ABSTRACT
Members of homeless families currently comprise approximately a third of the U.S. homeless population, and homeless children comprise the fastest growing segment of the homeless population (McChesney, 1995; Reyes & Waxman, 1989; U.S. Department of 5 Housing & Urban Development, 1994). The vast majority (80-85%) of these families are headed by single mothers. The first wave of family homelessness that began in the 1980s has been attributed to federal cuts in housing programs, loss of privately owned low-income 10 housing stock, the failure of public assistance benefits to keep pace with inflation, increased rate of divorce, and failure of courts to enforce child support orders. At the same time, structural changes in the U.S. economy resulted in loss of higher paying jobs that were re-15 placed by lower paying service sector jobs (Rossi, 1994). Recent changes in welfare programs threaten to create a second wave of family homelessness. With public assistance no longer an entitlement and benefits limited to 2-5 years (depending on the state), it is like-20 ly that the numbers of homeless families will increase, especially when the economy takes its next downturn and recent hires lose their jobs. Both service providers and formerly homeless mothers have asserted the pivotal role public assistance has played in helping home-25 less families emerge from homelessness (Lindsey, 1997; 1998). Without this safety net, families will find it harder to emerge from homelessness, and the length of time families are homeless is likely to increase. In addition, the absence of benefits may well precipitate 30
some families into homelessness who would otherwise have managed to maintain their own residences.
