1st Edition

Homelessness in Rural America Policy and Practice

By Paul A Rollinson, Jean A Pardeck Copyright 2006

    Take your knowledge of the needs of the rural homeless to the next level

    This groundbreaking text examines research methodologies for studying the homeless, rural homeless policy, and the lives of today’s rural homeless. It gives a thorough overview of the issues faced by this unique sector and outlines specific avenues for further research. The authors’ insightful data analysis, real life findings, and specific case examples offer useful and research-based approaches to improve the difficult situation of the rural homeless, using a family health approach well suited to addressing the issues that affect them.

    Since services for the homeless are most often located in cities, the rural homeless are at a physical disadvantage. Because they are unable to utilize the services provided for the urban homeless, their needs often go unmet. Researchers and social service professionals face the same dilemma. Homelessness in Rural America addresses these issues by making vital research techniques, difficult-to-find data, and strategies for practice easy to access, understand, and put to use.

    Homelessness in Rural America: Policy and Programs examines:

    • the current condition of the rural homeless
    • factors that can increase the probability of a rural individual becoming homeless
    • the influence of welfare programs on the rural homeless
    • issues faced by the rural homeless and how a family health approach can treat these issues
    • the research methodology used to study the rural homeless
    • micro- and macro-level solutions to rural homeless problems
    Students and educators will benefit from Homelessness in Rural America’s micro- and macro-level approaches to intervention. Policy planners will discover the further complications that have arisen from welfare programs. As the homeless population continues to increase, Homelessness in Rural America becomes even more essential. The rural homeless are often overlooked in the social sciences literature, and this book fills that void with its rare and well-organized information.

    • Preface
    • Chapter 1. Rural Homelessness in America
    • Social and Economic Factors
    • Patterns and Characteristics of the Homeless: A Review of the Literature
    • Causes Remain Undefined
    • Conclusion
    • Chapter 2. Current Policy and Programs for the Homeless
    • Emergency Service Providers
    • Transitional Service Providers
    • Policy and Programs
    • The Role of Federal and State Government
    • Conclusion
    • Chapter 3. An Exploration of Homeless People and Families Living in a Rural Setting
    • Triangulation
    • Homeless Service Provider Context
    • The Service Hub Concept
    • Data
    • Conclusion
    • Chapter 4. An Analysis of the Findings for the Rural Homeless
    • Demographic Characteristics of the Sample
    • Disability and the Rural Homeless
    • Family Violence and the Rural Homeless
    • Conclusion
    • Chapter 5. Family Health and the Rural Homeless
    • Conceptual Basis of Family Health
    • Research and Family Health
    • Family Policy in the United States
    • Barriers to Family Policy
    • A Model Family Policy
    • Family Health and the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996
    • Family Health Policy and the Rural Homeless
    • A Model Family Policy Supporting the Rural Homeless
    • Conclusion
    • References
    • Index

    Biography

    John A Pardeck, Paul A Rollinson