Rise of Awareness to HomelessnessHistory of HomelessnessHypothesesMethodsMethodsMethodsMethodsList of Key Events and Time PeriodsLack of Affordable Housing GraphsPoverty Rate and Number in PovertyPoverty Rates by AgeFoundings and Density of SMOsCongressional HearingsMedia AttentionCombination of Foundings, Congressional Attention, and Media AttentionAnalysis of GraphsOther ResearchOther ResearchOther ResearchConclusionBibliographyRise of Awareness to HomelessnessBy Lindsey MarshallPlSc/Soc 497BHistory of Homelessnessz The Great Depressionz World War IIz Era of Skid Row (1950s)z Urbanization and downtown revitalizationz The “new” homelessHypothesesz I hypothesized that lack of affordable housingÆ rise of homeless populationÆÅdiversity of homeless populationz I then hypothesized that media attention Æfoundings of SMOs Æ congressional attentionMethodsz To measure SMO organizations, I used the Associations Unlimited online.z Searched under the subheading of “homeless” that I found in the databasez Found 33 organizations, and 3 that had no founding dateMethodsz For Congressional Attention, I used the Policy Agendas Projectz Searched under the topic Housing and Community Development, and then under the subheading Housing Assistance for Homeless and Homeless IssuesMethodsz For media attention, I used the New York Times Historical and searched under the keyword of “homeless” z List of other keywords tried:VagrancyHoboTrampBumSkid RowDisaffiliationTransienceStreet PeopleMethodsz To measure amount of low income housing, I used graphs from Department of Housing and Urban Development and from Congressional Budget Officez To measure size and diversity of homeless population, I used information from the Census Bureau measuring poverty– Hard to find studies that were an accurate representation of the actual homeless population so I felt that poverty was a good measureList of Key Events and Time Periodsz 1949- Federal Housing Act passed that was the catalyst for urban renewalz 1980- Period of economic recession beginsz 1983- Mitch Snyder’s 60 day fastz 1983- New York Times Index replaces the classification of “vagrancy” with “homeless”z 1984- HUD releases highly controversial study on the number of homeless people, downplaying the severityz 1987- McKinney Homeless Assistance Act is passedz 1989- 250,000 homeless and supporters assemble in DC under the banner “Housing Now” z 1994- Revisions to the McKinney Homeless Assistance ActLack of Affordable Housing GraphsHousing Shortage GraphHousing Assistance GraphPoverty Rate and Number in PovertyPoverty Rates by AgeFoundings and Density of SMOsFoundings and Density of SMOs00.511.522.533.51938196019621964196619681970197219741976197819801982198419861988199019921994199619982000YearNumber05101520253035FoundingsDensityCongressional HearingsHousing Assistance Hearings0123456789194619481950195219541956195819601962196419661968197019721974197619781980198219841986198819901992199419961998YearNumber of HearingsHousing Assista HearingsMedia AttentionMedia Attention to Homelessness0500100015002000250030001975197919831987199119951999YearNumber of ArticlesCitation andArticleCitation andAbstractCombination of Foundings, Congressional Attention, and Media Attention01234567891975197719791981198319851987198919911993199519971999050010001500200025003000FoundingsHousing AssistanceHearingsCitation and ArticleCitation and AbstractAnalysis of Graphsz From the graphs, it looks as though:z Rise of poverty and homeless population ÆÅ Diversity of homeless and poverty population ÆÅLack of affordable Housingz Foundings of SMOs Æ Congressional Attention Æ Media AttentionOther Researchz Cress and Snow (2000)z “Homeless SMOs rarely attempted to pass legislation. They work to achieve more proximate goals. Social Movements may sometimes have larger impact than often presumed.”Other Researchz Wright, James D. (1998)z “First responses to homelessness were local”z This can help explain why Congressional attention came after SMO foundingsOther Researchz Singh and Lumsden 1990z Density Dependence Theory: at first foundings create niches for other SMOs, but then competition for resources discourages more foundingsz Helps explain why foundings drop off during the late 1990sConclusionz Homelessness is a problem that still exists today and may even be rising.z However, the foundings of organizations has dropped as well as Congressional attention and media attention.z More research on local homeless organizations and local government may produce different results.Bibliographyz Associations Unlimited.z Congressional Budget Office. The Challenges Facing Federal Rental Assistance Programs. December 1994.z Cress, Daniel & Snow, David. “The Outcomes of Homeless Mobilization: The Influence of Organization, Disruption, Political Mediation, and Framing”. The American Journal of Sociology. 105. 2000: 1063-1104.z DePastino, Todd. Citizen Hobo: How a Century of Homelessness Shaped America. University of Chicago Press. Chicago: 2003.z Dolbeare, Cushing & Crowley, Sheila. The Federal Budget and Housing Assistance 1976-2007. Changing Priorities. August 2002. http://www.nlihc.org/pubs/changingpriorities.pdfz Kryder-Coe, Julee. Homeless Children and Youth. Transaction Publishers. London: 1991.z Policy Agendas Project. <www.policyagendas.org>. z Singh, Jitendra & Lumsden, Charles. “Theory and Research in Organizational Ecology” Annual Review of Sociology. 16. 1990: 161-195. z The New York Times Historical Database.z US Census Bureau. <www.census.gov>z Wright, James D. Beside the Golden Door. Walter de Gruyter, Inc. New York: 1998.z Wright, Talmadge. Out of Place: Homeless Mobilizations, Subcities, and Contested Landscapes. State University of New York Press. New York: 1997.z The New York Times Historical