les plus fragiles. Dans un second temps, la recherche met en exergue que le droit continue d’être utilisé au détriment des SDF. Réminiscence de la répression des plus pauvres, héritée de l’histoire, le droit conduit à aggraver l’exclusion des SDF, voire à les punir.L’étude se clôture alors sur le constat de l’ambivalence persistante d’une société qui mobilise le droit pour protéger les SDF et, dans le même temps, pour s’en protéger. / Homeless - people without "homes" and living in a situation of great precariousness and on the fringe of society - are a priori also on the fringe of law. However, the homeless are subjects of law. Therefore, they can be the subject of a legal study.This thesis aims to demonstrate that French positive law is conceived in such a way that it contributes very little to improve the situation of extreme precariousness of the homeless and even, conversely, it makes it worse. At First, the research shows that the rules of law provide only an ineffective protection to the homeless, despite they recognise many rights to guarantee a basic subsistence level, they are the bottom of a public policy dedicated to the fight against homelessness and they provide a framework for restrictive measures of freedom designed to protect the most vulnerable people. Then, in a second step, the research highlights that law is still applies to the detriment of the homeless. Reminiscent of the repression of the poorest, inherited from history, the law leads to increase the exclusion of the homeless or even to punish them.The study concludes on the observation of the persistent ambivalence of a society that mobilizes the law to protect the homeless and at the same time to protect itself from them.

The continued increase in homelessness in Portland, Oregon is in part a result of the systemic restructuring of the welfare state as well as a shift in local governance purviews. Primarily this has eradicated the affordable housing stock in the city which is compounded by the limited availability of emergency shelter spaces. These and other financial constraints have left a depleted service support system to cover a rising homelessness problem. In response to this, contemporary social movements have been focusing attention on economically marginalized groups such as the homeless, calling for rights to access resources in cities such as housing. This approach critiques the neoliberal policies that have bolstered entrepreneurial approaches to urban growth. Neoliberal policies result in a failure to maintain financial support for the well-being of the homeless and connected support services. This research examines one alternative to the traditional approach to sheltering the homeless. It focuses on a self-organized homeless tent city in downtown Portland, Right 2 Dream Too, which has become a critical resource in homeless emergency service provisioning. The rest site's success as an emergency service is primarily predicated on its geographic proximity to a nexus of social services in the Old Town neighborhood. Drawing on ethnographic work and archival data, I analyze the multiple spatialities of this self-managed site to better understand homeless individuals' experience with this place and other related spaces, as a means to understand its value as an emergency service for the homeless in Portland, and other cities with similar constraints. I argue this perspective is essential for mitigating homelessness in Portland and informing the decision-making surrounding its relocation.